'Gloves are off' against Hillary
Updated on 31 October 2007
Hillary Clinton comes in for an on-air battering - from her Democratic rivals during a presidential debate.
She is way ahead in the polls and Hillary Clinton arrived for a debate knowing she would be targeted for attack. Her closet rival had said it was time to take the gloves off
Clinton tries to make a virtue out of being the centre of attention but it draws intense scrutiny of things like her vote to call the Iranian Republican Guard "terrorists."
Clinton's presidential debate.
For weeks, the front runner, Hillary Clinton, has seemed unassailable - widening her lead over her rivals in the polls and basking in positive coverage in the media.
But now her rivals for the democratic nomination have hit back - accusing her of sabre-rattling against Iran and being dishonest with voters during a presidential debate. Mrs Clinton was left visibly reeling from the blows - but will it affect her campaign in the long term?
But as she was being attacked on all sides at the Democrat debate, Clinton pointed out she dominates the debate amongst Republicans as well:
"In a perverse way, I think that the Republicans and their constant obsession with me demonstrate clearly that they obviously think that I am communicating effectively about what I will do as president" - Hilary Clinton
Hillary Clinton is now so far ahead in the polls that her opponents have to attack her in order to get heard. But they need to be careful not to damage her too badly - because if she does become the Democratic nominee that would only help the Republicans.
The Republicans seem keen to welcome her as a candidate - they think she will energise their right wing base who will come out just to vote against her. So in both parties right now this race is all about Hillary - with that much attention she needs to be very careful not to put one foot wrong
And she did seem to be - unusually - wrong footed when asked about the New York governor's plan to issue driving licences to illegal immigrants.
Hillary remains the candidate to beat in this race - as her rivals up the attacks against her she may find that being so far out in front is a dangerous place to be.
