Obama: Bill's cool, but can he dance?

Was Bill Clinton, as Toni Morrison famously said, America's first black president? Barack Obama, speaking in last night's Congressional Black Caucus debate amongst candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, ain't so sure:

"I would have to, you know, investigate more of Bill's dancing abilities … and some of this other stuff before I accurately judge whether he was, in fact, a brother."

The role of former President Bill Clinton in his wife's campaign was among several issues that were raised in the most bruising of debates to date amongst Democrats, held last night in South Carolina, in advance of that state's Democratic primary on Saturday. For the first time in the recent round of mudslinging, Obama went toe-to-toe with Hillary Clinton, with each candidate calling the other's integrity and believeability into question.

Obama holds the lead in South Carolina, a state where nearly half of voters in the Democratic primary are likely to be black. He's trying to use the state to regain momentum in a primary season that has featured a Hillary-as-juggernaut storyline since her surprise win in the New Hampshire contest two weeks ago.

The two candidates are neck-and-neck thus far in the race for delegates to the nominating convention, but Obama needs to pick up some strong momentum if he is to compete effectively in the 22-state "Super Tuesday" primaries on February 5th. A sweep or near-sweep of those contests could effectively seal the nomination for Clinton, or at least see Obama's ability to raise funds — the real surprise of this campaign season — suffer a mortal blow.