Will first debate be Obama's historic moment?

Sheryl Crow's and Laurie David's run in with Karl Rove just a road bump

Democratic debate

'First in the Nation' Debates

MSNBC, the place for politics, is now the place for the first presidential debates

Watch live streaming video of the debate at 7 p.m. ET on MSNBC.com

First Read: Minute-by-minute | Hardblogger is living blogging as well

— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann co-anchor MSNBC’s pre- and post-debate coverage

— MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough reports from the spin room

— MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson will be live from the post-debate party

FREE VIDEO

Does new film attack religion?
Feb. 26: James Cameron is touting a new documentary in which he claims to have discovered the tomb of Jesus Christ.

Situation

COMMENTARY

By Joe Scarborough

Host, ‘Morning Joe'

msnbc.com

updated 6:45 p.m. ET April 24, 2007

Joe Scarborough
Host, ‘Morning Joe'
• Profile

Every presidential campaign has one -- a defining moment that cements a candidate’s image in the minds of voters.

Most famously was the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate, when JFK’s youthful appearance and Richard Nixon’s flop sweat pushed the young Massachusetts senator over the top.

Twenty years later, Ronald Reagan buried Jimmy Carter’s re-election bid when the former actor looked into the camera lens and asked Americans if they were better off than they were four years earlier.

And 20 years after that debate, Al Gore damaged his White House campaign by sighing, whining and crowding in on George W. Bush. These were all surely defining moments because Saturday Night Live had such a great time mocking Gore after those debate missteps. (Remember “Lockbox”?)

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

This week, the American people (and SNL writers) will be watching the Democratic debate on MSNBC, all looking for those moments that will define the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. More importantly, they will see how Obama compares next to Hillary—a woman every bit as experienced as the young senator is green. If he is to prove he belongs in the senator's league, he better do well Thursday night in South Carolina.

If Obama fails his first big test, expect MSNBC’s debate to provide another one of those historic moments that define the future of this presidential campaign.