She sidestepped a question or two but overall I think it a net positive for the Clinton campaign. At the very least, she reached a demographic that she has had trouble reaching, Obama supporters. Clinton was at her finest covering the economic challenges confronting the United States and in articulating her views on how to deal with Iran.

In the post interview analysis with Newsweek analyst Richard Wolfe, Keith Olbermann focused on if this constituted a departure from stated US foreign policy. Wolfe called it “brinkmanship” which is hardly the case. Brinkmanship refers more to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The issue with Iran falls more under the realm of deterrence that is making clear to Iran that any attack on an American ally in the region would be met with overwhelming force. Deterrence kept the peace in Europe for nearly fifty years and it can help in securing American vital interests and those of all US allies in the region. Clinton’s response should play well with the American public, excepting of course Obama’s supporters who simply think her a “warmonger.” Appartently, they believe that the US is simply going to abandon its allies. The irony is, of course, that if Obama were to think through his own position it would mirror Senator Clinton’s.