LAS VEGAS – Anyone gambling on a knockout punch here last night to end the Clinton Dynasty in the Democratic Party bet on the wrong fighters.
Hillary Rodham Clinton won by a narrow decision.
Neither gentle Barack Obama nor harsh John Edwards landed the killer blow on Clinton that would have further fueled the stories from recent weeks predicting Clinton’s near-certain demise.
Actually, last night’s event didn’t even qualify as a decent Vegas boxing card.
The debate was more like the new and cleaned-up Disney version of Vegas that has overtaken the Strip and turned it into some sort of glittering family attraction.
On stage last night was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
“The Princess” was cool, but made no blunder to compound her disastrous performance in the previous debate.
Obama, playing “Happy” the dwarf, tried a couple of times to gather his rage but managed only a few squeaks at her.
“Grumpy” John Edwards, who played “Happy” during the 2004 presidential race and is trying out a new role this time, came closest to sullying “Snow White’s” dress.
Until, that is, she accused him of slinging GOP mud.
In the first round, Obama and Edwards both went right after Clinton. But she managed to turn those jabs into a debate on health care – possibly her strongest suit. And she kept on the topic for 15 minutes, lacing into Obama for allegedly leaving 15 million Americans out of his health-care plan.
“That’s about the population of Nevada, Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire,” said Clinton, hitting all the early voting states.
With Edwards, she simply welcomed him as if he were a little kid in short pants.
But the most astonishing moment of the night came when the candidates were asked simply whether they supported giving driver’s licenses to illegal aliens – the very question that upended Clinton in the last debate.
Obama’s answer was so confusing that the two transcription services covering the debate transcribed conflicting answers for him.
Edwards first claimed he didn’t understand the question. After it was repeated for him, he refused to answer.
It was the one issue that was Clinton’s greatest weakness going into the debate.
But last night, she finally stuck to her latest position and it was “Grumpy” and “Happy” who were left flip-flopping around on the canvas.
churt@nypost.com