9:51PM: Well, that was good. Two great candidates. One of them must be President next year. Again, the contrast with those GOP knuckleheads from last night could not be more stark. Clinton had trouble with the Iraq question. That's still a problem for her. But, overall, they were both very good.
Twice, twice CNN came back from an ad in the middle of an answer from one of the candidates. Isn't this their business????
9:35PM: Okay, Hillary keeps talking like vote she cast for the Iraq resolution wasn't a vote to go to war. She says she made a reasoned judgment. She, apparently, was the only person who thought that. The Bush administration was very clear that this was an authorization for the use of force, not diplomacy. Ari Fleischer said exactly that shortly after the House vote on October 10, 2002, one day before the Senate vote.
9:33PM: Wolf asked Hillary why she won't say that her Iraq war authorization vote was a mistake. I don't think she's giving a very clear answer here. It's a horrible topic for her, since she doesn't want to say it was a mistake, but I still think Hillary is having a hard time giving a clear, firm answer to this question. Maybe it's just me. I never cared whether she "apologized" for the vote, and I can understand having voted for the resolution, but in retrospect it was clearly a mistake.
9:24PM: Obama gives a very good answer on foreign policy. Clinton thinks this is her strong suit, but every time foreign policy comes up, we get back to her vote on Iraq. She had to use her endorsement from Rep. Waters as a buffer on that. Kinda weak.
8:52PM: It's galling that Wolf is trying to stir up the immigration debate. The worst immigrant bashers on TV are Wolf's colleagues on the Lou Dobbs show.
8:48PM: Wolf seems awfully hot on getting Obama and Clinton to fight. They're not biting.
8:34PM: The contrast between last night's GOP debate and tonight's could not be more stark. This is the best I've seen Obama in a debate. He seems comfortable and confident -- debates have not been his best format.
8:32PM: Obama just took the Republicans on, blaming them for the budget deficit, and blaming McCain for supporting Bush's tax cuts. It's nice to see our guys finally going after the Republicans.
8:27PM: Interesting that both are playing awfully nice tonight. Both gave excellent opening statements, and so far no jabs at each other, at least no obvious ones. Hillary gave a very substantive answer on health care (no surprise), and made clear that she's a woman of substance (not that there was any doubt, but still, her answer showed a breadth of knowledge that is impressive). ---------
It's one on one tonight between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The debate is co-hosted by CNN, The Los Angeles Times and the Politico. (I turned on CNN a bit early and it just sucked that I had to see any portion of the immigrant bashing Lou Dobbs show before the debate.)
Wolf is letting us know just how important and historic the debate is. Keep in mind that one of these two Democrats has to be will be President of the United States next year.
Game on....John and I will both be watching and commenting as the debate rolls on.
There are no rules according to Wolf. And, there is a raucous crowd out there in LA tonight.
