10:53 PM UPDATE: Hillary gets asked about playing the fear card, which she has done using vintage GOP talking points about Al Qaeda getting ready to strike us again. This is an issue that we find extremely annoying. She did seem to have a hard time with this one -- wanting to play the fear card, invoking the fact that she represents NY (which was attacked on 9/11, by the way, in case you didn't know)...she's prepared and ready. Obama says we've been dominated by the politics of fear since 9/11. And, he rebuked Clinton for basically using the fear card to score political points. But, she can't let it go...she accused Bush of using fear for political reasons, but she is doing exactly the very same thing even if she pretends she's not - she outright repeated the same line again tonight, that Al Qaeda could hit us on day one. This is the one thing that is most annoying about Clinton. And, she does it all the time. It is vintage Bush/Cheney.
10:32 PM UPDATE: As usual, it's harder to liveblog the Democratic debate. Liveblogging is more fun when we can mock the GOP candidates and their ridiculous answers. By and large, I tend to agree with the Democratic candidates and want one of them to be President. I think all of the candidates have had very good moments. I also think the questioning has been sub-par.
9:34 PM UPDATE: Okay, they've finished the first third of this debate and neither Brian Williams nor Tim Russert have asked a question with any substance. Not one. All the questions have been about the issues the punditry obsesses over...the candidates are trying to give relevant answers and talk about issues despite the questions. Pathetic performance from the moderators.
UPDATE: Hillary defends BET head Bob Johnson for invoking Obama's youthful drug use. Contrast that with Obama recanting on his criticism of Hillary - he fessed up, owned it, and said it was wrong. Wait, now Hillary says Johnson's comments were out of bounds and he has admitted as such. Um, no he hasn't - he actually criticized everyone for criticizing him, and Hillary stood by him and his comments only seconds ago.
Hillary and Obama are playing nice.
The polls closed in Michigan at 9 PM and NBC has already called it for Mitt Romney. This just makes the GOP contest much more complicated. They've got no front runner. John and I are going to live-blog the debate, should anything interesting come up.
