Fight Night Liveblog - The Democrats

8:05pm: The Democratic candidates seem to have better posture than the Republicans, especially Hillary Clinton, whose is so upright she could balance a book on her head.

8:07pm: Obama discusses going after Al Qaeda in Pakistan, but Charlie Gibson questions whether this is the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptively striking.

8:09pm: Edwards focuses on a long term policy of nuclear nonproliferation, instead of what he calls an "ad hoc" policy of stopping nuclear weapons country-by-country.

FUN FACT: Edwards and Richardson both choose blue ties tonight, just as almost every GOP candidate did. Pantone, the global authority on color, has selected Blue Iris, as the color of 2008. "Combining the stable and calming aspects of blue with the mystical and spiritual qualities of purple, Blue Iris satisfies the need for reassurance in a complex world, while adding a hint of mystery and excitement." NYT notes that blue is the new green, as green has was overused in 2007.

8:17pm: Charlie Gibson says some experts estimate that there's at least a 30% chance that an American city will be attacked by a nuclear weapon. What would these candidates do?

8:19pm: The Democrats are all taking turns and answering questions one by one, instead of the Republicans, who began a free-for-all with the topics early on in their debate. So far, no direct confrontation between any of the candidates, instead, a serious policy discussion about the threat of nuclear attack.

8:26pm: Weird. So first we get a video question set up about entitlement programs, and then Gibson does a 180 and asks about what "change" means. Clinton says that you don't get change by just talking about it or demanding it, a line that we've heard again and again... and again in the last two months.

8:27pm: Clinton is now taking on Obama on healthcare, but not looking at him. Not even once. Obama addresses her attack by looking her in the eye. He says he would set up a single payer healtcare system if he were starting from scratch. But since half of the insured Americans are already getting employer-based healthcare, he wouldn't get rid of it.

Obama's plan would provide incentives so everyone can afford healthcare, but does not mandate it for adults. Clinton argues that this could leave millions of Americans out because it's not mandated for adults. This has been an ongoing distinction between the two plans.

FUN FACT: The Associated Press has now been mentioned three times in the two debates.

8:31pm: Clinton comes after Obama again, this time saying that he's changed his positions more than her and Edwards. Edwards can't get a word in edgewise.

8:33pm: Obama turns Clinton's attacks into a chance to say that Clinton is having the wrong discussion by "distorting his record". Edwards takes Obama's side, saying that "anytime you speak out for change, the forces of status quo attack". At the moment Edwards said "status quo", the shot switched to a shot of Hillary just staring at him.

8:36pm: Hillary comes on strong, becoming slightly unhinged after the Edwards attck. This is basically what it sounds like, "I'VE BEEN CHANGING THINGS FOR THIRTY FIVE YEARS!!!! I CHANGE!!!"
After she gets done with her yelling, Richardson says, "I've been in hostage negotiations more civil than this."

8:37pm: Bill Richardson translation: "Please, READ MY RESUME!!!!"

FUN FACT: Breaking news, apparently Britney Spears has been released from medical lockdown and Dr. Phil walked her out. She may be on his show Monday.

8:39pm: A shout out to Costco from John Edwards, when talking about companies that are doing good things.

FUN FACT: Costco is known for being considerate of its employees' well-being. When grocery store workers picketed in California four year ago, Costco Wholesale Corp. avoided the fray, quietly renegotiating a separate contract with its union employees there.

FUN FACT: Costco offers a jumbo sized hot dog and 20 oz drink for $1.50 in their cafe.

8:40pm: Meanwhile, over at Facebook, the instapoll about the GOP debate shows that an overwhelming number of respondents thought the most surprising thing about the debate was that "Romney said drug companies are not the enemy."

8:44pm: Now the topic is whether the surge in Iraq is working. Each candidate is taking their turn. This time Richardson becomes the most animated. "We can't have CHANGE until we get the troops out of Iraq!!!"

8:49pm: Bill Richardson distinguishes himself on this issue by being the only one calling for complete withdrawal within one year, rather than a phased deployment called for by the other candidates. He says leaving any troops there makes them targets.

8:53pm: Three minute commercial break. Good. I needed one.

8:58pm: And we're back. Clinton is asked about how she is seen as electable and experienced, but not an agent of change. What to say about how people don't like her?
"That hurts my feelings," she said. A nice response.

9:01pm: Ha! Obama admits he was flipping back and forth between watching the GOP debate and the NFL playoffs. He reports the Redskins lost.

9:07pm: On energy: "Al Gore was right, he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize, I'm glad he stayed out of the race," Richardson said.

9:10pm: Edwards is asked about his six years in the US Senate, and what he actually did there. He points out how he teamed up with Kennedy and McCain to write the patient's bill of rights, which eventually passed the Senate.

9:13pm: Obama and Edwards, who are seated next to each other, are like BFF tonight. They are both talking about how their battles against special interests have been personal, and they're backing each other up, even using "we". Then Clinton chimes in saying "let's have a little reality check here, words are not action".

9:21pm: How long have we been sitting here watching these debates? Dios mio!

9:25pm: Now we go to global warming, and why none of the four candidates favor a carbon tax (which Chris Dodd supports, but he dropped out Thursday). Richardson says cap-and-trade is an actual mandate, which works better.

9:30pm: Finally, we start talking about the economy, which Clinton says "is slipping into recession". Edwards blames multi-national corporations that are making billions on the backs of the American middle class.

9:34pm: Ooooh, interesting. The Democrats get a chance to say something that they said in a previous debate that they wish they could take back. Clinton goes first, but doesn't name a single thing, instead saying, "there are some things that I said Id like to take back" without coming up with an example.

Richardson says his mistake was saying Byron White was his favorite Supreme Court Justice. "Then I find out White was against Roe v Wade, against civil rights... That was a bad one."

Edwards says his was at the CNN YouTube debate: "My horrendous mistake was teasing Hillary about her jacket".

Obama can't come up with one single thing that he wants to take back either.

9:39pm: And finally, finally, we are done. A long night. Thoughts?