9:10pm: Records in the National Archives during the time HRC headed the healthcare commission are also still sealed... she says she'll get those out "as soon as I can".

9:08pm: Clinton gets to address how she has yet to make public her tax returns. Obama and McCain have both made theirs public.

"I will do it as others have done it, upon becoming the nominee," Clinton said.

9:05pm: Obama must face his waffling on whether to accept public financing during the general election campaign. McCain has been calling him out for agreeing to it last year, and then not outright agreeing to it now. (Obama says it's because he's not the nominee yet and Hillary is "a pretty tough opponent".)

"What I have said is that I will sit down and talk with Senator McCain about it if I'm the nominee," Obama says.

9:02pm: Finally we get to see some tape of Obama making a charge on the stump against Clinton. He backs it up, saying that she takes credit for her eight years as First Lady as part of her experience.

"You can't take credit for all the good things that are happening, and then say, like with NAFTA, that behind-the-scenes you were disagreeing."

9:00pm: This is all ground that the candidates have covered before... Clinton saying she's a fighter, Obama saying his record points to the fact that he's not all talk. When he just said that he's "not about speeches" he missed a chance to say that talk can stir action, and that he could potentially use it to build coalitions to get things done.

8:56pm: Now they play tape of Clinton sarcastically poking fun at Obama's speeches over the weekend, saying that he sounds like he's saying "the skies will open up and the world will be perfect".

Obama responds with humor, saying "I give her points for delivery", then uses it as a chance to pivot to his track record... "talk to the soldiers at Walter Reed who had to pay for their phone calls until I changed the law", or his efforts to clean up the influence of lobbyists in Washington.

8:52pm: Brian Williams has to cut off Clinton in order to get to a commercial break, but she keeps trying to talk. Ultimately the commercial wins out. It's Liberty Mutual... "Responsibility... what's your policy?"

8:49pm: This is wonky -- we're about fifty minutes in and there hasn't been any kitchen sink throwing.

8:45pm: Lots on Iraq, Obama talks up his judgement in speaking out against the war during a politically risky time (2002) before a re-election race.

8:42pm: Clinton joins in talking about McCain, saying "standing on the stage with John McCain, I will have a much better case to make, and be able to hold my own."

8:39pm: Obama namedrops John McCain for the first time tonight. He talks about McCain's talk of staying in Iraq for 100 years. Clinton still may be sitting there, but Obama is going to run against McCain already...

8:38pm: Is there no audience for this debate? I haven't heard any applause or anything. Wait, they just showed a wide shot, there's like thousands of people in there. How come they're not making any noise? Candidates were interrupted by applause every few minutes last week.

8:33pm: Whoa, Russert actually read Clinton's full economic plan?

8:31pm: "I think Senator Clinton is right on this one," said Obama. "We have just been looking at what's good for corporations and we haven't been looking at what's right for working people," he continues.

8:29pm:"It has worked in some parts of America, it has not worked in Ohio," Clinton said. Her position is that she would make changes to NAFTA to toughen enforcement -- and agrees to opt out of NAFTA unless the US will re-negotiate the deal.

8:27pm: Russert brings out quotes from Clinton's past, in which she praises NAFTA. Obama has been saying that she has changed her position on this. This is difficult issue, as Texans like NAFTA better than Ohioans, who lots thousands of jobs as a result of the trade agreement.

8:21pm: Before answering a question on NAFTA, Clinton expresses that she's not pleased about how "I always get the first question in all these debates. If anyone has seen that Saturday Night Live [a spoof on the press favoring Obama], maybe someone should ask if Barack is comfortable or wants a pillow. I don't mind, I just find it kind of curious."

First of all, why is a television skit being brought into a legitimate debate? And how is it media bias for anyone to get the first or last question?

8:18pm: "That's just not the case," Obama said. He now goes into the nitty gritty of their two programs and the differences on how their plans go about achieving universal healthcare. Williams tries to give Obama the last word here, but Clinton won't let this point go, coming back with "big arms".

8:17pm: Okay, Clinton's volume is rising now re: enforcing a healthcare mandate. She started to get "big arms" (code for lots of gesticulating)... but has toned it down as she finishes her point. "I have the most aggressive measures to reduce cost and improve quality," Clinton said. "Let's have a debate about the facts."

8:14pm: Obviously everyone who's been watching this race is expecting Clinton to draw sharp differences between her and Obama tonight so that she can turn the Obama tide around. Some people think she should be aggressive in her tone, but it seems it would be tough to really come at someone you're sitting four inches away from. Remember the nasty SC debate, (which I like to call "the orgasm of opposition research")? They were standing. And farther away from one another. And Edwards was there.

8:13pm: This healthcare back and forth is almost verbatim from the back and forth in last week's debate. So far, so civil.

8:09pm: Now Clinton must answer for her campaign's leaking of a photo of Obama in Somali dress. "So far as I know it did not [come from my campaign], but we have no evidence where it came from," she says.

8:08pm: Clinton takes on Obama on healthcare, unhappy with Obama saying that her plan would force people to get insured whether they could afford it or not. "My plan will cover everyone and it will be affordable," she says. "Senator Obama's plan does not cover everyone."

8:06pm: Awesome, we get a montage of Hillary Clinton's changing messages toward Barack Obama over the weekend, from a warm "I'm honored to be on the same stage" from Thursday to Saturday's "Shame on you, Barack Obama!"

8:02pm: Here we go!

7:54pm: Just a reminder for anyone who's reading this in real time: The Belo Texas TV stations went in on a presidential primary daily tracking poll, the first results come out tonight during the 10pm newscast. I will start putting up data here on this blog at 10:01pm.

7:47pm: Just a quick overview - The 90-minute duel begins at 9 p.m. and airs live on MSNBC and Ohio broadcast TV. Moderated by Brian Williams and joined by Tim Russert. No opening statements, no closing statements, no time limits.

7:45pm: What can we expect tonight? A Clinton aide says debate tone "will be civil."

7:41pm: Okay, now Hillary Clinton is in the house, she looks like she's in good spirits. Olbermann tells us to expect a "kitchen sink" kind of approach from Clinton.

7:36pm: MSNBC just showed video of Senator Barack Obama walking into the debate site in Cleveland. We're just minutes away now from the 20th (and maybe final) Democratic primary debate this year.