Lets face it, the Democratic Debate was a great example of how the Democratic Party has learned a few things. The candidates were mostly civil, they learned to attack the opposition party more then each other and they learned to be “more inclusive” by bringing Kucinich & Gravel to the forefront thereby limiting the ability for people like Ralph Nader to criticize. They also in the process made things a bit boring for the debate.

It has been my belief all along that Republicans are going to have a difficult time this year. Not simply because of the opposition to the president but because there are pretty divided wings of the party. There is one clear frontrunner in the polls, Giuliani, who shares almost none of the values of a large percentage of the party. The rest of the candidates need to get that across. Their only avenue? Attack!

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Election news & opinions from the nations top commentators.

Frontrunners fumble: Obama and other leading Democrats for president get upstaged by also-rans in 1st debate

Lynn Sweet gives her take on the first Democratic Debate in South Carolina.

The Democrats’ polling puzzle Can any candidate cover the party’s many bases?

Ronald Brownstein looks at the many facets of the Democratic Party.

How News Oozes Forth

Howard Kurtz writes about how stories move from the campaign trail to our minds.

The Return of Pragmatism?
Howard Fineman sees a return to Bush 41 style foreign policy and he finds it in some unlikely sources. Who has been talking with Colin Powell & who has been talking with Brent Scowcroft, Fineman has the scoop?

$400 Haircut & Still a Bad Hair Day
Howard Kurtz looks at the blogosphere reaction to John Edwards pricey move to get his ears lowered.

Entitlement
Richard Reeves uses John Edward’s pricey haircuts and a few other examples to speak to a growing sense of “entitlement” in our nation and in our elected officials.

The Abortion Wars
Eleanor Clift takes a look at the impact a major Supreme Court ruling might have on the campaigns and the country.

This one goes off topic from the Election but Fark.com is a major source of news out there (one I use for this site) and I thought I would post up the following link.

Powrsurg has a good fix if you are feeling less than happy with the new Fark look & you use FireFox.

I just thought it was a nice little thing and thought I would share in Geek Corner.

From the Associated Press:

Republican presidential contender John McCain called the Iraq war “a great tragedy” on Thursday, yet still decried a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal as the Senate voted to begin pulling out troops by Oct. 1.
“I’m aware of the patience of the American people. I read the polls. I’m not embarrassed to say that. I understand the frustration and sorrow that American people feel about this war. It’s a great tragedy,” said McCain, who was campaigning in this early voting state and missed the Senate vote on the bill containing the withdrawal timetable.

Summary/Wrap-up

Too many candidates.

Obama was non-existent until the end when he was getting challenged by Kucinich & Gravel.

Clinton was Clinton, not amazing, not terrible.

Edwards & Richardson were both kind of out of it BUT Richardson came off very odd and poor.

Kucinch was less crazy than I expected.

Gravel picked up the crazy slack.

Dodd & Biden did pretty well.

——————————————————–
8:29 - Biden attacks Kucinich & Gravel and their way of thinking and oddly throws in a nice compliment for Sen. Clinton.

8:26 - Edwards, who is your moral leader?
No answer for twenty-seconds, mentions Jesus, his wife, his father.

8:25 - Gravel gets in on the fight.

8:24 - Kucinich challenges Obama on keeping “all options on the table” for War.

Great visual, Kucinich & Obama fighting it out with Clinton keeping quiet in the middle.

8:23 - Obama found a way to say his kids names on TV and avoid a question about how he personally has worked to be more green in his personal life.

8:22 - Mike Gravel continues his rein.

8:15 - Hillary needs to learn how to answer a question and stay on topic.

8:09 - Dodd gives a better answer to the question.

8:07 - Clinton is asked about Giuliani’s comments
Totally blows the answer with a rambling speech.

8:04 - Gravel

Military Industrial Complex controls our lives, there are no enemies.

8:02 - Biden, name three greatest enemies
North Korea, Iran & “frankly” movements by Mr. Putin in Russia.

8:00 - Mr. Obama name our three greatest allies.
Names NATO & the EU. Not good.

7:54 - Richardson, name one mistake you have made?
“I am impatient, I am too aggressive, I ram things down peoples throats.”

Thank you Mr. Richardson.

“I…”

Thank you Mr. Richardson.

7:52 - Gravel, going off the rails like a crazy train.

7:51 - Clinton & Obama play lovefest with eachother. Good strategy.

7:48 - Richardson either keeps yawning or zoning out or something. He keeps looking weird, it is distracting. Ran past his time again.

7:48 - Clinton
Not ready to put new money into a system that doesn’t work until we work out what we have.

7:47 - Obama, how would you fund your health care plan?
- Avoided an answer.

7:44 - Sen. Edwards, you would raise taxes? Which ones?

- I would take away the Bush tax cuts. Didn’t quite give an answer.

7:43 - Show of Hands - How many of you have, in your adult lifetime, had a gun in the house?

Gravel, Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Kucinich.

7:41 - Guns.
Richardson is NRA’s favorite candidate. Did Virginia Tech change your mind?

“Second amendment is precious…” So no it doesn’t seem to have changed his mind. First candidate to go over time.

7:40 - Name or Pass - Model Supreme Court Judge, Name or Pass

Cluster F. They got three in and stopped because it was taking too long. Williams should have explained it a little better.

7:32 - Domestic Topics.
Abortion

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Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore has now entered the race for the ‘08 Republican nomination. More from the Associated Press.

From the Associated Press:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - David Huckabee, a son of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, was arrested at an Arkansas airport Thursday after a federal X-ray technician detected a loaded Glock pistol in his carry-on luggage.

“I removed the bag and asked Mr. Huckabee if he knew what he had in the bag,” Little Rock police officer Arthur Nugent wrote in a report after being summoned to a security checkpoint. “He replied he did now.”

Remember that you can see the debate on MSNBC and also online at MSNBC.com where you can also rate the candidates while the debate goes on.

To get you started check out Howard Fineman’s commentary Carolina Combat or for a rundown of what the events mean tonight check out Jim Heath’s thoughts at Political Wire.

Tonight in South Carolina Democrats will square off. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Sen. Clinton’s lead diminishing with Barack Obama & John Edwards gaining.

Meanwhile John McCain, hot off his announcement yesterday that he is officially running is also in South Carolina spending the day making campaign stops, shadowing his Democratic rivals.

There will be plenty to going on before, during & after so be sure and stop back to the site throughout the day.

He is running. Not quite the news flash you would expect.

In my opinion, the election laws as setup don’t really make sense. I understand the concept of an exploratory committee but honestly I think it stinks in practice. In the time that McCain has been “exploring” his entire campaign has basically burned through money, lost a great deal in the public relations fight, been overshadowed by candidates no one thought would have a chance and basically lost its place as “frontrunner” in the campaign.

All before McCain even officially announced he was running. Seems kind of stupid doesn’t it?

I am of the mindset that a great deal of resources and money shouldn’t be given to candidates running for president unless they are serious. So the easiest way for them to let us know that is to actually run for president, day one and see it through until the bitter end.

Anyway, that is just my opinion.