Hillary seems the most impressive to me right now.  I can't point to a single moment or response, but she seems very solid.  Obama seems like a lightweight.  I'm  rethinking my support for him.  He stumbled in his responses and didn't have the magic with him tonight.  Gravel was AWESOME. He's insane.  He's mad as hell and he won't take it anymore.

Hillary was dull.  Nothing special.  Obama looked very Presidential.  It was nothing he said or did, it's just something about him.  Like Bill Clinton, he commands a room naturally.

Reminds me of Senator "Tubes," also from Alaska.

I'm gonna root for him since Clark hasn't declared and isn't in this debate. I can understand his Second Amendment stance being a Westerner and governor of a rural, Western state, but public safety and security is more precious than a "right" the NRA invented by perversing the Constitution for lobbying and money.

Excellent comments on energy independence and global warming.

Disappointed by Richardson.  I had such high hopes, but he's way too in his head.  He is definitely intelligent, but he's severly lacking in the charisma and charm department.  To let you know how important those are, Obama's gotten into Second place on those alone.

n/t

He makes him look sane by comparison.

Chief Justice Roberts?  Huh?

and nuclear proliferation.

from Joe Biden on the need for force in situations like the Balkans...

I think Obama got better in the end.  Edwards was good.  Did we just see Biden lay the groundwork for endorsing Hillary?

nt

- Biden  20% positive 36% negative
- Clinton  34% positive 38% negative
- Dodd  8% positive 42% negative
- Edwards  38% positive 25% negative
- Gravel  12% positive 48% negative
- Kucinich  16% positive 44% negative
- Obama  47% positive 23% negative
- Richardson 21% positive 36% negative

He was really bad though.

at The Fix. In short:

*"The top tier -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards -- did little to hurt themselves and, in Clinton's case, she may well have helped her cause by flashing her experience and the breadth of her knowledge on the issues."

*"Sen. Joe Biden, too, distinguished himself with his wit and humor. His one-word answer --"Yes" -- when asked whether he could be trusted to represent America on the world stage was the highlight of the night."

*"Former Sen. Mike Gravel was downright mean, repeatedly attacking his fellow candidates; he even referred to Biden as "arrogant" at one point. He made Kucinich seem like a teddy bear by comparison."

MSNBC poll by viewers puts Hillary in third behind Obama and Edwards.  She did nothing to shift opinion of herself one way or the other.  Obama looked the most Presidential, and Edwards probably came off as the most likeable.  Hillary is going to need some more "Bill" (Clinton, not Richardson) time if she wants to win.  Obama's got momentum and money (40,000 donations since April first), and Edwards is starting to look good in those early states.

Makes sense that this "debate" was a free pass session.  (I expect that exact same thing from out guys next week)

At some point Hillary Edwards and Obama are going to have to start attacking each other

Then it will get interesting.  Until that point all of this basically means nothing

Its our turn next week

My only question is, does Dodd even belong in the second tier. It's really just a 5 person race right now. Biden and Richardson are obviously way behind, but they'd be first tier candidates in 2004.