Live blogging the Dem debate

I just got home, and I didn't DVR the first 1/2 hour, but here we go - with commercials I will catch up with the live broadcast in a bit.

7:27: Dennis Kucinich has some pretty tough talk about Iraq - "apologies aren't enough." He's right. Coming from a man who introduced a resolution to impeach Cheney yesterday, that's not a surprise.

7:29: Ouch. Brian Williams, the NBC moderator, hits Joe Biden below the belt by bringing up his gaffes and also alluding to his previous scandal of plagiarism in 1988. Biden's response to Williams question about being articulate and able to speak with authority and clarity (I'm paraphrasing): "Yes." Love the awkward silence. Biden handled it as good as he could.

7:30: Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel is coming out swinging - he sounds like the desperate candidate he is.

7:39: Williams asks the candidates about a model Supreme Court justice. Bill Richardson names someone that probably no one in American has ever heard of, and Williams retorts, "how about someone among the living." This simply reaffirms my preconceived notion that Williams is a real moron, and I'm being nice.

7:42: Bill Richardson is handling a question on guns with aplomb. I love his entire answers. Access to mental health is a crisis that is never covered in the press. And I like the fact he wants instant background checks, which we desperately need.

7:44: Biden is talking about the gun show loophole. It's inexcusable that this loophole still exists.

7:44: Now Edwards gets a chance to talk about his health care plan, and he's doing it. He wants to roll back the Bush tax cuts for people who make over $200,000 per year. I notice that Edwards did not mention how he wants to crack down on individual tax cheats. (I heard him mention that on MTP a month or so ago. Go after the corporate tax cheats, John.

7:46: Barack Obama is getting his chance now. The guy's well-spoken, and he "looks" presidential. I hate it when people say that, I'll confess, but he just does. I like his message about health care, too. So far, I love the Edwards and Obama plans, even though they've painted broad strokes.

7:48: This is the second time I've heard Hillary talk about what she did when her husband was president. C'mon, look to the future. We all know you were first lady for eight years. Get on with it.

7:50: Richardson takes a notable anti-tax stance. "As Democrats I hope we don't always think of new taxes to pay for programs." Right you are, Bill. He also wants to focus on prevention. It's about time someone says that - prevention is typically not mentioned. "Re-establish the doctor-patient relationship."

7:51: Uh oh, a Confederate Flag question for Biden via e-mail. Biden handles the question effectively - "why not come here to show off a black college."

7:51: Same question for Obama, and in 10 seconds he's off that topic after saying "the flag should be put in a museum," and that's all that needed to be said.

7:53: Now a question about "your biggest mistake." I love all the answers - Biden - "overestimating this administration"; Edwards - "this war"; Hillary - "I don't have enough time to talk about all of the mistakes I've made," but nothing on Iraq, again; Richardson - "I've made a lot of mistakes, and I'm not perfect."

Okay, I guess I'm not going to catch up, because there are no commercials - I'm about a 1/2 hour behind, but still going forward.

7:56: Dodd gives an interesting response to drug testing for welfare recipients - he's not in favor of it. Neither am I.

7:57: Edwards' response to a question about oil - "We ought to ask Americans to be passionate about something other than war." Well said. He believes in conservation. Easier said than done, Senator. The government needs to give us those tools, and I'm talking about mass transit here.

7:59: I love Richardson's response as to what he would do in his first day in the Oval Office - end the war, have an Apollo-like program on climate change and getting us off of foreign oil. Bravo.

8:01: Obama's talking about China - "China is neither our enemy, nor our friend." That's about right. A follow-up question about Israel - Obama handles it pretty well, clarifying his thoughts on Israel and the Palestinians.

8:02: Gravel just sounds angry. He needs to breathe and calm down. He seems to be pretty upset that he's not being treated as one of the major candidates. Maybe it's because he's angry? I don't know.

8:05: Richardson is talking about Russia. He give a Bush-like pronunciation of NOOQULUR. Okay, he's working the boards and he snags a rebound: "Being stubborn is not a foreign policy" and "Power without diplomacy is blind." He's impressing me all the way around - he's got Veep written all over him if he doesn't get the nomination. He gets in a word about Africa, too: "Why doesn't America care about Africa?" A good question.

8:08: Hillary is taking on a question about Homeland Security and it's her best answer yet. "There's a disconnect between the rhetoric and the reality. We haven't secured our borders, ports or mass transit systems. [...] This administration has tried to hype the fear, without delivering on the promise to make America safer." Now THAT'S a slam dunk, Mrs. Clinton.

8:10: Sen. Chris Dodd has the best-sounding voice. I know, totally irrelevant, but he's the antonym of Joe Lieberman, who has the worst voice of any politician I've ever heard (with a nod to Mike Dukakis and Ronald Reagan).

8:11: Obama handles a question about a terrorist attack in a curious way. He talks about responding to the victims and manages to get in a Hurricane Katrina mention. Not bad, but where's the beef? Okay, now he's getting it - he's stressing diplomacy, but where's the tough talk? It's unfortunate, but the reality is that much of America likes Bush's idiotic "Wanted: Dead or Alive" talk.

8:13: "We have more tools available to us than bombs," says Edwards in response to the same question.

8:14: Clinton mentions AGAIN that she's a Senator. Am I being too picky by writing "shut up about it, Hill!" We know you are. You don't need to have your resume on the tip of your tongue every minute. She winds it up with very tough talk about Osama bin Laden, though.

8:16: Williams asks all the candidates if they will support Kucinich's effort to impeach Cheney. I'm going to write a whole lot more about this later tonight. I give him a great deal of credit for having the balls to hang himself out there like that. I think it's a bit early - let Congress keep building the case, but I applaud Kucinich. I thought that was going to be the question and moment of the night, but Williams lets it go.

8:18: "A Manhattan Project-like effort for energy independence," says Biden. Yes, we do. And only a Democrat is going to deliver on it.

8:20: Richardson gives one of the best answers of the night about an attack on two of our cities at the same time. He answers that he would use force, and he's pretty emphatic about it. Bravo. Richardson strikes me as really polished. I think he's the party's best-kept secret.

8:21: I really dislike Gravel. I support his right to be up on stage, but he's just bitter. The bad part about it all is that the guy's got good ideas, but he needs to moderate his delivery.

8:23: Obama handles an environment question as Super Dad - mentioning his two kids. Like Gravel right before him, he swerves away from a question on the environment and talks terrorism. It's pretty clear the Dems want to set the table on the terrorism debate.

8:24: Obama and Kucinich are getting testy with one another over Iran. Not sure how I feel about this, because I don't know all of the ins and outs of Iran, but I'm certainly not in favor of a war with Iran, until we absolutely have to, and I hope that day never comes.

8:27: Edwards give a Bill Clinton-like pause before answering a question about who his moral leader is. I was getting nervous for him, but then he comes back with his Lord, his wife and his parents.

8:28: Hillary on Wal Mart: a mixed bag. Okay, she turns it to this administration and corporate America. She's not actually really answering the question, but I still like how she answered the question.

8:29: Biden sounds pretty good in response to a question of "is there a winner on this stage." He responds, "You bet, I see a bunch of winners on this stage." He's right.

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It's over - not a bad debate, but this is just a preview of a long campaign to come.

No one really took it tonight, but I think Richardson had very pointed answers that were well thought out.

Obama, Clinton, Biden, Edwards and Richardson all sounded the best to me.

Dodd isn't bad, but there just seems to be something missing. I know that's not deep analysis, but he has the look of a cabinet member of a Democratic administration. Kucinich has a lot of courage, but he just can't seem to gain traction. And I don't know that he got much tonight. Gravel needs to turn his frown upside down. He sounds desperate, angry and combative..

The Republican candidates are up next Thursday, and if all goes well, I will live blog that one, too.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)