Live blogging the Democratic Debate

I've been looking forward to this debate for a little while now - I'm anxious for the candidates to answer some real, credible questions about issues that really matter to working people, not stupid, superficial questions that have marred the debates thus far. Here's hoping that CNN does a better job of moderating and presenting the debates than the other networks have done thus far. C'mon, Wolf Blitzer - give us a good debate and moderate like the pro you are.

Lou Dobbs is right - CNN's theme music gets me charge up, too - because it means one thing - campaign season is rolling around. Some people decry the political season, and I do, too sometimes, but all in all, I'm in my glory with these debates and the political season - it's like one long Super Bowl for political junkies.

It's thundering like crazy here, and we are going to have a nasty thunderstorm here in Philly very soon, so if my live blogging cuts off, it's because our condo lost power.

The candidates are about to get started, so here we go...

7:02: Okay, I'm already nitpicking, but really, Wolf? Who cares about an opening sentence to introduce themselves. Is it a reach to say that anyone watching this debate knows who Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and the rest of the candidates are?

7:03: First question to Barack Obama about the JFK International Airport plot to blow up the fuel distribution center that went public yesterday (I'll blog about that later). Obama is right - this administration has done an extremely poor job of protecting our country - we've been too busy with the War in Iraq. Blitzer presses him for something positive about the Bush administration in the War on Terrorism.

7:05: A question to John Edwards about his statement that the War on Terrorism is a bumper sticker. It is! Good for Edwards - he says it's a "political slogan, that's all it has ever been." Excellent. Good for Edwards - that takes some courage.

7:06: Same question to Hillary Clinton - she rejects Edwards' assertion that it's a bumper sticker slogan. Not a bad start for Hillary. She still sounds a little too robotic to me with her answers, but she always gets going later in debates.

7:07: Over to Dennis Kucinich - he's slamming the Patriot Act with a quote from Ben Franklin. The first thing he'd do as president would be to overturn the Patriot Act. Bravo.

7:09: Question to Joe Biden - war funding. I want to hear this answer. "No one has fought harder to get this president to change his policy." Hmm. Okay, but you did vote for war funding, Senator. That's on you. Biden brings up the equipment that our troops need, but aren't getting. That's received shockingly little press. Now Biden seems to be kissing the rear ends of his colleagues on stage. Is he bucking for Veep or Secretary of State in a new Democratic administration?

7:11: Hillary has a pretty good answer about why she only recently voted to stop the funding for the troops. She's already rounding into better form with her second answer.

7:11: Over to Obama - he addresses the stupid "support the troops" mantra that's become a euphemism for "close your mouth."

7:13: Now it's Edwards' turn about voting for the war - he's no longer in the Senate, but he's been more consistent than any Democratic presidential candidate than any of the field in the past few years. (But originally, he voted to authorize the war.) Blitzer presses him for names, and he names Clinton and Obama. Hmm, now it's getting interesting.

7:15: Obama comes right back at Edwards, saying "you were four-and-a-half years late" in coming out against the war. He scores that one - Obama was against the war before he even arrived in the U.S. Senate. Score one for Obama.

7:16: I like Hillary's answer in rebuttal to Edwards, too - "it's important to remember that this is George Bush's war." It is - the Democrats need to stay united on this.

7:16: Hey, Senator Chris Dodd - welcome to the debate. He's articulate and well-spoken. He has a good stage presence, and his answers sound like everyone else's - that the War in Iraq has affected our ability to fight the War on Terrorism.

7:17: On to Gov. Bill Richardson - (it's about time). The guv wants troops out by the end of the year, and he has the strongest language about the war - "deauthorize the war." Right on. He's the Dem's best-kept secret, and he has the best foreign policy resume of any of the candidates. It baffles me that he hasn't gained traction, but it's June - there's still loads of time. Blitz presses him on genocide, and Richardson talks about Darfur, and Wolf says, "what about Iraq?" and Richardson says he's keep troops in Kuwait. Not bad.

7:20: Former Sen. Mike Gravel is just so angry - I love it, but we need voices like Gravel's - he won't go along with the party line, but he needs to control his anger and use it for good. He's so belligerent, I think it distracts from his message.

7:21: Kucinich, the Dem's anti-war candidate, is thundering away about war funding. He's RIGHT. And he's taking the rest of the candidates on the stage for funding the war. Right on, Dennis.

7:22: Biden is getting awfully defensive about funding the war. "Ladies and gentleman (emphasis his), the way you are going to end this war is by electing a Democratic president." I can't disagree, or the Senate has the 67 votes necessary to override a presidential veto. Neither will happen until January 2009.

7:24: Hillary is railing about inspectors and how they should have been allowed the time to finish their job. This is all great, but let's look forward. All of the candidates are preaching to the converted - the war should not have happened, blah blah blah.

**

C'mon Wolf - your questions about should the war have happened and who should have voted is ANCIENT HISTORY. Let's move forward to questions about where we go from here. These questions are really getting on my nerves. This is doing nothing to tell Democratic voters how they'll move forward, and these answers aren't going to win over any moderates, either. Of course, the Dem nominee will have time to look forward. But really, these questions by Blitzer are annoying. The same question to Obama than Gravel. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

7:27: Hillary is still talking about voting to fund this war. I'm going to sleep.

7:29: Richardson gets a question about immigration. He supports granting legal status to the 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. "I would not support legislation that divides families. I will not support that builds a Berlin-like wall between two countries." He also supports an "earned citizenship program" that required immigrants to "learn English" and "pass a background check." Right on. Where he really nails it is when he says that employers need to be penalized for hiring illegals. Y-E-S. Take away the illegal jobs, and people won't be so quick to come north.

7:33: Biden's answer about the border fence is beyond confusing. "A fence will stop 20 kilos of cocaine from coming over, but it won't stop someone from climbing over that fence." What if the person climbing over the fence is carrying 20 kilos of cocaine, Senator?

7:34: Obama gives a very good answer on immigration - a "pathway to citizenship." Yes.

7:35: Blitzer asks a question right from the Karl Rove playbook - "Everyone raise their hands who thinks that English should be the official language of the United States." Gravel is the only one to raise his hand.

7:36: Obama scores a slam dunk - "this is precisely the type of question meant to divide us." It frickin' is! He's right - if you live in the United States, you're going to have to learn English to effectively function. Interesting that no one brought up the fact that Hispanics and Latinos make up the largest minority in America - how about Spanish as a second language? Of all people, I would think that Richardson would make the case for that.

7:38: On to health care, to Senator Edwards. This is his strongest issue, and it shows. He talks about how he is going to pay for it - by rolling back the tax cuts for the top one percent of Americans. Interesting that he still hasn't brought up going after individual tax cheats. I haven't heard him say that since he said it on Meet the Press about six months ago. I'm glad that he ditched that line of thinking - corporate welfare is the big tax problem, Senator. A sage advisor must have screamed in his ear to not bring up individual tax cheats again.

7:41: Hillary is now talking health care, and this is one of her strongest issues, too. She has the scars from her 1993-94 effort to get universal health care. I'd like to think that if she becomes president, she would have a much better effort this time around.

7:42: Richard's health care plan is mandatory. "How do you do it without raising taxes," asks Wolf. I still don't really get an answer on how he would do it without raising taxes.

7:43: Dodd's turn on health care. He rattles off stats and his resume. ZZZZZZZZ. The only thing I like about his answer is that it will take both parties to get it done. Bravo. Bipartisanship! What a novel idea.

Just a quick thought on the debate - Wolf is doing a good job - no bells, whistles, lights, etc. I don't always like his questions, but he's moderating this debate extremely well.

7:45: Obama is talking about health care, and he's sounding a unified front on health care with the other candidates.

7:46: Kucinich rejects everyone, and says that it should be a non-profit health care system. BRAVO. Why does he not rise in the polls?

7:47: Woo - a Don't Ask, Don't Tell question. Was it a mistake, Hillary? She answers that "it's not the best way for our nation to proceed." That took some courage - a rebuke to President Clinton. She wants to allow homosexuals to serve. That's going to be a tough road, and it takes courage for her to say it, and I'm delighted she did. Huge points to her for bringing up the the military has discharged Arabic linguists because they are gay. You can count on your hands and toes (literally) the number of experienced, qualified Arabic linguists our military has.

7:50: Biden is right on - "Peter Pace (the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff) is dead wrong" about gays in the military. YES. Anyone gay person who votes Republican ought to be institutionalized.

7:50: All candidates raise their hands to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell. At this moment, it's cool to be a Democrat.

7:51: Richardson ups the ante, saying that he would allow civil unions and a hate crimes bill. Again, bravo, guv.

7:53: Gravel would use former President Clinton as a "roving ambassador" - that's stealing Hillary's answer, and her thunder. Gravel is gruff, and his answers are clippy and chippy. No wonder he doesn't get any questions.

What's with the Bill Clinton questions? C'mon - more looking back, and not ahead. Having said that, I do hope that former President Clinton has a prominent role in a Democratic administration, if Hillary isn't elected.

At least the candidates are turning the Bill Clinton question into something that's missing from our foreign policy right now - building relationships, one of the former president's strengths. We've got a lot of relationship repairing to do.

7:57: Cool - an energy question. First to Dodd, but he's not answering the question - thanks for telling us what's happening and recapping - tell us what you'd do. Oh, by 2017, 50 MPG CAFE standards. I'm under-fricking-whelmed. How about by 2010? A carbon tax - I'm not sure how I feel about a carbon tax yet - it's a complex issue that I don't know enough about.

8:00: Gravel gives his best answer I've heard in any of the debates - we are paying $3 per gallon right now, but another $4 by having our military enforce and insure the continued availability of oil. Right on, Mike.

8:01: Edwards offers up empty rhetoric about the oil companies. I don't believe one politician when they say they are going to take on the oil companies. Period.

8:01: Richardson, a former secretary of energy, is one of the strongest candidates on this issue - "we need an Apollo-like program, to ask every American to sacrifice" to find a solution.

8:02: Biden wants to end the subsidy to oil companies ($2.7 billion per year, which is outrageous), raise mileage standards on cars, and go after price gouging. None of the three are likely to happen, but at least Biden is acknowledging they need to be done.

A quick intermission...

Soon the candidates will get to answer individual questions from members of the studio audience. This should be interesting.

8:12: A question from a woman named Jennie McBride about ending the war - her husband is serving in Iraq, and two soldiers from her husband's unit were killed this past week.

First to Kucinich: He wants to cut military spending by 25 percent. I don't think that will fly with any Republican, and it doesn't fly with me.

8:13: Obama wants to expand the size of the military by about 100,000 troops. He also clarifies that the size of the military is different than the Pentagon budget. Did I miss something? Maybe he just didn't explain it adequately. Obama wants to make sure that troops, once they get home, are treated right. Yes. But, what about the pay raise that was recently rejected by Bush? And the measly three percent proposed by Congress? Absurd. (I will blog about the pay raise later.)

8:15: A question from Carol Kilminster, whose son is serving in Iraq. "Why can't veterans choose to get medical care at the hospital of their choice?" A great question. Why don't they?

8:16: The question goes to Obama - he brings up the advantages of having a VA hospital system. I don't know too much about this issue, but the VA system is a joke, from what I've read.

8:17: Richardson has a much better plan and answer - he wants to give vets a "Heroes Health Card," where vets can get health care wherever they want, whatever doctor they want. BRAVO. Put that to a vote, and I'd say yes, every time. The best answer I've heard.

8:18: Gravel gets the question, too - a Korean War vet. He says that the VA "wages war against the veterans." Wow. And he attacks Obama about oversight of the VA (he sits on the committee). Obama handles the answer with aplomb - the committee told the Bush administration that the VA needed $2 billion more in funding, and the Bush admin. said it wasn't needed. Later, the administration said, "Oops, we needed that money after all."

8:21: A question about Iran, from someone who lived there in the 1960s. First to Hillary - "we should have used diplomacy for years." YES. Is it too late for diplomacy now? Who knows - I guess that depends on who you listen to. But, no matter where you get your info., it's clear we haven't talked to Iran and had a dialogue, and Hillary is hammering that. Good. She rightly brings up the fact that we even talked to the Soviets. Hill also says it's "unacceptable" for Iran to have a nuclear bomb. Yes, but she then wouldn't get into hypotheticals, since we don't know if diplomacy will work or not, since we haven't used it. Bonus for the swipe at Dick Cheney. That's always popular with Democratic voters.

8:24: Edwards also tackles the Iranian question, and he shows political cajones by bringing up the fact that Iranian people rallied in the streets in favor of America following 9-11. That's news you won't get from Fox - if you listen to that "network," they sacrificed people as thanks to Allah in thanks of 9-11, which is almost totally false.

8:27: A question about Pakistan - a sticky issue - a non-democratic country with a nuclear bomb. Hillary takes this question, and she offers specifics about how she would handle Pakistan in the War on Terrorism.

8:28: Kucinich gets a question about killing Osama bin Laden - he would not take out bin Laden. Bullcrap, Dennis. I'm a person of piece, but I have to say I disagree with this one. Bin Laden should be six feet under. We need to show the world that we will hold people responsible for people who attack us. Dennis has no hope as a candidate based on just this answer. If Kucinich were president in 1941, imagine what he would have done in the wake of Pearl Harbor. "We will not go to war against Japan." A myopic, misguided point of view.

8:29: Obama gives a much more credible answer, in my view - we are a nation of peace, but bin Laden attacked us, and he needs to pay a price. "You take him out," said Obama. Right on.

8:30: Wolf asks another dumb hypothetical question where all candidates have raise their hands about taking out Osama, but innocents will be killed. Hillary whines about these hypotheticals, and she's right - good for her for pushing back on these abstract hypothetical terms.

8:31: Jeffrey Turiel - a great, important question about Darfur.

8:32: Biden nails it - "We have to stop talking" about Darfur. RIGHT! Biden is strongest on foreign policy issues. Secretary of State, anyone?

Wolf tries to do another hand raising issue, and Hillary pushes back, to applause. These hypothetical questions are oversimplifications, and unfair to the candidates. I can guarantee you that these answers could be used against candidates later, out of context. Good for Hillary for putting up a fight about these questions.

8:34: Richardson loses his moxy - he would not use combat troops to put a stop to the genocide in Darfur? WTF? Why even have a military then? Especially since Richardson was in the Clinton cabinet when Rwanda was ignored - one of the biggest mistakes of Clinton's presidency, and those are his words.

8:37: Obama gets a re-direct on the question on Darfur, and he doesn't answer the question about boycotting the Beijing Olympics - no candidate agrees. I disagree - we should boycott the Summer Games as a dramatic statement if China doesn't start using its leverage in Sudan to put a stop to the slaughter.

8:39: Richardson is making a comeback of sorts - "[the United States] lacks the credibility to build a coalition to stop the genocide." Okay. I still say that we should stop the slaughter in Darfur by force, if necessary. We have a moral authority to do so.

8:40: Wolf restates a question about mandatory service by asking about the draft. Dodd has it all wrong - "we don't need a draft." Well, I'm not sure if we do, but there is a strong case for it - our military is hopelessly undermanned, and it needs to be dealt with in some way.

8:43: A self-employed computer consultant asks, "What's the definition of rich?" Obama defines it in relation to his health care proposal - $250,000 or more. I disagree - anyone making over 100k per year (not a couple, an individual) is wealthy, by my estimation. He brings up something that's important, and rarely discussed - Democrats who want to roll back the Bush tax cuts (which should never have been implemented in the first place) want to return the tax code to what it was under President Clinton. This underscores a Republican strategy - anyone who wants to roll back Bush's tax cuts are people "who want to raise your taxes." This is a disingenious Republican strategy - get the tax cut passed at all costs, deficits be damned. When a Democrat wants to reign in the deficit, they "want to raise your taxes." An absurd oversimplification.

8:47: Richardson wants to get rid of corporate welfare. Bravo. Insurance companies should have cost controls. A constitutional amendment to balance the budget, and a "pay as you go" policy. Not bad. I don't know how realistic it is, because the economy is very complex, and I'm not economist, but that sounds good to me.

8:49: Kucinich is at his best right now: We need to get out of NAFTA (I couldn't agree more), and stop waging war that China is financing. He's really right about that, and it gets shockingly little press - China owns so much of our debt, and that ought to frighten each and every American, and every politican, but it doesn't, and it baffles me. Why does China own so much of our debt, a number that's skyrocketed under this administration? Bush tax cuts, an out-of-control spending Congress (mostly Republican on Bush's watch) and an immoral war.

8:53: Hillary hits a homer - "It's important to note that six years ago, we had a balanced budget and a surplus through spending cuts; there is no free lunch." I'd like to know how a GOP nominee will defend that important point.

8:54: Kucinich is at his best when he's talking about matters of the economy and eliminating special interest groups.

8:55: Biden calls for public financing of elections. It's one of the biggest issues that need to be faced by this next administration. I couldn't agree more - it's the single best way to end the special interest groups, and earmarks.

8:56: Edwards: The biggest responsibility of the next president is traveling the world and telling people our values." Right on - Bush has done scarely little of that. Reestablishing alliances around the world, our commitment to humanity.

8:57: Wolf asks them all: "What's the biggest priority in the first 100 days of your presidency?"
Hillary: Ending the war, if it's not already.

Obama: (Agrees with Hillary on Iraq) Getting moving on healthcare, because that's something we can get moving on quickly.

Richardson: No one has talked about education" - he talks about full-day kindergarden, etc. Good. Pay our teachers what they deserve - a minimum wage, $40,000 per year. Universal education available for every American.

Biden: Ending the war in Iraq, immediately move to diffuse a possible war with Iran and move to diffuse the situation on the Korean peninsula.

Kucinich: Cancelling NAFTA, ending the instruments of war, and a big laundry list.

Gravel: Turn to these people (on the stage) and say they have the power to end the war.

Dodd: Restoring citizens' constitutional rights. I would do that on the first day, I woudn't wait 100 days.

Bravo, Senator Dodd.

That's it - on to the post-game show. This was the best debate among the candidates yet. As predicted, Blitzer did (mostly) a very good job. He's my favorite moderator for any debate. I hope CNN gets to moderate a presidential debate in the fall of '08.

I liked the format here - lots of give and take, and Blitzer was free to moderate and follow up on questions and answers that candidates are most animated about.

I'll be live blogging Tuesday's GOP debate - same time, same station.

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