When he was whispering in her ear and she was laughing, I turned to my husband and said, "They look sexy together." He agreed. Was I speaking metaphorically or descriptively? I'm not sure, but together Clinton and Obama could beat McCain.

Who should top the ticket? Ladies first.

Who the hell decided that Wolf "Swipe" Blitzer is qualified to moderate a debate? His attempts to manufacture tension between the two candidates ("that sounds like a swipe against you, Senator") were the low points in what was an otherwise civil and above the board debate. BLitzer should stick to moderating those faux talk shows/infomercials that you see at 2am on cable and leave the big shows to real professionals.

And don't get me started about Anderson Cooper giving Huckabee and Paul the shaft in last night's GOP debate.

Brian

Hillary and Obama together ? Gross. Sexually, too.

Obama held forth with confidence, and he used far fewer words to get there. Hillary, by contrast, spent more time speaking, almost as if to command more attention by virtue of the fact that there were no rules. On many occasions it seemed she was just rambling along waiting for an applause line to pop out of her mouth, or trying to wear down the audience to prevent them from asking future difficult question (such as, "Why did you vote to authorize the war in Iraq?").

Hillary could not satisfactorily answer that question. She danced around it, over it, beside it, based Bush, etc. She never really answered the question. Obama saw an opening and said something akin to, "You can have a president who has a lot of experience on day one, but what you really need is a president who is right from day one." This was one of Obama's biggest lines of the evening -- yet the article failed to mention it.

Obama sat silently for much of the debate, holding his head up, scribbling in his notepad, and letting Hillary have center stage. But as soon as she wound down, he held up one finger, got his words in, and made a solid point about whatever the issue was. He came out on top of every exchange. Hillary was spinning her wheels, and Hillary was lawyering bigtime. Hillary actually used the term, "at the end of the day," a pet peeve of mine, and used several other laywer turns of phrase. She speaks confidently, but her words are pandering, aimed toward what she thinks an audience want to hear. Obama's words are aimed toward what his principles are, and he keeps his principles high.

I am not an Obama-ite, I am a keen observer. I didn't always dig Obama -- he has earned my respect. I am convinced he is the best candidate by far. I know this is sappy, but Obama's performance during the debates has at time brought a tear to my eye. Obama has a natural political gift that has real magic to it. Hillary is a life-long student of that gift who, while incredibly smart and skillful, has never really nailed it.

Hillary Clinton is the Salieri to Obama's Mozart. If Hillary wins this race it will be all of our loss.

My wife is a steadfast Obama supporter and I support Mrs. Clinton. Tonight's debate/discussion showed that we have 2 excellent candidates on the Democratic side.

With all the negative press Hillary Clinton receives, I must say that I was quite impressed with her performance. What a pleasure to hear someone who actually understands what government can and should do. She just seems so competent and thoughtful. I also thought she had more depth in her responses. I have watched politicians for a very long time now, and have a feeling for answers which are political but unsubstantial. I feel we get much less of that from Sen. Clinton than from Sen. Obama

While I obviously want Hillary Clinton to prevail, our country will be in very good hands if Sen. Obama if elected President.

When was the last time we were able to make such a statement about any candidate; in this case we have 2 outstanding candidates. A real break for our country.

She was poised, fair and wouldnt take the crap that CNN was baiting her with.

I mean seriously how biased could CNN be? Are they trying to out bias MSNBC or what?

While both candidates did well tonight, and each did what they needed to do. I think Clinton had in mind taking the edge off her personality and blunting the blowback her on-the-trail approach has caused.

But I think the big winner in the debate from a strategy standpoint is Obama. I say this as a supporter, but I think he did the most important piece of business he could have: address the substance issue.

Although Obama has detailed policy papers, and his interview with the SF Chronicle is extremely meaty, he has suffered from the (I believe mistaken) impression that he is style without substance: hope and fluff but without the policy chops. Perhaps because the policy forums, papers and the like are outlets that only the most dedicated internet archeologists often dig up.

So here, he forgoes too much flower while remaining clear and forceful... but goes into wonk mode. He matches her point for point, goes into detail on every question and provides hard details. Some of his proposals perhaps you liked better, some perhaps not. But by going toe-to-toe with Clinton on her turf and biggest strength, he neutralizes one of her biggest sell points.

Also, I think the "you want someone who is RIGHT day one" really punched home the judgement thing in a very simple, straight-up formula.

Why do political commentators talk about such trivia?

In my relief to see the one thing I hoped Obama would do, I did forget to mention a highlight for me was the alien immigration issue, and Obama clearly stating that he thinks blaming immigrants for inner-city job losses et. all was "scapegoating". It garnered a great response, but I also think it highlighted for him a core personality strength: he'll say what he means and not what is politic. This is versus Clinton's answer, which was calculated in the extreme.

Another example of this is when he didn't shy away from confronting the industry regarding violence right to their faces, with them sitting in the audience. This reinforces the narrative (an accurate one I believe) that he doesn't alter is positions for his audience -- it's he "I preached the need to stop fighting fuel economy standards... IN DETROIT to the automakers" story.

Also, on Iraq I think he's clearly made his case regarding his chances in the general vs. McCain or Romney and forced Clinton into a much worse response and sent a signal by tough-talking aimed at Republicans that "unity" and "hope" doesn't mean a pushover and Republican punching bag.

In fairness, I do think Clinton did get in a good moment with the "Clinton to clean up a Bush's mess again" line -- although I don't think it erased the dynasty question.

I can't judge the healthcare plans objectively, because I've always thought Obama's points about making it required and enforcement were always better, and we should focus on making it affordable and available to everyone rather than punishing those who can't get it.