YouTube Democratic Debate: The Liveblog

Well, my computer decided to act up, so the Liveblog's kicking off a little late. But that's OK — CNN decided to start with a medley of YouTube video questions that *aren't* being answered. Way to try to discredit the medium you're working with.

6:02 So, the first question: We pick leaders on issues, but they don't actually do anything on the issues when they get power. How are you any different? Chris Dodd, a Congressional veteran, emphasizes the importance of experience, trying to kill the barb in the question, while Obama, the rookie, of course applauds the question and points out that we need folks who will make a difference.

6:04 Next question is a softball for Kucinich, effectively also asking why there's no change despite the unified Democratic message. Kucinich goes on about how the U.S. will have to start shoring up international image — needs a little message focus there. Clinton and Obama also get to respond; Clinton goes with the anti-Republican message, while Obama goes with his message of changing politics. Kucinich is hopefully taking notes.

6:07 Clinton gets asked to define "liberal," and ask if she would call herself that. She explains its history in classical liberalism, and then one-ups the question by calling herself "progressive" instead. Gravel, chomping at the bit, gets to explain how no one on the stage would bring change. Pokes at Obama, who had earlier mentioned he doesn't take PAC money, by talking about his "bundlers" raising money for him. Obama gets the zing back, though, in that he says the reason Gravel knows about Obama's "bundlers" is because Obama got through a bill last session requiring that disclosure.

6:13 Biden gets asked who he would put in his executive branch; gives a shout out to Hagel and a few other centrist Republicans. Edwards gets to follow, and points out that all these questions have really been just one: "how do we bring in change?" Gets applause for saying we won't get it unless we take it. With Edwards and Obama both striving for the Change Candidate cloak, this might get interesting. An amusing interlude, with a Dodd video asking about his white hair.

6:17 Who's in favor of reparations for the African-American community? Edwards gets to answer, and says he's not for reparations, but does want a number of things to be done for the problem. When the panel gets asked who is in favor of reparations, only Kucinich raises his hand, who cites the Bible and says that it asks us to "repair the breach."

6:19 Would Katrina have been different if a white city had been hit? Dodd says yes, and the response of the government has been shameful. Classic Democratic softball, of course, and Richardson gets to swing at it too.

6:22 To Clinton and Obama, it is asked what they will do about accusations that they're not "feminine" enough or "black" enough. Obama, answering first, jokes about catching cabs in Manhattan as his "credentials" (to applause, which surprises me), and then goes on to address the underlying issue of race. Clinton answers, "I can't run as anything other than a woman," also getting some laughs, and going on the topic of women's rights. Edwards also gets to answer, as his wife had said that he was a better advocate for women than Clinton. (Ouch!) Edwards first says that anyone that doesn't vote for Obama because he's black or Clinton because he's a woman shouldn't vote for him either, because he doesn't want their vote. On the topic of whether he'd be better, he says that Clinton has a long history of advocating for women, but that women are affected most powerfully by many issues that he has taken a leadership position in, and specifically challenges everyone on the stage to support a minimum wage increase to $9.50 by 2012 as an issue that directly affects a disproportionate amount of women. Clinton, replying, thanks Edwards and says that she has done a lot for women, but isn't it a nice change that we're here discussing who is stronger on women's issues?

6:28 Kucinich is asked whether he'd allow gay marriage. He says yes, and Richardson says that he'd support civil unions with full marriage rights, as well as a hate crimes bill and other measures. Rev. Reggie Longcrier then asks Edwards that, when religious grounds for denying people the right to vote or the right to be free have been shot down as inadequate, is it right that we still deny people the right to marriage on religious grounds? Edwards answers that no, it is not, and though he as an individual does not believe in gay marriage, he believes using one's own personal faith beliefs to deny anyone else any rights is fundamentally wrong, and he wouldn't do it. Obama gets to answer as well, and cites and echoes Kucinich's and Richardson's earlier answers. Another quick interlude video, and then — what? Commercials? That's a first!

6:39 CNN gets a zinger in on Edwards, showing a video about hair. An question on helping Darfur, from a Sudanese refugee camp, and Richardson gets to answer first. Richardson: "I was at that refugee camp." Talks about China pressuring Sudan, no-fly zones, and a general restoration of American leadership internationally. I completely agree, of course, but I was hoping that a YouTube debate would have resulted in some questions that were a little different from the status quo. Biden also gets to go through the easy talking points on Darfur. Hey, turns out he was at that camp too. OK, OK, we know Darfur is a bad situation, and we know Democrats want to help. How does this help us make a decision in the primary? Gravel adds that folks are afraid of us due to our international reputation and don't want us there. Clinton also answers, and gets pinned for a question as to whether she wants American ground troops in Darfur. Says she wants NATO there and American logistical control, but says "no" to ground troops.

6:43 A short interlude to honor those from The Citadel who have died in Iraq. The next question: I was sickened at the invasion, but how do we pull out now? They're a mess, and other countries can go in and cause havoc. Obama apparently was against the war from the beginning. I'm glad he clarified that, as I didn't catch that the first twenty times or so. He states he's for a phased redeployment. Biden more directly answers the question of how to pull out now: you can't. It'll take at least a year, and people are giving half-answers because they all talk about leaving at least *some* troops in Iraq.

6:47 Another Iraq question: why are we still there? Is it that Democrats are afraid they'll get pinned for a failure in Iraq? Clinton throws the blame on Republicans and the White House for blocking their attempts, while Kucinich says the Democrats have failed. Want to know why Kucinich will never get elected? There you have it. Dodd actually gives a strong, impassioned answer connecting the inability to end the war to our ineffectiveness in international politics. Richardson tries to detach himself from "the Senators," but I'm not sure he sold that. He apparently cares about troops more than Bush's legacy — and Democratic Senators do? I doubt that.

6:52 Gravel actually gets asked a question! He's asked about his stance on the war and whether he'll flip-flop. Gravel asks why anyone would think that, as he's never flip-flopped. And CNN gives him a close-up as he goes off on the Iraq War, stating that troops in Vietnam "died in vain," because the only difference made was that you can get Baskin-Robbins ice cream in Hanoi (I can't make this stuff up), and that troops are dying in vain in Iraq now. Everyone takes a hard backpedal from saying that troops "died in vain."

6:58 Should women be required to register in Selective Service? Dodd says yes, and goes on to state his support for some sort of service requirement for Americans. Everyone else agrees that they indeed should. Then Clinton is asked how a female president could get the respect of leaders of foreign countries that don't respect women's rights. Clinton points out folks like the German prime minister that get plenty of respect internationally; she believes foreign leaders recognize other foreign leaders regardless of gender. Next question is a softball, first answered by Obama: would you be willing to meet with leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and North Korea? Obama says he would. The question is then directed at Clinton, who says that no, she wouldn't promise a meeting at that high a level without knowing what the intentions were first. She's right, but the answer is wrong — it sounds like an "I'm not as willing to talk to people as Obama," and is too technical for people to get the reason in. Edwards answers better: he says yes, he would, but that Clinton is right and we'd have to know what their intentions are first so we're not just doing it for a popularity boost for them.

7:06 The straight question: When will troops be out? Dodd wants to cut off funding ASAP, and plans that that would lead to troops being gone before he was sworn in. Richardson again points out the difference between his plan and Senators', this time more clearly: he wants them out in six months, but with no residual troops. Biden agrees with the need for no residual troops, but says that withdrawing troops in six months is logistically impossible, and that if we cut funds, we put troops in harm's way. Clinton does well at following, and ties together what Biden and Richardson said with her efforts to get some sort of a plan for withdrawal from the Pentagon. Kucinich gets to finish up, and tries to torpedo everyone on commitment to end the war, pushing that he was the only one to be consistently against the war — and gets an extra-nasty zinger against Obama, by saying it's dishonest to state that someone was consistently against the war from the start when they regularly voted to fund it. Gravel's YouTube ad follows (one where he actually speaks; no rocks and lakes here), and then another commercial break.

7:14 Back from the break, they lead off with one of Richardson's YouTube videos on his qualification. Man, those are really great. Next question: Who was your favorite teacher, and why? Gravel tells a story of an Edgar Burke, who identified a learning disorder, gave him help, and taught him to speak, a skill which he's getting to use a very little bit of now. Zing at CNN! More generic answers; really, nothing interesting. The next question is on No Child Left Behind: fix it or get rid of it? Richardson wants to get rid of it. Schools doing poorly should be helped, not penalized. Biden is asked as well, as every Senator on the stage voted for it. He says it was a mistake, and that he would scrap it. Next question: would you send your kids to private schools? The moderator states that Clinton, Edwards, Obama, and others' kids had gone to private schools, to a sea of protest. Edwards said his kids went to public school, Clinton said that Chelsea went to public school until they moved to Washington, where it was pointed out that she would never be left alone by the press unless she went to private school. Obama said his kids went to private school out of convenience, but that any Senator could get his kid into a good public school, and the real issue is, what kind of education can the common man's kid get? Biden's kids went to private school because they were under the care of his sister after his wife and daughter died, and the others' children went all went to public school, I believe.

7:24 A question from Planned Parenthood, on whether candidates have addressed sex education with their kids. Edwards answers in the affirmative; then Obama gets asked, as Romney had given him flak about kids getting sex education from age 5. Obama clarifies that yes, of course he teaches his kids that young — he teaches his kids that if anyone does something inappropriate, to tell his parents.

7:27 A humor question from an ostensible Tennessean on whether Al Gore's running would "hurt anyone's feelings." The yuks won't translate to the written word, so I won't bother. The next question is on how, instead of talking about production and alternate energy sources, to reduce consumption of energy in the first place? Kucinich talks about how nobody is as green as he is (which is probably true, of course), and Dodd mentions that he's the only one advocating a carbon tax. Then everyone is asked whether they took a charter jet to get there. D'oh! Pretty much everyone raises their hands eventually, except Gravel, who says he takes the train. And the bus.

7:33 A clever question, asking why we can have standardized triple nonfat vanilla lattes at any Starbucks in America, but we can't have standardized voting methods, which could build confidence in the system and encourage voter turnout. Sadly, Richardson is the only one that answers, and he talks about paper trails, ending voter discrimination, and just about anything else *other* than the question asked. Which is doubly depressing, because this is one of the first questions that I felt addressed something that just plain hadn't been discussed before. This is the sort of question I was hoping we'd have the most of in a debate like this, and sadly, my pragmatic side that figured that CNN's control would somehow twist this debate back to the standard tired talking points was correct. Then Biden's YouTube ad, and then commercials.

7:38 Kucinich's ad starts things off. Then, a question on the minimum wage: as Congress seems to be very willing to give themselves raises but has trouble raising the minimum wage, would candidates be willing to work for the next four years for the minimum wage? (Zing!) Only Dodd says that he couldn't afford it due to putting his kids through school, so he couldn't. Wrong answer. Everyone else says "yes," though Obama points out that they can afford it — they're rich. Biden disagrees, as he says he doesn't have "Obama money" (though he says he'd do it if he could get a second job), and Kucinich says he's still living in the house he bought for $22,000.

7:42 Questions on Social Security. Honestly, I didn't catch much of that. Sounded like sterile talking points. EDIT: Josh filled me in: "Richardson called for a bipartisan solution, working on diabetes which eats up most of Medicare, etc. No one had a great answer. McClelland's thing about making people pay their fair share (in the comments —ed.) was probably the best observation. "

7:45 Question on taxes, from a guy that feels overtaxed. Biden answers that there are programs that need funding, and either we raise taxes or we roll back tax cuts we've put in place; he's for the latter. Kucinich says the same. Then we move on to health care. Lots and lots of videos on that. They all get presented at once. Obama gets to answer first. He talks about universal health insurance, and how we've had plans for that before, but the drug lobbies had too much control over the system. Edwards is asked if Obama's system is truly universal — not that that's a leading question — and he answers no, of course, and that the only way for it to be universal is for it to be mandated in the plan that everyone is covered. For those of you at the YDA convention, he told the same story about the 54-year-old man that had a cleft palate and couldn't speak until someone volunteered to pay to have it fixed at age 50. Clinton gets to speak last, and summarizes the need for health care. Next question: does your plan cover undocumented workers? Dodd gives a lengthy and unclear yes, at least for children. Richardson gives an unqualified yes, but then starts straying into other details of the plan like Dodd did and gets cut off.

7:54 Clinton gets asked how would her being elected represent the change that is so badly wanted? And did anyone else have a problem with the same two families potentially controlling the White House for 28 years? Clinton says, yes, she does have a problem with Bush having been elected in 2000. Laughs and applause, as she continues that she thought somebody else had won that. Then she says she's running on her own individual merits, though she's proud of her husband's record. Gravel follows, and says of course he has a problem with that, segueing to his standard rant on how all the current players are in the pockets of the bankers of Wall Street. Obama responds, and gets to use his "change politics" talking points.

7:57 Separation of church and state. Biden gets to answer a video on the subject by talking about how his faith informs his politics; Edwards gets to answer a video from an atheist who is concerned about the level of religion in politics by saying that we lift up all Americans, regardless of religion or anything else, and we cannot and will not impose our beliefs on others. Obama repeats the "faith informs my politics" line, and talks about separating church and state both on the state side and the church side.

8:01 Gun control. Richardson, cited for his great NRA record, gets to answer a question by a guy on whether he'd get to "keep his baby safe." His baby is some fairly large, but unidentifiable, rifle. (At least on my TV; it was too blurry to make out.) Richardson talks about background checks, and says the important thing is that those who are too psychologically unstable to own one shouldn't. Biden wisely points out that if he's talking about that thing as his baby, perhaps he's just disqualified himself from owning that weapon. FTW!

8:03 This should be fun: look to the candidate to your left and say one good thing and one bad thing about him or her. Since I didn't give the order of candidates early on, this should give it away: Gravel says that he likes Dodd, and served with his father; he has a disagreement with him on the money that influences government. Dodd says that he likes Edwards, and that he doesn't like negative politics and doesn't have anything bad to say about him. Edwards commends Clinton on something which I missed, as I was rolling at his negative: "I'm not sure about that coat..." Hillary pans, "good thing we're ending soon." Heck, I didn't even recover from that one in time to hear what she said about Obama. Obama apparently liked Hillary's coat. He commended Richardson's devotion to public service. Richardson said that he likes everyone there; he had substantial differences with Biden on Iraq and foreign policy, but that he had a lot of respect for his long and distinguished record in public service. Biden said he'd been friends with Kucinich for 25 years, and that this was a silly exercise; he then got laughs and applause saying that his favorite thing about Kucinich is his wife. (Hey, me too!) Kucinich notes that CNN didn't actually place anyone to his left, and the host noted that they probably couldn't have found anyone on his left. Check out the LOL parade! Kucinich commended Gravel (on the other side of the stage) for his efforts in ending the Vietnam War, and the debate is over. Let the punditry begin! (From CNN's "best political team in America." My tuchus.)

8:20 A couple of interesting notes on the post-game: They took some time to go to an anchor from Univision for her opinion on the debate, which was a happy surprise. They're currently needling Elizabeth Edwards to try and get her to pick a fight with Clinton about the whole "Edwards is better for women" thing, but it looks like she's just not having it.