:: Here we go....

9:26

Forget what I said - ABC is going the NBC route, though they are far less rude. The question directly pits hillary against obama. I just missed the whole answer because of a distraction named Buffy. sigh.

the crowd has been lethargic but for scattered applause when obama said "wealthy people."

ouch! Hillary slammed Obama head in concrete!

9:21

We're still on national security. Can't complain - this is a substantive approach, totally unlike NBC's debacle. This is turning into a low energy affair. Hillary throws a bone to ABC, referencing their investigative reporting. It probably won't help, though. They are assholes.

Hillary strikes a chord talking about "no safe heaven states for stateless terrorism."

Richardson pipes up to talk about energy pipelines.

9:17

Obama and Clinton are using the exact same tone - they both exude gravitas. Edwards just got caught smirking. He wants to let loose, but he's all control.

9:14

Hillary sounds very, very serious. She's defining the term experience, explaining our policy of the last two decades and summarizing what's been tried and what went wrong. Her voice has a steady, low tone. I'm sure she'll get dinged by some evil harpy like Dowd but I think she sounds fantastic - all gravitas, no saleswoman, as befits such a grave topic.

Richardson pipes up to make sure everyone knows he doesn't get it.

9:10

Richardson is going to send a high level envoy to ask Musharref to step aside. I don't know how anyone on the stage is keeping a straight face. Oh wait, Richardson remembered he's supposed to be living on this planet... no, he's forgotten again.

9:07

Obama is answering the first question - on national security - at length. He is clearly going for "substance" over rhetoric. I didn't grasp the details - my fault, not his. I'm starving and dehydrated.

Edwards started strong but is deep in the details thicket. The impact of his "go get bin Laden" statement might be lost by now. His statement about eliminating nuclear weapons got the first applause of the night.

oh god help me, its richardson's turn.