AddieStan

Seems to me that they're coming out a bit early, considering we're still a week and a half out New York's Super Tuesday primary. But perhaps your blogstress's memory is a bit impaired. Their argument for Clinton is her brilliance and policy experience; as for her bad vote on the war, the reasoning seems to be, "That was then, and this is now." Obama gets written off rather lightly, with nods to his "gifts," but no appreciation of his brilliance. The more legitimate critique of Obama is a sort of amorphous quality to his raison d'être . Still, to laud him for his "gifts" without applauding his intellect seems to fulfill the "magic Negro" narrative described by my colleague Kate Sheppard at TAPPED. CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEW YORK TIMES'S ENDORSEMENT OF HILLARY CLINTON

Moderator Brian Williams just announced the New York Times 's endorsement of John McCain in the New York primary by reading the editorial board's pointed critique of Rudy Giuliani as a mean man. Asked to respond, Giuliani predictably derided the Times as a hopelessly liberal institution. Then McCain stepped up to defend Giuliani. Looked to your blogstress like Romney and McCain were vying for Giuliani's affections.

Mitt Romney was just told by moderator Tim Russert that an NBC poll coming out tomorrow will show a majority of voters say they won't vote for a Mormon. Mitt replied with an eloquent speech about how the Founders specified that there be "no religious test" for office. Of course, Romney told one audience that he would not appoint a Muslim to his cabinet.

McCain just referred to Lieberman as "one of my favorite Democrats." Yeah, that's 'cause he's not !

Huckabee tries to go after Romney for the latter's support of a ban on "so-called assault weapons."

Okay, so McCain is trying to make Huckabee look less than sane by asking about the so-called "fair tax". Isn't McCain 's real competition Mitt Romney ? Does he really expect the Coral Ridge Ministries types who will pull the lever for Huck to come to him over taxes?

Giuliani sees billions of consumers, and a reason to send billions more to the defense department. What's going on here? By all accounts, Giuliani is poised to lose this primary. Is Romney looking for a Giuliani endorsement?

Every now and then Huckabee scares the crap out of your écrivaine by saying something that makes a lot of sense to her. While Romney , McCain and Giuliani talked about how they would tinker with today's stimulus compromise, Huck suggested that the economy that would ultimately receive the stimulus from that package is China's. (We borrow the dough from them for the payout; then people go out and by Chinese goods.) So, how bout a big, ol' public works project, like adding two lanes of highway to the full length of I-95? Note to Huck: In New Jersey, you would probably have to seize the homes of as many people living in Arkansas in order to add any more lanes to the New Jersey Turnpike.

First, your blogstress offers this disclaimer; she's only live-blogging this debate in a half- derrière -d kind of way. She's busy doing other things, really, but will occasionally sashay to the computer when something interesting so inspires her. Sometimes a girl needs to give herself a manicure.

The more former president cavorts about the Palmetto State, the less I like him. And the more I remember the damage he did to the feminist movement when he played fast and loose with a certain intern, leaving the leaders of the women's movement, a movement, at that moment, that had only enjoyed its own reconstitution for several years (thanks to the right wing's brilliant manipulation of the porn wars ), caught between a philandering president and a misogynist Congress. Thing is, I always liked his wife; admired her, really. But the more he steps out to ostensibly plead her case, the less warmth I feel toward her. Yesterday, Bill Clinton characterized the South Carolina primary contest as one that Hillary will lose because voters will cast their ballots along race and gender lines, according to the Associated Press : "As far as I can tell, neither Senator Obama nor Hillary have lost votes because of their race or gender. They are getting votes, to be sure, because of t...