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...

This is the cloying question that Wolf Blitzer asked each of the candidates to answer. John Edwards took the bait, mentioning his meeting yesterday with "Martin the Third," offering a laundry list of Edwards' own efforts that King would hypothetically endorse. Barack Obama , on the other hand, gave the exact right answer: that Dr. King "would not endorse any of us." He would hold the candidates to accountability, Obama said. After that, whatever Hillary Clinton said just didn't register.

Thank goodness that Hillary Clinton called out John Edwards , at last, in his b.s. about how he's never taken money from Washington lobbyists. Yeah, Hill essentially said, but you've taken money from the spouses of lobbyists, the children of lobbyists and people who work for lobbyists. Well said. This has always struck your blogstress as a bit of subterfuge.

Barack Obama just made a fascinating point about going after evangelicals for votes by asserting his own bona fides as a committed Christian. "If you don't show up" to church he said, you cede the ground to the right wing. Then he said he strongly embraced the "precepts of Jesus Christ ," including making caring for the "least among us." Yeah, but is Jesus your personal savior, Barack? Are ya born again? If not, you're not really one of them. Which doesn't mean you shouldn't reach out to them. Just be clear about who you are.

Suzanne Malveaux just asked Hillary about whether Bill shouldn't "tone it down" a bit, as suggested by Rep. James Clyburne , the African-American head of the progressive caucus. Hillary gave a very boring response about her appreciation of Bill's support. Barack took the opportunity to remind the viewers that Bill has been saying untrue things about him, not that he wants to go over that turf again. Somehow Edwards has turned it into how he can compete with John McCain "everywhere in America," not that that has anything to do with him being a white guy.

Now everybody's in agreement about the challenges faced by blacks, women and poor people. After Barack made his speech about the disproportionate levels of incarceration between blacks and whites, Hillary chimed in with a reminder about "equal pay is not yet equal." Noted that women still make only 77 cents to each dollar made by men -- then pointedly said that for "women of color", the rate is 67 cents to the dollar.

Joe Johns just reiterated the famous Toni Morrison quote, and asked Obama to respond. That he did deftly, giving Bill perhaps more props than he deserves at the moment. Then the joke, the twist on the stereotype, "I would have to investigate Bill 's dancing abilities in order to know whether or not he is actually a brother."

Obama raised the R war [telling typo, non ?] word; intially blamed the media for making the primary contest about race, then said it's understandable, given how important race is in our society. However, he sounded great when he said that the more he went around South Carolina, he sensed a hunger among all people to rise above divisions.

Gotta say, having the candidates sit down seems to help the tone of the debate. Opening question in this segment went to Barack Obama , who was asked to respond to remarks by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), one of Hillary Clinton 's big supporters, who said that African-Americans shouldn't vote for a African-American because he's African-American; they should vote for whomever is best for the country. Obama retorted: "I agree with his principle; I just think he's miscalculated in his equation."

Wolf Blitzer just announced that for the second segment of the CBC/CNN Democratic debate, there will be a "set change," and that everybody will sit down to have "an important conversation." Hope they're not serving food or drink. Already enough of a food fight.

John Edwards , who in the last umpteen Democratic debates often aligned himself with Barack Obama in going after Hillary Clinton , just threw his first real punches at Obama when he joined Clinton's criticism of Obama's many noncommittal "present" votes in the Illinois legislature. Out of some 4,000 votes Obama says he cast during his nine years in the state legislature, he voted "present" -- not "yea" or "nay" -- 130 times. The "present" vote, Obama says, exists in the Illinois legislature in order for a legislator to indicate that he or she has problems with aspects of legislation that she or he might otherwise vote for. Thing is, what's Edwards' game here? Oh yeah -- in South Carolina, Obama is the frontrunner .