I guess they have the audio turned off for now.

I should note, our page for debate coverage, including pictures and blogs, is right here!

Why not have live videos over time to ask and answer questions, It is not like time, space, or volume matters an open blog for all candidates to respond would get to the real issues and provide a point of comparison.

This is good but still very old tech thinking.

I agree with Senator Clinton ... modern Democrats should be "Progressive"

I'm watching the Democratic Presidental debate live as we speak. All of the Democrats that are running for President are good people with great ideas however, Senator Hillary Clinton in my opinion is the strongest and most electable person. Hillary is so right, she just said we are in need for change and ready to lead on day one as she just explained she works to bring people together which is true and she has the most experience to be able to deal with the important issues that matter to us most. My vote is going to Hillary Clinton for President. Hillary is doing a great job in answering questions.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/?splash=1

I agree with Senator Clinton ... modern Democrats should be "Progressive"

John Edwards just made a good point, big business and big oil companies aren't going to give up any of their power unless it's taken from them. In other words, the oil companies and big business are out to make huge profits, never being satisifed and they don't care who they step on, left unchecked the American people will get screwed over more and more if nothing is done about it.

I would like to see all the candidates address the United States’ commitment to the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, which call for cutting world hunger in half by 2015 and eliminating it altogether by 2025. Indeed, it is estimated that the expenditure of a mere $19 billion would eliminate starvation and malnutrition worldwide. In a time when the current defense budget is $522 billion, the goal of eradicating world hunger is clearly well within reach and it is my hope that whoever becomes president in 2008 addresses this pressing issue.

I think Liberal is a better word over Progressive. We need a good hard left liberal who will bring national health care to all Americans.

Senator Chris Dodd just said it so right about hurricane Katrina response, if this horribe thing happened in another city that wasn't made up of people that are mostly poor and black the response would've been much quicker and better.

I think the question about Hillary Clinton not being feminnine enough was a really dumb question. Just because Hillary is a woman does that mean she has to be weak and soft spoken? The reason I like Hillary is because she is strong and she shows strength. How in the world does that make her not feminnine enough? This is the 21rst century.

I love it! Hillary Clinton just said it like it really is, congress should NOT get a raise until the minimum wage is raised. It's about time someone stands up for the poor and middle class.
Hillary was so right to argue that to congress when the debate was going on to raise the minimum wage, they shouldn't be voting to give themselves a raise every year and not give one to working American people.

Typical CNN calling it "tame". Reparations and same sex marriage are tame? Too funny.

Senator Obama did a good job making it clear people should be able to know, when it comes to government, they will be treated equally under the law

Senator Obama did a good job making it clear people should be able to know, when it comes to government, they will be treated equally under the law

Senator Chris Dodd had the best answer to gay marriage. Marriage should be left alone between a man and a woman, however, civil unions should be allowed as they are in CT. By doing things this way everyone on both sides is happy. In my opinion I see it as meeting each other on both sides half way without taking rights away from others. If you do things any other way it's only going to push away moderate voters which will result in more far right Republicans winning elections and messing up the country more than it already is. We are in great need of a Democratic victory in 2008 if we are ever going to see changes on huge issues such as record energy prices, national health care, reduce outsourcing and so on.

Darfur???

What can the people of the world to to help the USA prevent aanother Somalia debacle? Every time we go anywhere with our troops people start taking pot shots at our troops--and worse.

I'm glad the topic of Darfur has come up, something other than talk has got to be done about it. Genocide is going on right now in Darfur while the world has turned their back on them.

Hillary Clinton is right about Darfur, it's time for action Not just talk. We need a no fly zone with NATO in a humane way. Hillary also made a great point, our troops our stretched too think because of President Bush's failed Iraq policy of stay the course. I'm pleased that Hillary has listened to the American people and wants to end the Iraq war. At least there's some flexibility with Hillary but with Bush he won't listen nor does he care what anyone things despite the fact that he is so wrong when it comes to Iraq.

Seen blackhawk down? African militants love to kill americans. The world needs to back up and support America...before we go into that disater zone.

Obama brought up a good point about the Iraqi congress going on vacation. In fact, Our own congress should not go on vacation until a sound policy is legislated, bringing our troops home.

It is very appropriate that the presidential candidates will be addressing questions from youtube and the general public. Allow so far, most media attnention has focused on the war in Iraq, there are topics of critical concerns I would like our candidate to address. Issues such as Global Poverty should be one of the main concerns of all the presidential candidates. As one of the nation that has pledge to fulfill the goals of Millienium Development Project, whose goal is the elimination of world hunger and poverty, this administration has not shown any substantial action to bring this fundamental problem to a stop. According to the Borgen Project, dedicated to fighting and ending Poverty around the world, only $19 billion dollars are needed annually to stop world wide poverty, hunger and malnutrition. However, more than $340 billion dollars has been poured into this “war on terror.” And each year, our country has a military budge of $522 billion dollars. It's time for a new leader who will be addressing an issues that affects 1.2 billion people everyday worldwide.

I hope people consider that worldwide poverty is not always a matter of money. For example, sending a bunch of cash into a rathole full of corrupt warlords, who use our own money to buy weapons for jihadists...rather than food for their people...too much of that happens. Even the UN members are sometimes in on the take.

John Edwards, former Senator said ‘you can’t wait for big companies and special interest groups to give away their power you have to take it from them’ and that he would fight for the American’s peoples interests in regards to those issues.

On the Iraq war he says, we have to make George Bush change course when it comes to the Iraq war, he is not going to change it unless we make him change course.

(I think there is something special about a lawyer who is wealthy enough to by a Porsche fighting for an American Citizen’s legal and equal rights under the law when they buy a used car. I think this means Senator Edwards does have the heart, passion and energy he claims to have to fight for us all when it comes to finding all the legalities to help the public fight corporations with those issues).

Senator Barrack Obama - I think the American Public can find reward for their supporting Civil Rights all these years when listening to this Senators expressing a higher form of consciousness on all the issues.

Bill Richardson on NCLB was awesome...

Bill Richardson on NCLB was awesome...

Senator Hillary Clinton, responding to a question to whether a female president would be taken seriously in the Middle East, Mrs. Clinton said that she has met with many of the Arab leaders before as First Lady and has no doubt that she will be taken seriously. Hey! Maybe even Bill would take Hillary more seriously!

Senator Dodd expressed his experience in the many things he has accomplished for the American people even during the former Republican dominated Congress. (That might be more than even any Republican Candidate could say.) This man sounds like a real worker to me. Do the rest of you bloggers get that impression too?

Heh there's a reason Obama and Hillary are the leaders. GOod ansrs to the energy and nuclear issues.

With the voting question, Richardson is two for two in my book.

Governor Bill Richardson, on the Iraq war, says, ‘Bring the troops home from Iraq leaving no residual forces’. (Sounds like there would not be any permanent U.S. Bases in Iraq under a Richardson Administration.)

Actually I seem remember one of the Democratic Proposal's on the Iraq war stating that construction on permanent bases in Iraq would have to cease. Do any of you remember that and know the details?

Why did CNN put up a lie about Social Security .... a shameful question from Delaware

Neil here. Say, are the candidates going to sit on bean bag chairs in the Spin Room post-debate?

Neil R. in TX here. Are the candidates going to sit on bean bag chairs in the spin room post debate (based on the live photo blog).

Senator Joseph Biden is going into military detail about how U.S. Soldiers in Iraq could be brought home safely. (Looks like this Senator has done his homework when it comes to the issue of the Iraq war.)

Richardson's campaign has stepped-up their political event production budget in both Iowa and NH with our company recently. Leads me to speculate he is going to be the sleeper candidate moved to front runner status come late fall 2007.

You go Edwards! He sure got fired up over health care...

THIS DEBATE MAKES ME PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN AND A DEMOCRAT

LOOK WORLD! YOU ARE WATCHING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HOLDING AMERICA’S HEAD UP FOR THE BEHEADED AND AN AMERICAN SOLDIER COMING OUT OF IRAQ!

As John Edwards passionately pointed out, it is a shame that their are Americans that are uninsured when we are all apart of the most developed country.

I really dislike the Democratic response to healthcare. They should just say it : Until the American people put a stop to the name calling (marxist, socialist, tax and spend) that is done by the Republican party, on the behalf of the insurance companies, drug companies, and the AMA, we can do nothing. It's the replubicans that have blocked health care for decades.

1989-2017 - Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton, ...?

The best comment of the night so far came from a young girl in Illinois "GO DEMOCRATS!!!"

The ONLY solution to US health care is:

nationalized single-payer system run 100% by the public sector from A-Z. Just pull the trigger and get with it.

While we're at it, nationalize the enire petro-chemical industry.

1989-2017 - Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton

well, like Hillary just said---It is questionable whether Bush ever really was elected!

You go Edwards! He sure got fired up over health care...

Posted by BlueinIdaho on July 23, 2007 at 08:51 PM

Yes, health care is just one of Edwards issues when it comes to equality. He is fantastic isn't he?Sometimes I think if we put Martin Luther Kings face on Edward's when he is talking the American Public would not know the difference on who is talking!

Did you hear him talking earlier about mortgage companies charging people who happen to be black more money and wanting to go after them legally. Somebody should, I know that.

Soultion to gun control in the US:

(1) Nationalize 100% the fire arms industry in the US and place a trade embargo on foreign fire arms dealers/manufacturers importing into the US and its territories.

(2) Revoke the 2nd and 9th amendments to the US Constitution - the right to bear arms by private citizens - 100% prohibition of firearm ownership in the private/civilian sector

Revoke the 2nd and 9th amendments to the US Constitution - the right to bear arms by private citizens - 100% prohibition of firearm ownership in the private/civilian sector
Posted by AdvanceMan on July 23, 2007 at 09:06 PM

as much as I personally despise guns, I would not take ANY amendments away, because once you start picking them apart and doing away, what's the next one to go? Maybe you right to a fair trial? Maybe your right to free speech?

I personally don't see the difference between mentally ill people and criminals. Kind of the same boat.

People like Biden can take all the guns away, it's just an exercise in ignorance and stupidity.

Anyone with military training or a basic knowledge of history can tell you it's trivial to kill someone without a gun.

heh. when it comes to gun ownership anyway...didn't mean to make it sound like mentally ill people are criminals!!

AdvanceMan....Move to Cuba, live there for a year under Castro before you start trying to take away my rights in this country!!!

and flash, not all criminals are mentally ill.

But neither of them should be able to get guns.

Senator Obama was the clear winner tonight ... Senator Clinton a strong second place ...

Time for Kucinich and Gravel to stand down ... the DNC should use the power it has to limit who is on the stage and both have had their chance

Good evening, all.

Lordy, lordy. All the political pundits care about is image...who looked the most presidential. It doesn't matter to me who asks the questions or whether someone looks more confident.

It always goes back to their position on issues and their approach to dealing with problems. I don't care if somebody out did somebody else in a debate. Are they capable of carrying through with what they say they want to do?

All of these people came across smart and dedicated to solving problems as compared to the nutcases who support this Bush presidency and its failed policies over on the other side.

I'm not particularly fond of Sen. Biden but, I found both Biden and Obama very impressive with their responses.

I was appreciative of Biden's efforts to state the truth; a complete withdrawal from Iraq is not going to happen or at least not in six months. It's about time someone spoke the truth regarding that.

Interesting point Sen. Gravel was trying to make,
"Follow the money" with regards to the candidates.

w/out reading any other comments - I have to call the debate a draw for the top tier and with Richardson and Biden tying (imo) on the 2nd tier.

Hillary keeps surprising me.
Eddie did better this time
Biden always candid. I like that.
Kucinich's smile looked so fake (sorry jmo)
Richardson clearly could hit the ground running

I like them all compared to their PUG counterparts it's like SUNSHINE versus OLD MOLD.

Great format this time. I enjoyed it.

Howard looked pleased too when they panned over to him.

Time for Kucinich and Gravel to stand down ...
Posted by ShawnODonnell on July 23, 2007 at 09:28 PM

What possible harm does it do to hear what Kucinich and Gravel have to say? How is it a negative to have them in the debate? Besides, don't they have rights? If the DNC decides who attends debates, isn't that a violation the of rights of the people who are donating funds to the campaigns of Kucinich and Gravel?

The debate format was a success because it presented a new and interesting format for political discussion which relies on public participation. However, I still think it overlooks some issues which although they are important, may not be hot button issues or ones that the candidates have prepared for; which is what I was hoping for in this debate. For example, an issue that seems to be at the heart of many of the most hotly debated topics is global poverty. Immigration, terrorism, and national security are very important issues facing our country and get much attention, but global poverty is the thread that connects them all. It would be nice to hear the candidates’ opinions on this issue.

In form, I think Clinton was a clear winner, followed by Edwards and then Obama. In form, I'd give it to the unwinnables: Gravel and Kucinich. I thought the format was terrible and contributed to the dumbing down of discourse in America.

How do YOU feel about the debate tonight? Who do YOU think won the debate? Vote for your candidate on http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=217

Make your voice heard. You can vote on polls on the topic of importance to you, and if it's not there, you can sign up and create a poll in less than a minute (literally).

It's new, it's easy and it's cool...and above all, it's good for the public debate.

http://www.youpolls.com. Check it out.

I think Hillary Clinton was the clear winner too.
With all of the damage the Bush administration has done we need Hillary to gain back the respect both at home and around the world in order to deal with the tough problems of today. Bush and Cheney should both be impeached for the way they lied to us about going to war in Iraq.

Good evening all and happy debating!

I just wanted to say that I thought John Edwards had a very good showing again in this debate. Choosing the absolute winner in such a dynamic field of candidates is extremely difficult. To that end, I also appreciated Richardson's comments about all of the candidates would make a good VP in his administration, and Biden would be a good Sec./
State. This Democratic field of candidates is truely very dynamic!!

While the U.S. government and media keep focusing on defense policies, campaign advertisement and the war in Iraq, 1.2 billion people in the world continue surviving on less than $1 dollar a day. I would like to see all presidental candidates and the political leaders behind them, support more international problems that affect our place in this world, such as global poverty. We should not forget the commitment made towards the U.N. Millennium Goals (a pact of ending extreme world hunger by the year 2025) in 2000. While the U.S. government and media keep focusing on defense policies and the war in Iraq, 1.2 billion people in the world continue surviving on less than $1 dollar a day. According to The Borgen Project, an annual $19 billion dollars is needed to eliminate half of the extreme poverty affecting the world by the year 2015. To my sense, it is almost unacceptable to have spent so far more than $340 billion in Iraq only, when we have more than war immunities to change the world and eliminate poverty.

All have a good night!

I liked that Joe Biden would stop the tax cuts for the "people who don't need 'em" (i.e. the rich). I was disappointed in the health care talk. It's one thing to say universal, but it's another to call for true single payer national health insurance. No mention of H.R. 676, the best current hope in the works, and Kucinich was raising his hand to speak... alas, all in vain. 'Course then it breaks away to another pharmaceutical commercial!

john, they specifically said they would only raise yours and dick cheney's.

Good Morning!

Is this the place?

we are using the open thread just below this thread as the open thread----you department of redundancy department.

"WillingSniper" had a post on earlier which asked the question, "Which Republican should I vote for?"...it look like his post was erased, but I'm going to answer it anyway. "WillingSniper"...just do a write in for "Criminals at Large"...that will cover ALL the Republican candidates!...

I joined party builder and haven't really used it. however, every time I come here now I have to re-set my password. I enjoyed the debate last night. I'm still with Kucinich and Richardson. I liked when Richardson said that any of the others would make him a good vice. I don't know what joe biden plans to do...draw a line in the sand to seperate his three countries in Iraq. we need to GET OUT OF IRAQ starting today. there is no easy way. It's going to be bloody no matter what. it's already a bloodbath. I know Kucinich is far left but so am I. I think it is un-American to allow this corrupt government to go unpunished. I want impeachment as do a majority of the American people.

poor Gravel didn't get to say much.
maybe hillary and edwards have already started to trim down the field. I liked that comment about GORE running. I just ordered a bunch of GORE 2008 stickers for my car. it's ok- if he doesn't run- I'll just drive my car over a cliff. yes, it has come to that. I see that a bunch of you picked hillary as the clear winner. yes, she has been positioned to win. she has been set up on that platform on a silver platter by the media and the party. I was reading some comments here awhile back about people like me refusing to vote for the war loving witch as being traitors to the party. I don't owe this party a damn thing. what have they done for me? did the party contest the vote in 2004? no that was poor Barbara Boxer all by herself. I am over voting for someone just because they are a democrat. over it. I only followed Howard Dean over here.

Sadie, we're at the PB Open Thread! See ya there.

if hillary clinton hadn't supported this war- she would get my vote. see..it's all about the war for me. she knew better. she's out for herself but she's not stupid. I'll go with
GORE/RICHARDSON
and they can create a new
SECRETARY OF PEACE and appoint Kucinich!!!
GORE can save the day people!!!
he can win this election in a landslide!!
he can take Virginia and the south!
cross your fingers and say your prayers.
GORE 2008

Sadie, we're at the PB Open Thread! See ya there.

maybe another time!
gotta go!

I hope someone ask if the Democrats could do the same thing the Republicans did when they were in power they threatened the Democrats with some kind of legal action if they filibustered their bills they wanted to pass.
I don't get CNN therefor I didn't hear the debate.

Pretty good debate last night, nice format, kept all the geeks off like blizter, Cooper-great as usual but the candidates were exceptional, I made an important decision about Obama though, too bad, there'll be other years. Where's AL? Edwards, well in a way I like him, I was impacted by him years ago when he was a lawyer and I worked at a hospital he was against, but he turned out to be good but I don't think he could muster a hard belly when it was really needed, oh well, I guess it time for the WOMAN!

This was great. I think that next time the democrats have a debate they should have the Little Mermaid, Homer Simpson, Peter from the Family Guy, and Bugs Bunny ask the questions. A snowman? Another dressed in a chicken suit? Give me a break. Where were the hard questions? The candidates were given an easy out. None of the hard questions were asked and nothing was revealed about the candidates' stance on any of the issues with the exception of Joe Biden. Joe Biden was the only person who acted like a candidate running for president. Everyone else was plain childish.