I watched it on CNN last night. The only real standout moments were Hillary making Obama look naive on foreign relations when asked would they meet with the hostile heads of state of Iran, Korea, Cuba and Venzuela w/in the 1st 100 days of their presidency. The second standout moment was John Edwards' very sincere answer to his belief, or lack there of, in gay marriage. I am ride or die with Hil, but John Edwards is scoring so many respect points with me. And, for once he showed some fire in his belly when he spoke about healthcare. That's been a huge obstacle for him…his niceness. One of the youtube questions came from a man who clearly saw Hil's gender as a negative, and his disrespect for her position as a woman was evident. Her response was strong, eloquent and witty. Obama was Obama. He used his "when I try to get a cab in NYC" line, etc. His inexperience has been apparent from jump to me (and millions of others), but last night he looked like the 3rd candidate behind Hil and John E. If he has more of these performances, Obama is going to become even more vapid to me.

I had a similar reaction to Obama. This was the first debate I watched all the way through. For various reasons, primarily having to do with both of us being black, I want to support Obama. However, while he seems like a born leader, he doesn't strike me as ready to be president. He has a lot of personality (although nowhere near the charm of a Bill Clinton) and is long on style. I didn't think he said anything of substance, though. At first I thought he just wasn't getting enough air time, but then I realized he just wasn't saying much. He's an awesome unifier/mobilizer/person, I'm sure, but I don't know if that translates to him being ready to be president. I was surprised by my reaction to him b/c I really wanted to like him. I was even more surprised when I heard from those who follow these things more closely that this was actually his best performance thus far. If that was his best, I don't see how he's going to cut it. I don't know if it's a matter of him simply not having what it takes at this point and he'll eventually grow into it or if he's just a different sort of leader who is meant to be a presence in America without being the chief of state. Does that make sense? I ramble.

I came away from the debate thinking Hillary was the most presidential and I'm leaning to her in some ways. However, I also really enjoyed Joe Biden and found him to be the most knowledgeable, especially on foreign affairs. In any event, all of the candidates would be an improvement on our current president.