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That Must Have Been Some Childhood

John Edwards: "For 54 years, I’ve been fighting with every fiber of my body."
 

Vegas Live: The Platitude Debate

The shallowness—it just don't stop. The first 20 minutes are consumed entirely with crappy questions.

- Sen. Obama, you won the women's vote in Iowa; Hillary won it in N.H. Is that because you said, "You're likable enough, Hillary"?

- Obama, do you believe race is an issue when people go into the privacy of a voting booth?

- Sen. Edwards, what is a white male to do running against these historic candidacies?

Edwards does his best to not answer this question, so they ask it again.

Even someone in the audience agrees: "You two are only asking race-based questions!" he shouts. Everyone pauses awkwardly. Was that Dennis Kucinich??

Vegas Live: And Now for Some Race and Gender

And we're off!

Brian Williams cites a bunch of recent comments about Martin Luther King Jr. and Obama's unmentionable teenage activities. "How did we get here?" he asks. He might as well have asked, Who can give me the biggest platitude?

Hillary: Neither race nor gender should be part of this campaign. (But notice: Hillary's wearing pink; Obama's wearing blue. Gender politics live!)

Obama: John and Hillary have been committed to racial equality. We need to come together.

Edwards: I grew up in the South during segregation.

Segue to Tim Russert pulling out a satchel full of documents. For all the time candidates spent the past day trying to "move on" and set race and gender aside, the moderators seem determined to drag everyone back. Which is, of course, sort of their job.

Kucinich's Plan B

So the Nevada Supreme Court has ordered a hearing for 1:30 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. ET) to address NBC's appeal. It will last 30 minutes, after which we'll know whether or not Dennis Kucinich will have his chance to speak truth to Brian Williams. (See the court's oral argument order here.)

If he doesn't get to participate, Kucinich will find a way to broadcast his answers to the debate questions live to his Web site. “That’s his Plan B,” said spokeswoman Sharon Manitta.

And Then There Were Six …

Carolyn "al-Qaida" Washburn is back, promising to keep people to time limits but saying, "I’ll try not to be a scrooge about it." Yesterday, the candidates seemed to bristle at the format, which didn't produce many fireworks. So far, today doesn't look much different. The audience is silent, Washburn looks sour, and there hasn't been any back-and-forth. Gotta love the PBS aesthetics—padded sound, black background, fixed camera angles. It's like a group Charlie Rose interview.