Part III. Domestic issues.

Not yet. Russert asks Hillary about national service and military recruiters on college campus. She talks about her bills to give GI's and vets more rights and services. Mentions her service on armed services committee.

Russert asks her if the top ten schools should have ROTC.

Obama agrees and says he too will enforce a statute that requires military recruiters and ROTC to be allowed on campus. He too supports national service and has introduced a bill on it.

Edwards agrees with the other two. He talks about PTSD. It's obvious all three have the same position here. Why not ask questions about areas they disagree on? [Updates Below}

Resumes with questions about economy. So far, everyone is behaving and acting very conciliatory. What a welcome change.

After this part, each of them will be able to ask two questions of the other candidates.

Hillary gives a specific answer on a complicated finanical thing. Obama converts the question to one on energy and fuel. Then answers about sub-prime mortgage problem and criticizes lobbyists and advocates for disclosure He will restore accountabilty and regulatory oversight over financial system.

Edwards asked if he regrets his vote on bankruptcy bill. Says absolutely. Updates below.

I'll be live-blogging the Nevada debate which begins in 30 minutes. Hope you will join me in comments. If Big Tent Democrat is around, he'll be joining in.

No cable? Watch online here.

7:04 pm (MT): Race question is up first. She and Obama both look concerned. "How did we get here?" Goes to Hillary. Says she and Obama agree neither race nor gender should be part of this race. She praises Edwards as son of a mill worker. She appreciates that she and Obama, both have exuberance and sometimes uncontrolled supporters, and they have committed to having campaign be about individuals.

Obama: Hillary said it well.Our supporters get overzealous and say things I would not say. We want to focus on issues. Everyone here is committed to racial equality.

The candidates are seated around a conference type table. It’s the three top candidates and Russert and Brian Williams. [More...]

Update: Fox and MSNBC calls Michigan for Romney and Clinton.

You can follow the live results here. (Update: That site crashed, you can get them here now.)

7 in 10 appeared to vote Republican.

It looks like Mitt Romney will win the Republican vote. Turnout was low, maybe 20%.

Update [2008-1-15 20:24:9 by Big Tent Democrat]: Another result to watch is how Hillary does against "uncommitted" where Obama and Edwards sending their supporters.

Update (TL): Fox News just said exit polls show the race is too close to call between Hillary and the uncommitted. I'm not surprised, it's a protest vote by supporters of Obama and Edwards who withdrew from being on the ballot.

Update (TL): Now they say Hillary is winning 2:1 over uncommitteds and Romney's lead is slight.

Update: (TL): Here's the opinion. Shorter version: There was no contract because there was no consideration.

***

According to KO, via Josh, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled in favor of NBC's petition for prohibition (do not ask me, I know nothing of Nevada civil procedure) and ruled against Dennis Kucinich.

That means tonight's debate is between the 3 leading candidates. Could be fireworks. I can not watch and will be counting on Jeralyn and commenters to keep me up. Jeralyn's earlier post on the Kucinich challenge.

National Review:

I'm surprised no one else has put this up yet. I'm hearing the first round of exit polls have Romney 35, McCain 29, Huckabee 15, Ron Paul 10, Giuliani 4. This doesn't count absentee ballots.

Will Rudy be invited to the next debate?

Update (TL): Early Exit poll results here.

Fox News says it will be a good night for Romney if low turnout holds for Independents.

Ex Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong filed for bankruptcy today. Also today, his answer to the civil lawsuits filed by the exonerated players were due.

In the October lawsuit, attorneys for the three players accused Nifong, the city of Durham, police investigators and others of conducting "one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial and scientific misconduct in modern American history."

Nifong listed his liabilities at $180 million. The case is: In re Michael B. Nifong, 08-80034, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of North Carolina (Durham).

Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings writes an interesting post that includes a a reactive theory of change that strikes me as wrongheaded and even dangerous:

For that reason I think that Democrats should prepare a sort of Aikido strategy: turning our opponents' attacks against them. We should try to set things up in such a way that if the Republicans go after our candidate in an underhanded, dishonest, and despicable way, that fact will be as clear to ordinary voters as it could possibly be. . . . . . . [P]eople [are]. . . ready to see Republican scorched-earth tactics for what they [are]. . . . If we capitalize on that fact, we have the chance to change people's perceptions of the two parties in a serious and lasting way. If we do not, then this will be one more election, which the Democrats will probably win, but it will not be a game-changer.

This is wrong in almost every particular. The problem Democrats have had, as Ruy Texeira and John Halpin demonstrated, is that people do not believe they stand for anything! More . . .

What a sick feeling I get when I see headlines like these. At least history didn't repeat itself in either case.

• Joe Biden's Wife Involved in Traffic Accident, Not Seriously Hurt
  

  According to Delaware State Police, Jill Tracy Biden was driving a 2001 BMW southbound in the left lane when a tractor-trailer in the center lane moved into her lane and struck her vehicle. Biden was taken to Christiana Hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries and released.

  ....In December 1972, Biden's first wife, Neilia, and the couple's 18-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed when the family's station wagon was hit by a tractor-trailer at an intersection. The accident, which left his sons Beau and Hunter seriously injured, happened just five weeks after Biden, then 29, was elected to the Senate.

From Yesterday:

• Edwards Daughter Hit By Drunk Driver [More...]

Speaking for me only

Checked in at Sully's site to see how things look at CDS headquarters and found this:

Jill Tubman sees it:

If she wins the nomination, I would absolutely vote for her over whichever fascist fumbling jacka*s the Republicans select in their primaries. . . .

Yep: that's how they screw over gay people and still get their money, votes and fawning admiration. . . .

(Emphasis mine.) It is as if Sully never heard of Donny McClurkin or that he has not been supporting race baiting and gay baiting Republicans and libeling African Americans his entire public life. Oh, and Sully, we have NOT forgotten your support of the racist Bell Curve movement to declare blacks intellectually inferior to whites.

Newsweek presents four pages of interview excerpts on the topic:

Vying for the Black Vote

Will Clinton's Martin Luther King comment cost her black support in the South Carolina primary? A veteran of the civil rights movement weighs in.

Who's the veteran of the civil rights movement? An Obama supporter.

How will the controversy affect voting in the state, where roughly 50 percent of the Democratic electorate is black? Cleveland Sellers, who heads the department of African-American studies at the University of South Carolina, is an Obama supporter. He's also a veteran of the civil rights movement.

Shame on Newsweek for not presenting a neutral voice or an additional voice so both sides could be presented.

On January 30, 2008, Attorney General Michael Mukasey will testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Department of Justice."

Politico reports that waterboarding could be a topic and that the hearing will concern "the Justice Department's inquiry into the CIA's destruction of secret interrogation tapes."