Right now, HBO -- Bill Maher, has Markos of Daily Kos and Joe and Valerie Wilson on.

Markos: Hillary didn't do bad in the debate, she just wasn't perfect as she had been in earlier ones. The media just wants a horse race.

Maher: The Republicans are making immigration the "bogeyman" of the election.

Martin Short and Allison Stewart are on too. The Wilsons' segment is over. Did anyone see it?

Some seem to like this type of campaigning. I think it is abhorrent:

While Rudy Giuliani may embrace Hillary Clinton's policy of not talking and saber rattling towards Iran, Barack Obama knows that policy is not working.

What can one say now. The Obama campaign is simply telling falsehoods now. I'll say this, Obama has certainly seen the light, he won't be ushering in a New Era of Politics after all.

This is gutter stuff. h/t Adam B.

The Edwards ad ripping Hillary has wowed some folks in the blogosphere. I thought it was weak, because it seemed to lack any real substance to it. Matt Yglesias agrees with me:

Substantively, though, I'm not in love with this particular critique of Clinton precisely because it's not a substantive critique.

And it seems Team Edwards agrees:

Edwards campaign sources want to emphasize that Edwards did make a policy argument during the debate . . . but that the MSM isn't interested in policy arguments.

Apparently, neither is a good deal of the Netroots.

An inflammatory title you say? Well, I would like to know whether Schumer and Feinstein believe it is ok to have an AG who does not know that waterboarding is torture? Cuz Mukasey, who they support for AG, does not know that.

I never want to hear Schumer pontificate about anything again. Indeed, with this move, it seems to me that he really has disqualified himself as an observer to listen to on the judiciary committee. Spare us your phony outrage in the future Senator. Your act is over.

Say what you will, give the Clinton campaign professionalism props. After a few days of her campaign, imo, insinuating that gender DID have something to do with the criticisms levelled at her, she now turns a nice phrase denying that:

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that her status as the Democratic presidential front-runner _ not her gender _ has led her male primary rivals to intensify their criticism of her. "I don't think they're piling on because I'm a woman. I think they're piling on because I'm winning," Clinton told reporters after filing paperwork to appear on the New Hampshire primary ballot.

So Obama, erm, piles on today on this, a mistake imo, and walks into this one. This line also is a winner for Clinton:

"I anticipate it's going to get even hotter, and if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. I'm very much at home in the kitchen," she said.

Not baking cookies one assumes.

My opinion of Gov. Bill Richardson has just grown by leaps and bounds. He has appointed veteran criminal defense lawyer Charlie Daniels (a real criminal defense lawyer, by the way, who truly believes in and has been passionate about defending the rights of the accused his entire career) to be a Justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Charlie, whom I've known for 15 years or more (along with his wife Randi McGinn, a stellar criminal defense lawyer in her own right), will be sworn in on November 9.

Here's the announcement from the Governor's office (no link, I received it by e-mail.)

TPM reports that Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) will vote no on the AG nomination of Michael Mukasey.

Will Mukasey be defeated in committee? Depends I think on Schumer and Feinstein. Frankly, I have little confidence they will vote against Mukasey. And if they do and Mukasey is defeated in committee? What then? Normally, that would be that. But Harry Reid has been pretty lousy lately so it is possible he will give Mukasey a floor vote where he would almost certainly be confirmed.

Unlike, Ezra, and possibly Atrios, I think it is clear that the Clinton campaign is playing the gender card to some extent. But I think the real question is is she playing it unfairly. As Ezra notes, no reasonable person can doubt that as a woman (as Obama does in different, and, imo, more profound, ways as a African American), Clinton faces unfair challenges as a candidate. Indeed, the entire Hillary Clinton image, as conjured up by Limbaugh and Republicans for 15 years has been wrapped up in her being a bitch; a castrating "devil woman." She is constrained in how she can respond to negative attacks because of this.

That said, this ridiculous "doubletalk" broadside from Edwards, and particularly absurdly from the vacillating Barack Obama, fueled by the absurd Pumpkinhead Russert, is more a function of her being a frontrunner than a woman.

But Hillary opponents beware, I think Hillary's play of the gender card will win this absurd political argument. I was surprised to see Obama jump into the fray. Edwards was doing the dirty work for him. Yet again, Obama makes a political mistake. In my opinion of course.

Via Cosbo, John Edwards continues to pound Hillary Clinton on her "doubletalk" while doing no talking himself on the issue. Where do you stand on the issue Senator Edwards? Are you for or against dirvers licenses for undocumented aliens? What do you think of the Spitzer Plan? At this point, even a little doubletalk on the issue from you would be welcome.

On a related note, I agree with Kos that challenges to the Democratic frontrunner on the issues is not only more than welcome, it is tardy. But make it on the issues. Alleged "doubletalk" is NOT a substantive issue. Here are some examples of issues that I think are substantive:

Why is Senator Clinton not pressing her colleagues to end the Iraq War by not funding it? Why does she continue to falsely claim the Senate needs 60 votes to not fund the Iraq Debacle?

Why did Senator Clinton vote for Kyl-Lieberman? Does she not agree with Senator Dodd that the Bush Administration can not be trusted?

Will Senator Clinton lead on a filibuster of the FISA telco amnesty? Not just vote for filibuster, will she LEAD it?

To name a few examples.

I wrote this piece for the Guardian America's online Comment if Free on the Rightroots. A highlight:

While the liberal blogosphere, or netroots, has had a very rocky transition due to Democrats gaining the majority in Congress, its conservative counterpart, the rightroots, has had a similarly difficult time transitioning from supporting a Republican party in control of Congress to trying to discover a new agenda. Truth be told, the rightroots has been flailing, trying to discover the new kerning scandal while doing the usual cheerleading for President Bush's Iraq debacle. It reached a nadir when senator Mitch McConnell's office sent them on the noxious attack against 12-year-old Graeme Frost and his family on the S-Chip issue.

First, let me make clear my view that Hillary Clinton's vote in favor of the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment was a huge mistake, both on policy and politics. Senator Chris Dodd got it right at the debate:

So what to do now? Pretend that Kyl Lieberman provides a LEGAL basis for Bush to attack Iran? Absolutely not. And yet, Senator Barack Obama, in a crass and harmful political stunt, is doing exactly that:

Democrat Barack Obama introduced a Senate resolution late Thursday that says President Bush does not have authority to use military force against Iran . . . Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the Illinois senator drafted the measure in an effort to "nullify the vote the Senate took to give the president the benefit of the doubt on Iran."

This is simply a false statement from the Obama campaign. Obama apparently is willing to pretend the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment authorizes the President to attack Iran, when it does not, in order to extract politcal gain as a result of Senator Clinton's huge mistake. That is despicable. More.

How about another open thread today as I have court all morning and yesterday's is filling up.

To get you started (but feel free to pick other topics):

• Hollywood writers say they will strike. TalkLeft has some readers who are Hollywood writers. We fully support you. Let us know how we can help. The Writers' Guild Site is here.

• Iran: Hillary and 29 Senators write a letter, Obama goes his own way and introduces legislation. Thoughts on the difference between the two approaches? Will either restrain our unitary executive?

• "American Gangster" is a hit.

• Resurrect the DREAM Act (but don't count on the Democrats to do it.)

• Chris Dodd writes about the questions the candidates should have been asked during the debate.

• Arianna on Rudy's Testosterone Binge