I'm watching the Republican debate:

• Least presidential: Sam Brownbeck (Geeky, awful tie that glitters, who dressed him?)

• Worst debating skills: John McCain. If he says "My friends" one more time I'm going to mute him.

• Most hyperbolic: Tom Tancredo for saying the nation will not survive if the immigration bill passes. It's worst feature to him is that we will become a bi-lingual nation.

• Worst analogy: Rudy on terrorism who conflates the Guyana wannabes into an attempt to destroy JFK last week, as if they were foiled just in the nick of time -- or that they are al Qaeda.

Rudy just got bleeped. Wolf says it was lightening. (Video here.)It's happening again. He's talking about abortion. He says he's personally opposed to it but his view of religion and the Constitution mean women shouldn't be penalized for their right to choose.

More...

The transcript of the New Hampshire Democratic debate last night is here.

Digby, as always, makes excellent points, particularly about Dennis Kucinich. I too am glad he's in the race because he is terrific on most issues. But his attacks on Democrats, such as saying it's our war now because we didn't end it after November, help no one.

And yes, the "raise your hand" questions were silly and as were some of the questions. As Digby paraphrases:

I think the question I enjoyed the most in the Democratic debate was the one where Wolf asked them all what they would do if they were tied to a bed naked with a ticking time bomb and a bunch of terrorists rushed into the room and started kibitzing among themselves about where to get the best Botox in Miami.

I was waiting for the question to end with a query as to whether they'd call in Jack Bauer. More on the myth of the ticking time bomb from Professor Alfred McCoy here and from Balkanization here.

More...

A great 16 second moment in the debate -- Hillary blasts Condi Rice and Dick Cheney for their lack of diplomacy skills.

I watched my first Presidential Debate of the season straight through tonight, and I remembered why I don't watch these this early - they are basically stupid.

That said, let me give my take on it, because I watched it, and darn it, I am going to tell you what I think, whether you like it or not. First, from my point of view, it was a good night for putting pressure on the Congress to end the war, through the use of the Not Spending power. It was the early focus of the debate and Edwards pounded on Clinton and Obama on showing leadership in Congress on ending the war through use of the Not Spending power. It was the highlight of the debate.

Wife of Iraq soldier is asking a question: The candidates are now seated. How do you plan on re-building the military after so many years of conflict?

Goes to Kucinich. Peace is the way we reflect our strength. Wants a strong peace-keeping force. Cut military spending 25%. There's a lot of waste. We need to encourage people to serve in it so it's a strong military.

Obama: Weapons system is outmoded relic of Cold war. When soldiers come home we must treat them with dignity and honor. This Administration tries to do it on the cheap. (He didn't answer the question.)

Dodd:

Must be prepared to use force but not as the first arrow in the quiver. Another non-answer.

More...

The debate is starting. If you are watching and online, please chime in with your reactions.

Time is on the honor system. Answers should take about one minute. They must stay on topic of the question or they will be stopped. There are no opening statements, just introductions.

First question to Obama using yesterday's terror bust. He says Bush doesn't get credit for lack of terror attacks since 9/11.

Goes to Edwards. Global war on terror is a Bush bumper sticker. Hillary doesn't agree with Edwards. We are safer than we were, we are not safe enough. Kucinich: Patriot Act undermines civil rights and as President he would repeal it.

They move to Iraq. Lots of blame for George Bush. Questions about reading the NIE report. Edwards defends his not reading the report but says he was wrong to vote to authorize the war.

More...

Some basics on tonight's Democratic debate.

Who's participating:

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden; former Sens. John Edwards and Mike Gravel; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

The moderator is CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

The format:

The contenders were expected to take questions from a team of journalists for the first hour. In the second hour, questions were to come from about 100 New Hampshire voters who say they are undecided in the contest.

Where you can watch:

• TV: CNN
• Online at WMUR New Hampshire or CNN. CNN's Pipeline is now free and they have multiple feeds going, right now they are showing a lot of secret service agents and footage of the candidates' arrivals.

The question I would like to see asked in tonight's Democratic Presidential Debate:

It was reported today that 14 US Soldiers have died in Iraq in the first 3 days of June. Last month, 127 US soldiers died in Iraq. Since the start of the war, 3,493 American soldiers have died.

Most of you have committed to withdrawing from Iraq if you become President in January 2009. The question for each of you is the following:

Do you commit to an immediate redeployment of American troops in Iraq from the moment you become President? And, given the fact that the President has indicated that he will not be redeploying troops from Iraq during his Presidency, what should the Congress do in the face of the President's stated policy?

Rudy Giuliani spoke in Florida today, after the JFK terror bust. After his predictable comments about how the Democrats are in denial about terror threats facing the U.S., he spoke on some other issues.

Giuliani railed against Democrats in Washington pushing for a deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq. He also predicted that a Democratic president would bring higher taxes and ``socialized medicine.''

With the changes to various states' primary dates, and knowing he can't win in Iowa, Rudy has shifted his attention to Florida:

More...

Matt Taibbi profiles Rudy Giuliani in the current issue of Rolling Stone.

He's cashing in on 9/11, working with Karl Rove's henchmen and in cahoots with a Swift Boat-style attack on Hillary. Will Rudy Giuliani be Bush III?

Wonkette sums up the key points. My favorite:

About the WTC cleanup run by Rudy: “More people will eventually die from the cleanup than from the original accident.”

My answer to the question as to whether Rudy is more dangerous than Bush: Of course he is. He's smarter and more Machiavellian.

A more apt question would be whether he's more dangerous than Dick Cheney. Probably not. But it's also why, happily, he won't be successful in his bid for the Presidency.

More...

Hollywood actor/former lobbyist/current Beltway heartthrob and, former ineffectual Senator Fred Thompson condones perjury, obstruction of justice and hypocrisy. First, his defense of a convicted perjurer and obstructor of justice:

I have called for a pardon for Scooter Libby. When you rectify an injustice using the provisions of the law, just as when you reverse an erroneous court decision, you are not disregarding the rule of law, you are enforcing and protecting it.

Free a convicted perjurer and obstructor of justice! No justice! No peace! Who knew Holly-Fred was a dirty, effing hippie? Must be those Holly-Fred values.

Via Glenn Greenwald, the latest Beltway hearthrob - the Hollywood actor/former lobbyist Fred Thompson - describes how he would have dealt with Iraq:

This is what Thompson said last month when interviewed by Chris Wallace on Fox News:

WALLACE: What would you do now in Iraq?

THOMPSON: I would do essentially what the president's doing.

Ok. If you like George Bush's Iraq Debacle, then Fred Thompson is your man, or at least one of them. Because all of the leading GOP Presidential candidates say the same thing.