Live Blogging the Donk Debate

The Dems have their final trainwreck prior to the Pennsylvania primary and it promises to be a show. The National Constitution Center is a beautiful building and it's nice to see Philly in the spotlight.

8:03: Obama's special interest rhetoric grates on me as he's taking money from just about everyone. Oil companies come to mind first.

8:04: Clinton speaking now and talking about the Constitution and going right to the liberal playbook: government is not doing enough for people. We've come a far way from "not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," haven't we? America is always greatest when government is smallest as has been shown repeatedly.

8:08: First question, would they take up Cuomo's idea of taking each other as running mates. It would be a crushing defeat for the dems should they do that. Hillary as second fiddle? Sorry, don't see it.

8:11: The "bitter" question. He used the "mangled" excuse. George W. Bush was eviscerated for mispeaking and Obama uses it as an excuse and gets away with it. Media bias? No way.

8:13: He is speaking and saying nothing about the "bitter" issue. He dodged, as expected.

8:14: Hillary now in rebuttal. She had a hanging curveball and fouled it off. She could have hammered Obama on this and tanked it.

8:15: Stephanopolous (no, I don't care if I spelled correctly) asks the most softball questions. Hillary whines about her toughness when battling the evil GOP. Whoa is her.

8:18: Obama is trying to explain why he's not an elitist when he's actually an elitist. He used the "some of my best friend are gun owners" tack. I think I've heard used before as "some of my best friends are black people..."

8:20: Damn, Houston took the lead over the Phillies 4-2. Er...sorry, Obama was talking and I zoned out.

8:22: The Jeremiah Wright question. Charlie Gibson asks the tough question and Obama is giving a less than stellar answer. If he is the nominee, McCain is going to pound him with this question and I'm sure Maverick's people have worked hard to disprove Obama's responses.

8:30: Another Wright question and Obama is trying to explain away the "God damn America" quote. Hillary just twisted the knife a bit and threw some lemon juice in to boot. She included Farrakhan and "turning the church bulletin over to Hamas." Sweet.

8:32: Hillary gets the Bosnia question...What a stupid gaffe by her in retrospect. She's spinning it as a foreign policy plus and says it was because a lack of sleep. All in all a weak response.

8:36: Obama gets the flag lapel pin question...He bunts and ties it to the way vets are treated, blah, blah, blah. He's not answering why he won't wear a damn pin.

8:40: George gives the Bill Ayers (domestic terrorist question) question. He's defending Ayers. Now he's comparing Ayers to Tom Coburn, a Republican. A nice try but it won't work well.

8:42: Hillary is revved and says Obama served on a board with Ayers and people died. She tied it to 9/11 when Ayers piece saying he wished he had done more than just plant bombs and kill people. Nice move.

8:44: Obama counters that Bill Clinton pardoned two members of the Weather Underground. But Senator, not Bill Ayers as far as I've heard. I guess it means they both are supporters of American terrorists.

8:46: Break.

8:51: So far a pretty morbund affair to say the least. I'm not looking for a Jerry Springer moment but jeez.

8:52: A citizen asks how are they going to really get troops out of Iraq and Charlie Gibson piles on. Hillary says she's pulling out regardless. Retreat is the only option when it comes to these two. So much for the American resolve set forth by General McAuliffe when he uteered "nuts" at the Battle of the Bulge.

9:15: Can it be true that only 6% make $100,000 per year as Obama said? That's something to look up.

Got it. According to the liberal digest NY Times:

Over all, the top 10 percent of Americans — those making more than about $100,000 a year — collected 48.5 percent, also a share last seen before the Great Depression.

One would surmise that in the last year, the percentage of Americans earning $100,000 has not decreased by 4% in a year so Obama's figure is a direct falsehood.

9:26: Obama got a huge endorsement that makes Rev. Wright look downright sorry:

While Sen. Barack Obama sought to improve his relationship with the Jewish community today by meeting with leaders Philadelphia, comments by a Hamas political adviser this weekend could potentially hurt the Democratic presidential candidate.

During an interview on WABC radio Sunday, top Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef said the terrorist group supports Obama’s foreign policy vision.

“We don’t mind–actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance,” Yousef said in response to a question about the group’s willingness to meet with either of the Democratic presidential candidates.

Nice pick up, Senator.

9:29: Obama is straining to explain his view on gun rights while weighing the votes he'll lose by banning guns in PA. Hillary hits Cheney and is a bit looser. It's amusing that both don't know the specifics of the single-most important SCOTUS gun decision in years.

Hillary is sharp on this issue.