YouTube.com Debate was actually pretty interesting ...

I don't think I ever heard or saw so much hype about an upcoming "event" on TV as I heard and saw relating to the CNN Democratic Presidential Debate using YouTube.com questions.

Surprisingly, after I saw both halves (I saw the first half after the second half, thanks to my getting back to the Super-8 Motel too late for the beginning half), I had to admit that it was actually entertaining and somewhat informative ... not great, mind you, but somewhat informative.

Hillary came off as both informed and intelligent. I may not agree with her stance on abortion (didn't come up in the debate, as I recall), but agree with her on just about all other issues and see her as a potentially strong leader. The only actual meaningful confrontation during the debate was between Barack Obama and Hillary over whether or not they would meet with leaders of "enemy" countries in an effort to negotiate around getting stuck in a war like the one in Iraq. Hillary couched her "yes" in conditions that set the terms for such meetings whereas Barack seemed not to--although in later interviews he indicated that he would, of course, set some conditions on meetings with Cuba, Syria, Iran, North Korea, etc.

Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska added some color to the affair with his complaints about the time he was allotted and some (partially truthful) statements about the others' reliance on corporate and lobbyist funding. Dennis Kucinich looked as young as Anderson Cooper (Cooper is still in high school, I'm certain), but pounded away at some pretty courageous stances on a couple of more of the issues.

If there was a winner, I suppose it was Hillary Clinton, but I really think that we are the winners in that it seemed less rehearsed than any other debate in my lifetime going back to (but not including) the first Kennedy-Nixon debate.