If you read the New York Times, you know (again) that the surge is not working.

Also, if you read the Times, you know that Moqtada al-Sadr is actually a good guy.

I watched the Democratic Presidential debate last night, which was held at St. Anselm's College in Goffstown, NH and carried live on CNN and WMUR-TV. First, kudos to my friends Scott Spradling and Tom Fahey for their participation as the journalist questioners, working through mic problems to ask good questions. Second, I think the format was quite good. With so many candidates, having a two-hour debate makes perfect sense. It also makes sense to not have bells or lights that hold people to hard time limits. A good moderator (and Wolf Blitzer did a good job) should be able to keep things moving while giving the candidates time to state their case. Finally, I think the debate allowed voters here in NH the chance to get some idea, beyond sound-bites, of who these people are under the lights. It allowed Senator Obama to look like a reasonable, intelligent and competent man, which is his burden of proof as the newcomer to the national scene. It allowed Senator Clinton to bolster her credentials as a person of gravity, and gave some of the others a chance to show themselves to a wider audience. Of course, John Edwards used the debate as an opportunity to try and take it to Clinton and Obama, which he did with some success. If for no other reason than it gave the audience an opportunity to re-assess him, I think Edwards "won" the debate, if we can even worry about winners and losers for a debate so far removed from actual voting (which I think we cannot).

As a New Hampshire Republican, I will, of course, not take a Democratic ballot in the New Hampshire primary. I will, therefore, be paying closer attention to the GOP debate tomorrow night. But, as a casual observer, I think the Democrats were given an opportunity last night to consider their options with care. While Clinton and Obama did nothing to cause a re-consideration of their candidacies, and Richardson, Biden, Dodd, Kucinich and Gravel did nothing to allow them to break into the upper tier, John Edwards gave folks some food for thought. In 2008, with the Republicans still standing, like it or not, as the party of the current (terribly unpopular) administration, it still is not a slam-dunk for the Democrats. They might want to consider a Southerner, especially if the GOP discards its current front-runners and nominates a former actor from Tennessee.