I watched part of Sunday night's debate with Dad, who's excited about Obama. I'm more Hillary-inclined, though Obama would be just fine. An element of innovation was provided by YouTube, which enabled regular folks to field questions to the candidates via video clip. I wasn't so crazy about it. Instead of a "debate", in the sense of candidates exchanging views and arguments, it was more like a novelty quiz show. Each candidate strove to come up with the best, or least silly, answer to some impossible question posed by viewers -- e.g., "if elected president, would you agree to be paid minimum wage?"

Now there's a doozy. A "yes" sounds insincere. A "no" sounds greedy, and an evasion sounds evasive. Basically, it is a no-win question, and it's also pretty much meaningless. If you're slaving away for $5.85, how is it going to help you to know President Biden is too? He's president, while you're still mopping floors. If someone offered me the presidency for thirty cents an hour, let alone $5.85, I'd take it! Hell, I'd do it for free.

Several of the candidates play it safe and say "yes", hoping to move along to the next topic.Chris Dodd demurs, mumbles something about having two young daughters. He gets honesty points, I suppose, but the answer's also complacent and tactless -- what about all the minimum wage workers who have to raise daughters? Obama notes that "most of the folks here on this stage have a lot of money" and could afford to accept minimum wage, though he stops short of actually volunteering. Hillary isn't asked. Win here goes to Obama, for at least being clever.

Obama is so presidential-looking that they should go ahead and mint a coin with him on it, even if he doesn't win. However, he still hasn't mastered the soundbite. He's like the guy in class who keeps raising his hand while he's still trying to work out the answer. Joseph Biden looks statesmanlike and convincing; he also nicely disses some scary-ass gun freak. John Edwards is earnest but lightweight; Bill Richardson lacks charisma. Hillary is positioned commandingly in the center of it all and it's almost as if she has already been nominated. What are the others doing here? Interviewing for positions in the administration, apparently.

The mood is pretty cordial -- even when the candidates are criticizing each other's views, they couch this criticism in praise. On one thing, they all agree: any of them would be better than what we have now. Amen.