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That's right. We're live blogging again this evening. There will be no scotch for Joel -- instead he has purchased a beer that tastes like scotch! It's true!

Enough drinking. More politics. Please join our conversation!

Joel 8:43 p.m. CST: Debate’s over. What did we learn?

In a debate format, Clinton sounds more presidential than Obama. I’m not sure that that’s proof of anything. By this time, though, we’ve been through these questions so many times that there’s not much new we learned tonight. So the sounding presidential thing might actually be pretty important.

Ben 8:50 p.m. CST: I liked it better when Clinton and Obama were red in tooth and claw. But that's the partisan in me, I guess.

Ben 8:46 p.m. CST: It's hard to get past that two-for-the-price of one question with Hillary Clinton. And it's a legitimate question. You can tell we're winding down, though. The questions are getting a bit fuzzy around the edges.

Joel 8:43 p.m. CST: Who will win the Shandling primary? The Stevie Wonder primary?

And I think we’ve seen Rob Reiner enough tonight, thanks.
BTW, the proper response to this question to the Hollywood sex-and-violence question is: That has nothing to do with the president’s job.

Ben 8:43 p.m. CST: I missed the question -- the commercial breaks have been poorly timed -- but federal intervention with TV and the Interet is right out...

Hey, there's Rob Reiner again!

Ben 8:41 p.m. CST: How long is this debate? I thought it was only supposed to be 90 minutes. It's gone by quickly, I guess, but I need to get dinner soon!

Joel 8:36 p.m. CST: Booing Wolf. It’s actually a good question. Was she naïve or just making a now-unpopular decision on the merits? It sounds like she’s making the case for being naïve.

And Ben: It's too bad Diane Keaton wasn't on screen when you typed that.

Ben 8:35 p.m. CST: Oh, dear. Now who's naive?

Joel 8:34 p.m. CST: Hillary: “Enormous amount of investigation and due diligence” on Iraq. Oh really?

Asked if she had read (the prewar Iraq National Intelligence Estimate), likely 2008 presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.), said: "I'm not going to say anything about that. Just let the intelligence committee do their work, okay?"

Ben 8:33 p.m. CST: I don't know who the Republican nominee is going to be, but I'm very much looking forward to the debates leading up to the general election. I don't know if it's going to be a clash of the titans, but the contrast between the parties on Iraq couldn't be clearer. But what about the larger war? It isn't just Afghanistan and Pakistan, folks.

Joel 8:31 p.m. CST: Obama does a good job of framing the progress in Iraq – we’re back from horrific violence to merely “intolerable” violence there.

And I agree, to some extent, with Ben. Everybody knew it was a vote to let President Bush start a war, if he chose. It's untrue to suggest otherwise.

Ben 8:27 p.m. CST: If the war vote was as Hillary Clinton just described, then the Congress should have impeached and removed President Bush by now. But the authorization vote was most certainly not as she characterizes it.

Joel 8:23 p.m. CST: Fisher Stevens is alive!

Ben 8:21 p.m. CST: Ron Paul is running ads in California, by the way. On the radio, anyway -- including the 50,000 watt megaphone that is KFI in L.A.

Barack Obama talks about McCain's lack of understanding of foreign affairs. But I'm afraid all I've heard from him just now are clichés and naive platitudes about "serious" problems in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the like.

Joel 8:17 p.m. CST: The giant Ron Paul sign outside the Kodak Theater is something I am not going to make fun of. Ron Paul is a candidate who deserves only our respect.

Joel 8:13 p.m. CST: Diane Keaton! Rob Reiner! Ice T!

And I think it’s fair to say the people meter holds Wolf Blitzer in deep contempt. Based on the CNN feed, btw, I’m pretty sure Wolf sprung that commercial break as a surprise. Cheering was getting out of hand. And he’s right: Let’s hear the candidates.

Ben 8:11 p.m. CST: Question for the panel, knowing Pierce Brosnan is in the audience: Who was the better Bond?

Nice red-meat line from Senator Clinton: It's going to take another Clinton to clean up after another Bush. Does that mean Jeb in '12?

Ben 8:09 p.m. CST: I've stopped keeping track of how many times these two invoke change. I say, banish it!

Joel 8:07 p.m. CST: Jill, down in the comments, is right. The people meter loves Hillary. Barack, not as much. In fact, Wolf said “Senator Obama” – didn’t get a camera shot of Obama, didn’t hear from him. It just plunged. I’m not sure if that reflects Obama and his discomfort in this format, or if these people meter users just love her.

Ben 8:05 p.m. CST: Lord help me, I agreed with the first part of Hillary Clinton's answer about managing the country. I've never, ever liked this idea that the president is CEO of the country. You don't need to be an MBA to be a statesman! In fact, the opposite might well be the case.

Joel 8:04 p.m. CST: That was probably a cheap shot at Karl Rove. But that’s always kind of fun. And I know better than to make fun of Ron Paul anymore.

Ben 8:00 p.m. CST: Karl Rove didn't invent the flip-flopping charge, Joel. I suspect you could find it at the founding of the republic. At the very least, look to Lee Atwater in recent history. And, for what it's worth, I don't think the flip-flop charge amounts to much. People should me more concerned with what these people are going to do for -- or to -- the country.

Joel 7:58 p.m. CST: By the way, this beer – S.P. Dinsmoor’s Scotch Ale – is amazing.

We now return to political blogging.

Joel 7:56 p.m. CST: Here’s where I get angry at Karl Rove. We’ve just sat through five minutes of blather over changed positions – as if changing a position is, in and of itself, bad. It’s what we sat through last night, too. If there was a broad pattern of flip-flopping on big issues, I’d care, but a lot of this ends up being about small changes on relatively minor matters. And , again, the problem isn’t the position itself. It’s the flipfloppery. And it’s tedious.

Ben 7:52 p.m. CST: Did either of the candidates mention that the drivers' licenses issue is essentially a state matter? Maybe I missed it.

Joel 7:50 p.m. CST: That’s the quote that’ll get replayed over and over again

Ben 7:49 p.m. CST: Jesus Christ!

Ben 7:47 p.m. CST: John Podhoretz quips, "Take a million people who are watching this debate, and ask them what Obama and Clinton just said about health care and how their plans differ. My guess: 2 percent would get it right." My guess is I wouldn't be among them.

Joel 7:47 p.m. CST: I’m seriously curious what the economic impact would be if we actually deported 12 million illegal immigrants tomorrow. Assuming jobs could be filled, you’d see prices rise pretty quickly, I think – and Social Security would lose a big chunk of change.

Ben 7:42 p.m. CST: I'm still listening to health care talk. And I've come to the realization that if either one of these candidates win, and if they succeed in getting the reforms they want, it's going to become very dangerous to get sick in this country.

I think I'm going to skip ahead...

Joel 7:40 p.m. CST I had some technical problems of my own. I’m back!

Ben 7:28 p.m. CST: Sorry, due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm about 10 minutes behind in this debate. Thank goodness for TiVo!

Joel 7:20 p.m. CST Actually, healthcare is where I disagree with Obama. You require universal coverage so that healthy people with finances can’t opt out, and there are some of those people. For a couple of reasons – A) you will kill the insurance industry if only the sick expensive people are participating, and B) if something catastrophic happens to those uninsured people, they go to the emergency room. Either option probably leaves you, the taxpayer, paying for them anyway. So you’ll pay for it through the front door or back door. Your choice.

Ben 7:19 p.m. CST: I know this is supposed to be a substantive debate, but I would be remiss if I didn't note that Rob Reiner, Garry Shandling and the great James Brooks are in the house tonight.

Ben 7:15 p.m. CST: Obama speaks sensibly on health care. If you're going to have something like universal healthcare, strong-arming citizens into buying insurance isn't the way to go. His plan seems somewhat less socialistic than hers.

Joel 7:12 p.m. CST “What do you consider the most important policy distinction between you?” OK, that a nice way to start delving into substance.

Joel 7:10 p.m. CST Obama makes his play for the Edwards voters. Nice move.

And he says Hillary is his friend. That’s probably a necessity, given ”Handshakegate.” You probably don’t want that becoming another “You’re likable enough, Hillary” moment.

Ben 7:05 p.m. CST: No rules tonight? That's always death.

It is a moment, Joel. I hope we're at a point in our country that it's remarkable for being unremarkable.

Joel 7:05 p.m. CST Obama and Clinton are alone on stage. And it’s astonishing, really: A black man and a woman. One of the two will represent the Democratic Party for the presidency. I don’t know that it’s worth voting for either one specifically for those reasons, but it’s still a great moment.

Ben 7:02 p.m. CST: If I had half a brain, I would have gone down to the Kodak Theater today. Looks like quite a show. And, as Wolf Blitzer mentioned, this debate is probably going to be Hollywood's big show for the year if the Oscars don't go off.

Joel 7:00 p.m. CST: Stephen Spielberg and Christina Applegate are there tonight! Yes, Hollywood is liberal. Which automatically makes this debate more fun than last night’s.