Anyone watching this? They really attacking each other on healthcare...Brian Williams cant get to question 2.

On another note...Hillary's cheeks look normal now. I guess they finally realized that making her look like Cher does not win votes.

oh my god - HILLARY IS MELTING DOWN. she just went crazy about having to answer the first question each time and referenced saturday night live!

9:24. Woah!
Clinton first lashes out, not at Obama, but at…getting the first question in these debates.
Clinton hints at a vast first-question conspiracy, saying she's cool with it, but then hints that it's a tactic to go easy on Obama.
"If you saw Saturday Night Live," last Saturday, "Maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and get him another pillow."
Gloves off.

obama needs to stop pronouncing 'pakistan' with an accent. 99% of americans are hearing him saying this and thinking he sounds like an ass.

I'm just wondering if all you guys have finally come to the realization that their Iraq Policies are gonna be a disaster. And that they are not going to withdraw. And they will GO BACK IN if hell breaks loose after a pre-mature withdrawal.

How can anybody logically support this?

"I reject and denounce"

OLO

Hillary is making a fool of herself.

Mooslim

i loved this. she is going down in flames.

exactly the same thing. stop doing it. you will lose the election.

I think both sides scored some good points. Overall, Obama seemed cool and calm and Clinton came off as a bit desperate to make an inroad.

Just to note:

- Clinton looked petty when she quoted the SNL line.

- Obama didn't have a firm grip on Iraq when the question came up on what he would do if things fell apart and he said he would "protect the interest of the US"....that belies his saying that Iraq isnt' making us safer and is only flaming resentment, and that it's costing us money that could be used at home.

- Clinton was making an obvious pitch at the very end to get back her female base that she's been watching slipping away by saying how transformative it would be to have the first female President.

- Obama wasn't busy scribbling in his pad this time....he kept his attention on Clinton when she was talking (whatever that means).

- Clinton jumping in after Obama answered the question about Louis Farrakahn and saying he wasn't "rejecting" his support was lame.

- If Clinton was looking for a knockout blow or to make him look as if he's not ready, she didn't do it. She's still making the same arguments that have failed, only she is being more explicit in making them. I don't know if that will make a difference, but she doesn't seem to have many avenues to go after him aside from experience (which he has effectively answered to) and health care (which I think he makes the excellent point in saying that what Clinton is offering isn't government provided health care, but rather a mandate to purchase it).

Clinton remarks surprises skit writer By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
1 hour, 59 minutes ago



NEW YORK - James Downey knew something odd had happened when he stepped away from watching the Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday night to check on something in the kitchen and his phones started ringing.

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Hillary Clinton had cited the "Saturday Night Live" skit Downey had written to complain about her treatment by moderators Brian Williams and Tim Russert.

"In the last several debates I seem to get the first question all the time," she said. "I don't mind. I'll be happy to field it. I just find it curious if anybody saw `Saturday Night Live,' maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow."

The skit about an Obama-Clinton debate featured a lovestruck press corps fawning over Barack Obama, while treating Clinton as an annoyance in their way. A fictional Campbell Brown fanned herself in excitement after an Obama answer, while a John King impersonator suggested he had "nailed it."

Downey stayed up for the midnight rerun of MSNBC's Tuesday debate just to see what she had said.

"That usually doesn't happen unless it resonates," said Downey, "so that's nice. It's good for the show."

Downey is an original "Saturday Night Live" writer who's also been head writer for David Letterman. He's been back at "SNL" since 2000, when he wrote skits about Bush-Gore debates; and he's been the lead writer at the comedy show on political material since then.

He said it's hard to recall a more dazzling political personality than Obama in his lifetime.

Still, Downey can't help but notice how many people in the news media have been seduced by the Illinois senator. The Clinton campaign has expressed frustration that it is getting a tougher ride from the press.

Clinton has been the first person questioned in six of the past 10 Democratic debates, and some argue this puts her at a disadvantage.

"It's like when the mom is in the grocery store and the kids rush up with this brand new cereal saying `We've got to get it, we've got to get it!'" Downey said. "The mom is the one who is supposed to read the box, check the ingredients. She's not supposed to go, `Oh, my gosh, this is great! It has marshmallows and chocolates and sprinkles."

While he loved getting his work noticed and understands what Clinton must be feeling, Downey said mentioning the skit might not have been her best move.

"It might, on balance, make her look a little whiny," he said. "She might have been better off if other people pointed it out for them."

MSNBC might have also been a source of some of Clinton's annoyance. Both Chris Matthews and David Shuster have apologized over the past months for remarks about the Clinton campaign, which briefly considered backing out of the network-sponsored debate. Tuesday's debate was seen by 7.8 million people, the largest audience in the network's history, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Already, "Saturday Night Live" executive producer Lorne Michaels has ordered Downey to write another skit on the campaign for this weekend's show.

"That's Lorne," Downey said. "He likes to paint you in a corner and if you do it, your reward is to get to jump out of a deeper corner. I pray to God it's my last debate."