Comments on the Debate

++Ed Kilgore,Josh Marshall and the DailyKos agree that the debate was substantive and that the Democratic Party came off swell. Marshall liked the intensity of the first hour on national security and the economy and felt the second part really didn't distinguish the candidates from one another.

++There were no GOP moments--big whoppers or Rick Perry moments--so people thought Hillary Clinton did not do herself any harm as the frontrunner. Some comments said that she flubbed some foreign policy questions and was lame in her recommendations about going after Wall Street. Everyone agreed that the candidates handled the Paris question well and how to combat terrorism. Hillary raised the AUMF, which Congress has not voted on in nearly a year.

++All three came out and defended Obamacare to vigorous applause and then went on about how it can be improved. The key improvement is to have Medicare negotiate for drugs and put a cap on drug prices,something that President Obama let slip.

++By and large a saner crew tonight. I usually follow the GOP debates more closely because they slip some of the wildest ideas into the mix. In the last debate the attack on the Federal Reserve blew me away. I know the libertarians have been against it for years but no one defend it. Or other nutty things like Carly Fiorina advocating this bill sponsored by the Freedom Caucus in the House that would automatically eliminate all regulations in all departments. A recipe for chaos and disaster. But she advocated it.

++Tonight we got re-instating Glass-Steagall. I wish the moderator explained it to the audience. It seems esoteric but dates back to the New Deal and restricts banks from using their depositors money to invest in risky ventures. The Act separate the two functions of a bank. Now not so.