Wonkette

Last week, your editors were offered the opportunity to interview someone at YouTube about tonight’s debate and “YouTube’s impact on the overall debate and political process” which is all so totally like “real” journalism that it naturally fell to the newest and least journalisty Wonketteer. And, that lack of experience is why I had no idea until 5 minutes ago when trying to find a picture of Steve Grove, YouTube’s, uh, “Head” of News & Politics that he was OMG smoking hot [courtesy of Martha Rial at the St. Petersburg Times]. Oh, and he was smart and said smart things which I wrote down and, boy am I glad I didn’t actually have any idea that this was who I was talking to because I probably would’ve sounded even dumber. That stuff, and Wonkette’s other alcohol-inspired YouTube debate question are after the jump.

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Sometimes we at Wonkette HQ wonder if there are so many interminable debates between candidates in order to bore all but the most insanely interested primary voters away from the polls. They are dull, and scripted and filled with planted questions about jewelry that make us want to stick forks in our eyes. But, maybe, this YouTube debate idea could be slightly interesting if done Chris Dodd style. Chris submitted his own YouTube video question (above) to be asked to Republican candidates. At this point, we feel the only way to possibly liven up these debates would be to forget about “real” Americans with their boring questions and just let the candidates snipe at each other over YouTube. Let’s get Richardson to ask Tancredo about immigration and Kucinich to ask Giuliani about his anti-ferret crusades and Hillary to ask Mitt “boxers or briefs” or something so he has to talk about his special underwear. Screw real people, we just finally want to see the candidates mess with each other.

As if you’re not already sick to death of hearing Presidential candidates opine on everything from health care reform to jewelry, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced this week where the 3 debates between the 2 actual candidates will be held next fall. It was widely expected that New Orleans would be one of the choices, in no small part because 7 of the current candidates asked the Commission to choose it. And the Commission totally took that into account by choosing… Oxford, Mississippi, Hempstead, NY and Nashville, TN. Our thoughts on that huge pile of bullshit, and a poll for you, after the jump.

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The New York Times weighs in with some post-debate reviews . Wearing a self-proclaimed “asbestos pantsuit,” Hillary “may not have been electric, but she was back on solid ground.” Against audience chatter and boos, Obama addressed Clinton’s pitch to lift the cap on payroll taxes to pay for Social Security, claiming it paves the way for $1 trillion tax increase: “This is the kind of thing that I would expect from Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani, where we start playing with numbers — we start playing with numbers in order to try to make a point.” Finally, diamond’s or pearls? Easy question for swaggering Diamond Joe Biden. Clinton wants both. Debate Wrap: Viva Las Vegas [NYT] Clinton’s in Thick of Barbed Democratic Debate [NYT]

Ignore the rain and wind. Can’t you feel the excitement in the air? Yeah? It’s positively electric! Oh, it’s a scene, man. And this morning we are really wishing we were in Las Vegas taking informal polls at the craps table, having the sex with our favorite blonde photographer, calling our Dr. Feelgood for laser juice, and watching Hillary draw blood. All at the same time. Why not? We’ll celebrate, because tonight Hillary Clinton’s wrath promises to be a better bloodletting than the Hatton-Mayweather fight. Oh yes, it will be a massacre. Many will fall. Kicking off the day’s pre-debate coverage, The Caucus blog at The New York Times rounds up various news chatter about the race reaching “new levels,” campaign “fluidity,” and the relevance of Sun Belt voters. I think I just peed a little.

The Early Word: Democrats in Vegas [NYT]

Sen. Hillary Clinton almost made it through last night’s debate without a scrape. She came out crisp, assertive and confident. She held her annoying smirks to a minimum and seemed to respectful to other candidates, attentive even. But did anyone notice she looked weird? It was horrible! Her eyes were dead and her face appeared waxy and paralyzed. When she spoke, her words and mouth movements never quite linked up with her eyes. And that seems, shall we say, a little unnatural. MORE »