I was out of the house when it was live, but I just finished watching it off the Tivo. I’m sure by now all sorts of other people have said this, but WOW… did that get vicious. Clinton and Obama were at each other’s throats… especially in the first half. The antipathy between the two of them was palpable.

I wonder who will end up benefitting in the end. I actually think Edwards came off sort of as the adult just for not being quite so negative (although he got a few good barbs in against both of them as well). But I’m not sure that will matter at this point.

Of Clinton and Obama, I personally think Obama came off better… but I like Obama better, and also have a definite dislike of Clinton. So I’m not sure my view accurately represents anything. I’m sure most Clinton supporters thought she did better and most Obama supporters thought he did better. The question is if this sways anybody who hadn’t made up their mind yet.

Just a few days until South Carolina. Obama is ahead in the polls at the moment, but Clinton has been gaining on him. Obama needs to win this to keep things in play. A loss here will hurt him badly on Super Tuesday. It quite possibly would make Hillary “inevitable” again. If Obama wins South Carolina by a decent margin then Super Tuesday will be a major competitive battle and there will be the possibility of the nomination continuing to be a battle for a bit longer.

Of course, the most fun scenario is a brokered convention, and for that we need Edwards to stay in until the end, and get there with a decent number of delegates… enough to keep either of the others from being over 50%… So we really need for Edwards to manage to get some delegates out of South Carolina too. :-)