Have you noticed whenever those who don’t like Obama call him by his middle name Hussein, the Obama camp gears up for damage control?

I’m just curious as to why it is acceptable for politicians like Iowa’s Rep. Steve King to say things like “Al-Qaida would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror.”….if Barack “Hussein” Obama is elected president.

Obama’s response is not, “why should it matter if my father is Muslim or if I were Muslim?” Instead, Obama’s response is “But I have to say that Mr. King and individuals like him thrive on offensive or controversial statements as a way to get in the papers, so I don’t take it too seriously. I would hope Sen. McCain would want to distance himself from that kind of inflammatory and offensive remarks.”

Being called Muslim, apparently, is offensive and no one balks when a politician directly says that.

Here is the response from the Muslim community, according to The American Muslim Association:  “AAI is deeply troubled that Senator Obama’s name continues to raise suspicions about his religious affiliation and is especially concerned about how commonplace and acceptable it has become to defame and degrade Islam. Any notion that questions the fitness of any loyal American to elected office because of race or religion is unacceptable and must be addressed.”

Our intrepid web leader Charlie Ray has called in his reflections on tonight’s debate, noting the high energy of the crowd and the general goodwill toward the candidates.

This crowd clearly was united in its opposition to Bush. But the audience also revealed the split we’ve seen in local polls: Those who are convinced the problem with Washington DC is “business as usual” were on their feet for Barack Obama’s comments. And those who supported Hillary Rodham Clinton keyed off her health care plan and her outrage over the nation’s economy. (Who could miss that comment about the surplus left by her husband that Bush blew through while he was in office?) Policy issues and leadership style were her strength.

(You can see the same split in our forum comments on our main page story.)

The CNN commentators talked about this debate being the “same ole same ole” business that they had heard 19 times in the past. I don’t know about Charlie, but I was struck by how often the two candidates returned to the Valley: veterans; poverty; language; the fence. I don’t know if this is the Dems courting Hispanics. I think it was refreshing to see the candidates acknowledge a part of the state often ignored by the media.

As for the flotsam and jetsam of the event, Charlie says the better seats were reserved for the elected officials, with the best seats reserved by seniority. The venue was packed. The crowd was young. The spirits were high. The crowd didn’t hesitate to jump to its feet when it heard an answer that it liked, and they found plenty to cheer. (Once more, it was Anyone Other Than Bush.)

As Democratic strategist Kelly Fero said, the two candidates are well polished at this point in the campaign. As far as manner and style and presentation, the pundits agreed both Obama and Clinton carried themselves well, even presidential.

And Charlie reports it was a bit of a rock star concert atmosphere. It had that air of a “this is a historic” occasion. After the debate, the two candidates shook hands and signed autographs. Elected officials headed to the Spin Room immediately.

As an aside…The crowd was united in its support of Sen. Kirk Watson, a bit of vindication for our local Senator and “the moment of silence heard ‘round the world.” But Clinton’s cheap shot on Watson’s MSNBC debacle drew hisses… and was balanced by HRC’s final comment, in which she insisted she was honored to stand alongside Obama and that the nation was well served by either candidate that might claim the Democratic nomination.

Current Delegate Count?

Obama       1319

Clinton       1250

We’ll have updates from the scene.

Post-debate, I asked Democratic strategist Kelly Fero some questions…

Final analysis?

I think this debate has been a toss-up, with a slight lean toward HRC. Her close just now was emotional and may have won her some points. In general, she was more energetic and dynamic, while he was more low-key and quiet. It was close, just like their poll numbers in Texas.

What about that Xerox for change line HRC used?

It was too contrived, especially in the context of criticizing her opponent for lifting language from others.I’ve helped more candidate than I care to count prepare for debates, and there is always a desire for one-liners that can stop the opponent in his tracks, like Lloyd Bentsen’s “You’re not JFK” line against Dan Quayle 20 years ago.  These lines are rarely effective, and the one tonight seemed to bomb rather dramatically.  In fact, she delivered it without much conviction, almost as if she knew it wouldn’t be well-received.

Did we break any new ground here?

After 19 debates, they have their patter down. 

8:31-Obama tells John he’s wrong. He’s been transparent about all of his earmarks (speaking of ears, Obama…)

8:34-Clinton is listing off what she wants to spend money on… it’s long.

8:35-Jorge asks Clinton if she believes it would be a shame if superdelegates choose a candidate other than who the public chooses. She says it will figure itself out..

8:37-Obama says heck yeah! I’m winning the popular vote!

8:39-Obama’s most testing time, apparently, has been living his entire life.

8:40-Clinton gets the crowd going reminding us, on the down low of course, of Monica Lewinsky.

8:41-But, even that doesn’t compare to our crappy lives, she reminds us. Twice.

8:42-Uhm… Maybe Clinton is getting some speech training from Huckabee. Her faith is driving her to do this.

I’m Mike Huckabee! Remember me? I’m running for president.

8:43-It’s getting sentimental. They shook hands, looked in eachother’s eyes and express their honor to be with each other. Awwwwwwwww!

(Remember the earlier lovefests?)

It’s time to start getting the spin. Off to the spin room! I’ll see you on the tube at 10!

Vince Leibowitz is indefatigable when it comes to blogging over at Capitol Annex. He’s live blogging the debate tonight on his site and Texas Kaos. I asked his opinion of who has the edge in this debate so far:

“I believe, right now, that Hillary Clinton is in the lead. Obama, perhaps by virtue of the order in which the questions are asked, appears to be parroting Clinton’s answers on too many occasions. I think Clinton scored major points on the plagarism issue, which I didn’t expect to see tonight. I was disappointed that the moderators wanted to cut off the debate on health care since both candidates admit they have differences here and this is something people want to hear about. Obama seems a bit uncomfortable in this debate. Right now, I’d say the debate is Clinton’s to lose.”

Derek Barre and Jordan Michalek of Westlake High School are in the Spin Room. I asked them for their observations of the evening:

“The Spin Room is a lot more quiet than I thought it would be. Everyone is either taking notes on their laptops or notepads, or editing pictures that they’ve taken. We didn’t get a chance to get into the spray, so we spent most of our time outside with all the candidate supporters interviewing people, and taking pictures out there. Although, we did run into some big names outside like George Lopez, Lloyd Doggett and Kirk Watson. It’s definitely been a great opportunity being able to spend the day here right in the middle of all the media and craziness surrounding the debate.”

I asked Jordan what a “spray” was….

“We were supposed to be allowed into the spray which is the group of photographers that are allowed to take pictures of the candidates before the debate starts. We weren’t allowed because the Secret Service changed their mind today on how many people they were going to allow in and so there wasn’t enough space for us on the floor. We met and spoke with a couple of local newscasters and yesterday at the walk through we met one of the CNN correspondents, but that’s about it so far.”

8:12-Campbell tries to shut them up about the one topic in which they differ slightly. Obama will have none of it. Healthcare continues.

8:14-Healthcare continues. Clinton accuses Obama of not wanting to insure everyone. Obama, again, will have none of it.

8:15-Jorge bringing out the bats too. “Are you suggesting Obama doesn’t have the experience to be commander in chief?”

8:17-In a nutshell: Hillary says yes.

8:18-Obama wants to keep U.S. as strongest military and take care of Texas families. Aw, shucks, thanks Barack!

8:20-Barack mentions AGAIN, that he didn’t vote for the war in Iraq. Thus, he is capable of being commander in chief.

8:21-Ok, from this angle..her outfit kind of looks like something out of Star Trek.

8:23-She wants to bring the troops home… let me guess, so does Obama.

8:24-He’s alluding to the troop surge working. Barack, are you trying to appeal to Texas Independents and Republicans??? Campbell Brown puts him on the spot “Do you think you made a good decision to oppose the war?”

8:27-Back to McCain wanting the troops there for 100 years. Hello? There has already been a 100 years war!

7:58-Obama gives himself props for his ideas…4 grand a year for students who agree to do community service. Where the heck was that money when I was paying for college?

7:59-Quote of the night “If your candidacy is going to be about words, then they should be your own words. When you lift entire phrases from other people’s speeches, then that’s not change you can believe in. Its change you can xerox!” –Hillary Clinton

CNN’s blog comments on the source of this comment.

It is getting good…John and Campbell, your producers will be proud.

8:03-Obama goes on to talk about healthcare after Clinton implied he was too scaredy-cat to talk about universal healthcare.

Obama’s proposal on universal health care.

Hillary’s Health Choices Plan.

Clinton’s failure in 1993, called socialized medicine.

7:05-Within minutes of the opening debate, Clinton is sure to remind Texans that she lived here for about 3 minutes more than 30 years ago. She was great friends with Barbara Jordan and Anne Richards (pulling at our heartstrings).

7:07-Clinton pushes her universal healthcare agenda (she needs Texas..I’m expecting her to pull out the stops).

Thought: I like her new personal shopper..this suit is pretty distinguished and simple.

7:09-Obama now gives his opening speech. He promises he will be BFF with Clinton after the claws come out tonight.

7:10-Obama talks about healthcare too….yawn. Are they going to repeat eachother all night??

7:11-He’s now moved on to the war which never should have been “authorized.” Dig #1

***Just saw George Lopez in the audience

7:12-Wait. Now he loves Barbara Jordan too. I guess there are not too many famous Democrats from Texas.

7:13-Jorge Ramos speaking English/Spanish-Would you meet with Cuba’s next leader?

7:15-Two minutes later, she still hasn’t answered the question. Jorge plays hardball and asks again. She says no—until she sees change.

7:16-Obama will meet with the new prez…without conditions (except for: liberating the people, the press, etc).

7:17-Campbell grills Obama. Wait, she says-you claimed you would normalize relations with conditions…uh oh.

—Obama’s mention of JFK #1

7:19-Clinton rebuts saying its not right to meet with an enemy immediately, until they negotiate some conditions. Now, Clinton mentions JFK.

7:20-Chelsea is proud of mama (taking notes for her own presidential bid)

7:21-Obama doesn’t want to hurt other countries’ feelings

7:22-Now we get to the economy. “How would a president Obama be different from a president Clinton on handling the economy?” from John King.

7:23-He’s not answering on what is different. He wants to stop benefitting companies who ship jobs overseas (same as Clinton). No income tax on social security (same as Clinton)…

7:26-Obama is playing very nice…I wonder if they got scolded by the Democratic Party for being divisive.

7:27-Clinton wants a “trade time-out.” Her list on the economy is the same and in the same order as Obama’s!

7:28-Home foreclosures will get a time-out as well. So, do interest rates—their time out is for three years!

7:29-Playing to old Austin….green jobs. Oh, and end George Bush’s “war on science.” Campbell tells her to shut it already.

7:30-We are talking about immigration already!

7:31-Clinton wants to crack down on immigration. Make them learn English, pay taxes and go after employers who take advantage of them.

7:37-Clinton thinks Bush is absurd when it comes to the border wall. Except, she voted for it.

7:38-Now she wants to listen to the people who live along the border. “Does that mean you think your vote was wrong?” said John King.

7:39-She will decide that after she listens to the people who live along the border. She is screaming at us for some reason.

7:40-Obama attacks Bush as well now. And, he agrees with Clinton wholeheartedly. Have they already struck a prez/vice-prez deal?

7:43-She doesn’t want language to be the official language. But, she wants all immigrants to learn English.

7:44-Obama says the same thing as Clinton. Could this debate get any more boring????

7:45-Obama takes the bilingual question to get first shot at talking about his end to standardized tests.

7:46-First commercial break after more than forty minutes of agreeing with eachother.

7:50-And, we’re back! John King must have gotten a hint from producers to spice it up. So, now he brings out the old jabs they’ve thrown at eachother.

7:51-Clinton is not taking the debate. She wants to be likeable, darnit! Ok, Ok..she will mention that she is “solution-oriented”

7:52-Uh oh, she brings up Kirk Watson and his inability to play hardball and talk about Obama’s accomplishments. Cut to Watson in the audience, PLEASE!

7:54-Obama points out, subtley of course, that he wasn’t born yesterday and has been involved in politics for 20 years.

7:54-They cut to Kirk…he was clapping for Obama. A little red in the face, I believe.

7:55-Ok, the jabs are on. He pointedly reminds us every major newspaper in Texas has endorsed the Barackster.