Blunt questions, blunt answers

(AP photo)

Sharp exchanges over Iraq and foreign diplomacy, deeply personal reflections about gay marriage, snowmen asking questions about global warming -- tonight's Democratic presidential debate had it all. It was billed as first-of-its-kind event, and it largely lived up to its billing.

The novel format -- the public asked the questions through homemade videos uploaded to YouTube -- often forced the candidates off their talking points, something their past debates haven't always accomplished. The result: Two packed hours, some unexpected responses to unorthodox questions, a good dose of humor, and a window into what the public is thinking -- or at least those possessing a DV camera and a broadband connection.

A few highlights:

- Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama clashed over whether or not the president of the United States should engage with leaders of rogue nations. Obama said the president should sit down with leaders of countries like Iran and Syria, while Clinton cautioned against doing so without knowing what their intentions were. "The notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them ... is ridiculous," Obama said. Clinton said, "Certainly we're not going to just have our president meet with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez ... until we know better what the way forward would be."

- Joseph Biden and Bill Richardson differed sharply when asked by a questioner in Darfur, Sudan -- shown with refugee children -- how the US should respond to the ongoing genocide there. Both men have been there and been outspoken on the issue, but where Richardson advocated diplomacy and sending UN troops, Biden said the US had to send troops now. "Those kids will be dead by the time diplomacy is over."

- John Edwards was asked about his wife's remarks that he would be a better advocate for women's issues than Clinton has been. He said he would be, pointing to his work on poverty and health care. Clinton disagreed, saying she had been fighting for women her whole life.

- A lesbian couple put a personal face to the issue of gay marriage, asking the candidates why they shouldn't be allowed to marry each other. Dennis Kucinich was the only candidate to come out for gay marriage, and Edwards gave a very personal answer about why he's not ready to support it. "I feel enormous personal conflict about this issue," he said.

- There was a lot of discussion about Iraq and how and when to get American troops out. Biden, who says he's the only candidate to have proposed a political solution for Iraq -- a decentralized country partitioned by ethnic and religious sects -- succeeded in forcing his rivals to explain how they would responsibly pull troops out. But notable in that exchange was how Obama took a shot at Clinton and others who voted for the war by saying that they failed to be careful getting in. "Too many of us failed to do it," he said. "That is something both Democrats and Republicans have to take responsibility for."

- One of the most lively exchanges of the night came when a questioner asked the candidates if they would be willing to work for the minimum wage. Chris Dodd said he couldn't live on that, but others said they could, before Obama pointed out that they could say that because they all had money. He said: "We don’t have Mitt Romney money, but ... " To which Biden responded, "I don't have Barack Obama money, either," noting that he had been in public service for decades.

- The award for the most creative use of their 30-second video probably goes to Edwards, who poked fun at the controversy surrounding his $400 haircuts but also concluded with a serious question: "What really matters?"