Democrats go another round in Vegas

There's a much-hyped heavyweight bout in Las Vegas tonight, but instead of boxers in the ring there will be would-be presidents on a debate stage.

Will the Democratic debate live up to the billing? Or will it be like one of those overpriced pay-per-view fights that delivers far less action than promised?

Those are only some of the questions going into the two-hour debate, which will air at 8 p.m. on CNN. Seven Democrats will be there; the eighth hopeful, former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska, didn't make the cut because of his anemic fund-raising numbers. This debate will have a new wrinkle: For the second hour, questions will come directly from audience members, which could change the dynamics.

Much of the attention will be on Hillary Clinton, the national front-runner, after what happened in the last debate, Oct. 30 in Philadelphia. Pummeled by her rivals, she gave a series of convoluted answers. She later conceded it was not her best performance, and her aides are now saying that she wasn't prepared for the repeated questioning.

She looked particularly bad in hemming and hawing on a question about New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. He ditched the proposal on Wednesday in the face of withering opposition, and Clinton issued a statement saying she agreed with Spitzer's decision and would not support a similar proposal as president.
After the debate, there were days of punditry about whether Clinton was vulnerable and of exchanges between the campaigns about whether the male candidates piled on Clinton -- and whether she sought sympathy as the first leading female presidential candidate.

Her lead in the polls shrank, nationally and in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the first Democratic voters will get their say in seven weeks. Her closest rival, Barack Obama, gave a stirring performance before Iowa Democrats at the Jefferson Jackson dinner on Saturday night, leading to more stories about his resurgence.

In an attempt to inoculate Clinton against what might happen during the debate, chief campaign strategist Mark Penn sent out a memo full of poll results favorable to her, prefaced with this:

"What is the most important card in this race? The leadership card. That is the card that we see in poll after poll that analyzes why people are voting for Hillary Clinton. And so while opponents are strategizing and re-launching their campaigns with aggressive personal attacks on Sen. Clinton, one truth remains –- running for president is not a qualification for president. The voters are looking for someone who has the strength and experience to lead, and little has changed in the last few weeks outside of the massive media coverage of the attacks."

Which all brings us to tonight. For your debate scorecard, here are some points to watch for:

• How many times does Clinton start her answers with "Yes" or "No?"
  
• Will Clinton try to turn the tables on John Edwards and Obama?
  
• Will Obama jab Clinton, or let Edwards do the dirty work?
  
• Will Bill Richardson leap to Clinton's defense again, building speculation that he's angling for a Cabinet post?
  
• Will Richardson, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, and Dennis Kucinich get much air time at all?
  
• Will the Democrats instead aim mostly at President Bush and the Republican candidates?
  
• And how many times will moderator Wolf Blitzer shill CNN as "the best political team" on television"