2:13: Welcome! I will post comments during the debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, which began only a few minutes ago with some very modest opening statements by both candidates.

2:49: How would you address unemployment and low wages for African-Americans related to immigrant labour? Hillary could not refuse the opportunity to blame the employers for offering jobs to low-skilled immigrant. We have the exact same debate over here, with millions of illegal immigrant seeking a future in the European Union. Hillary Clinton's answer could be a replica of the camouflaged xenophobia some European populists on the Left thrive on. To blame the employers for the failures of the state is typical for leftist politicians who want the semi-racist, working-class vote.

3:02: Clinton thinks she will be the better president because she helped some poor children after graduating from university. Again, pure populism...

3:34: In my opinion, both candidates have a very naïve view on the Iraq war. It's one thing to say that America shouldn't have liberated the Iraqis from Saddam Hussein's regime back in 2003, but to say that America should now withdraw from Iraq within sixty days is simply irresponsible.

3:47: Could a Hillary Clinton White House "control" former president Clinton? Hillary's answer seems to be no.

3:52: The debate is over.

4:03: I would say Obama is the debate winner. He came across as a calm and reasonable man. However, it would not be fair to say that Clinton’s performance was bad. They did both pretty good.

This ends my running commentary on the first one-to-one debate between Clinton and Obama.

(Photo by Stephen Voss.)