Weren't They Ravishing?

I don't think I'm qualified yet to give an analysis of last night's YouTube/CNN democratic presidential debate. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that watching it was the first real effort I've made to follow the candidates, with the exception of reading some blogs on The Huffington Post. But you can read about it here, or on your favorite news site.

After last night's debate though, I am more motivated to catch up with the presidential race. Until now, I was undecided between Clinton and Obama. Obama certainly seems to have the superhuman intelligence I admire, but I realize there is much more to winning an election than just smarts.

Despite their differences, not only am I still undecided, I want to hug them both. (Okay, and Edwards too just because he's such a sweet guy.) I had the warm and fuzzies looking at radiant Hillary in her bright coral jacket and statuesque Obama with his chiseled good looks. Sure, they both gave solid answers that made sense to me, but damn they looked good!

Compared to the smooth confidence those two exuded, the rest of the candidates seemed downright freakish. I'd read around that Clinton and Obama have been the standouts from the beginning, but I didn't expect it to be so lopsided. And is it just me or does anyone else feel the love with having a woman and an African-American as front-runners? Maybe I've just been out of the loop (having babies or something) for so long that I haven't had a chance yet to take it for granted.

So now I must visit the sites, read the blogs and talk to people in-the-know to understand what these guys/gal really stand for. (Thank you Chris for offering this link, which has a useful chart showing each candidate's position on the issues.) I'm also looking forward to the CNN/YouTube Republican debate in September, although I have a feeling it won't be nearly as enjoyable to watch.