The Daily Digest

The invariably funny Dave Weigel live-blogged last night's Democratic debate. (Google, the debate's co-host, lavished some cool perks on the press pool.)

Obama is chummier and softer, but, as Jennifer Rubin observes, he simply cannot compete with Hillary's "experience, judgment and preparation. . .. All but the most rabid of the Democratic base I think will come to see that. So I would suggest that the GOP primary voters think long and hard about electability. Otherwise, we'll be debating whether First Gentleman or First Guy sounds better for Bill."

David Hogberg captures the state of Newt: "Newt is a great idea man. He provides the GOP and the conservative movement a wonderful service in that role. Why mess that up with a run for the Oval Office that would prove disastrous?"

Speaking of Newt, his new grassroots group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, which has seven staffers on payroll, is spending like John McCain, hauling in almost $115K last month but shelling out almost $415K.