Obama strong in latest debate

I agree totally with CQ Politics' analysis of Obama's performance in the Iowa debate. Craig Crawford writes:

Barack Obama might be inexperienced, but when it comes to debating he appears to be a fast learner.

Yesterday’s Democratic debate in Iowa, aired nationally on ABC, showcased the Illinois senator facing attacks from rivals with a dose of humor and a knack for the well-aimed counterpunch. At the peak of those assaults on his lack of experience, Obama deflected with a laugh line, saying, “To prepare for this debate, I rode in the bumper cars at the state fair.”

But he also effectively hit back at his more experienced opponents, noting that most had supported the war in Iraq. And he provoked applause from Democratic partisans in the debate hall with a telling observation about the pitfalls of experience: “Nobody had more experience than Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.”

After a shaky start in the debating game, Obama is getting better. Returning pointed attacks with laugh lines and applause cues is a clear sign of progress.

At the same time, Clinton was also very strong. These two are leaving the rest of the field behind.

I don't agree that Richardson was a standout. At one point in the debate he tried to joke about all the misstatements he's made recently in his campaign, but then he tried to turn it into a positive by saying he's not a "scripted candidate." This rang hollow to me. His misstatement in the last debate was not about not being scripted, but was basically a really dumb mistake. But he did avoid any new mistakes, did have a one-liner about combining change and experience (though you had to see this one coming), and was more aggressive on troop pullout of Iraq. So he did help himself marginally. But he did not shine.