Last night it happened again. I rolled home only expecting to watch a few more quarter-hours from my AC/DC DVD when instead I was struck by four hours of great political television in the form of the New Hampshire Debates on ABC. The Writers Guild is in trouble if nights of TV like this keep happening. Who needs fiction when reality is so much more interesting?

The Republicans took the stage first, and I was really interested to see if Mike Huckabee could sustain the buzz he created in Iowa. Unfortunately I feel like he still needs polish, or at least better handlers. For a mild rib before the cameras with someone from his campaign he's great, and that's what's gotten him this far. Unfortunately, in long-form extemporaneous speaking on serious issues, he frequently seems to begin saying anything to keep his sentence going, and soon runs into non-sequitirs. "We can't think about the people out in front of us and hating them, but we've got to love the people back behind us!," he said at the close of his Iowa victory speech. I just knew someone had dropped his cue cards. He was similarly rough last night.

Mitt Romney...reluctant doesn't begin to describe how I feel about saying it, but he articulated his ideas and past accomplishments better than anyone else on the stage, and did it while getting almost constant barbs from everyone else. However, the fact is he buys retail stores, lays off all the employees, works the remaining staff like dogs, and then sells the company. Do you expect to win a popularity contest when you've fired most of the voters at some point?

Fred Thompson has the antithesis of the "eye of the tiger." Slumped back in the chair, wandering in his speech, no passion at all. "Does everyone remember me from 'Law & Order?' Have you seen my hot wife? Hmm?"

Ron Paul said a lot of things I agreed with, but he also came across as the most hysterical, fringe crackpot on the stage, like a frantic leprechaun, and it made me question my own thoughts a bit.

As a group the Republicans made the mistake of supporting George Bush, Jr. When polls say 70% of voters think the country is heading the wrong direction and there's record turnout for a candidate who's keyword is "change," praising the current state of things is the dumbest thing you can do. With the exception of Huckabee, who straddled the fence on Bush, they all made that mistake.

Next came the Democrats. John Edwards really shined. When he talked about being motivated by his parents and grandparents going to work in the mill, how it was all "very personal" to him, and the camera panned up to two American Gothic-type characters who were in fact his parents, he put a few more votes in the bag, for sure.

Barack Obama was stately, dignified, presidential...or was he just boring? I tend to think "boring" and "stately" are both presidential qualities. Yout don't want to be too exciting as a candidate. It makes people nervous. I did get nervous, though, when he said instead of watching the Republican debate closely, "I was back and forth between the Republicans and football. The Redskins lost." Uhh...?

Now we know who Bill Richardson is. He's a guy who goes, "Thump thump thump!" when he talks. He couldn't be restrained from jabbing his index finger into the table, which was amplified by TV. He also couldn't be restrained from listing his very impressive resume, and I realized the shame that most people aren't going to remember that he's negotiated with Kim Xiong Il or has a high-level government security clearance. They're going to remember the loose knot in his tie, the fact his jacket seemed a size too small, and that he went "thump thump thump." (Similarly Rudy Giuliani had a lot of good things to say, but he punctuates them by flaring his eyes out like a National Geographic animal.)

And then there was Hillary Clinton. The lack of sleep really showed on Hillary's face. That is, until John Edwards poked her awake. "You didn't hear these kinds of attacks coming from Hillary when she was ahead, but now that she's behind you do!" Uh-oh! The cougar awakes! Hillary unleashed the fabled Hillary the conservative talk show hosts used to talk about. Some say it was the new "Dean Scream," others say she was just giving Edwards his ass. Was Hillary any more fierce than when John McCain told Mitt Romney, "You can spend your entire fortune distorting my record, it still won't be true!" I don't really think so. The Illinois accent makes it seem more shrill. Barack, Edwards, Clinton, I'll take any of `em, and not neccesarily in that order.

Great night of TV. I hope there are more like it to come.

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