I spent the night at a Debate Watching Potluck Extraveganza, so called by the hostess who is leading a local New Hampshire push for the election of Barack Obama, and the mood was...decidedly quiet. Despite the abundant food, adequate watering, and comfortable seating, I found myself biting an imaginary wooden spoon as the candidates hem'd-and-haw'd through a number of uncomfortable questions put to them by the inimitable Brian Williams. Obama started two lengths back and never quite caught up with Hillary, God help us all, who was on cue, on message, and on time with every question that came her way. (Did she not look just a teensy bit like Elisabeth I with that huge faux-pearl necklace?)