House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) asks Attorney General Michael Mukasey why the Justice Department has dropped TPMmuckraker from its press release distribution list and refuses reinstatement.

Obama kicks it off.

8:08 PM … What GOP operative masterminded holding this debate at the Kodak theatre with a bunch of movie stars in the audience?

8:12 PM … The forces of niceness begin in the ascendent.

8:13 PM … Excellent. Close up of the lame dude from The Office.

8:14 PM … By the way, I’ll be on TV talking with Olbermann after the debate, starting at about 10 PM on MSNBC. Actually I am here blogging at the moment at the palatial MSNBC studios manse as I speak.

8:21 PM … Thus far the debate is eerily substantive. I expect Wolf to pounce.

8:26 PM … It’s a cutting irony for Edwards that he dropped out of the race just before being universally acclaimed a saint of the Democratic party.

8:47 PM … Obama resists being tarred with the ‘humane’ hot-button codeword.

8:48 PM … How big is the fine? And are we sure all these illegals are going to be able to pay it? Just curious.

8:53 PM … Apparently while I stepped out for one minute I missed Wolf finally goading the candidates on to a fight.

8:55 PM … It’s always interesting to try to infer the strategic decisions from the candidates attitudes and statements at the debate. In this case it seems like both sides feel like they want to keep with the trajectory and plan they’re on and don’t want to rile things up to risk some shuffling of the cards that could change things. That clearly seems the case with Obama, though this is pretty much always his debating style. I wonder if Hillary feels boxed in by the perceived negative reaction to the more aggressive approach she and Bill were using between Nevada and South Carolina, and thus not in a position to take a more aggressive stance.

9:03 PM … Obligatory Politico ad.

9:04 PM … Hillary’s on a tear here. It makes me think how much better she is making her case than Bill is making it for her. Not that she matches him in inherent retail political skills. But the president has to be the president. She has to make her own case. Be her own person.

9:08 PM … I’m struck again by the political genius of having this debate before an audience of movie stars.

9:10 PM … Well delivered answer from Obama on the change/bring new voters issue.

9:11 PM … Clinton gets the dynasty question.

9:11 – 9:34 PM … Miscellaneous Iraq and Iran stuff that happened while I was offline.

9:35 PM … I give Hillary several points for the multiple Wolf smackdowns.

9:40 PM … I’m marvelling at Wolf’s skill at what I guess you’d call the attempted smackdown assist. Hillary, didn’t Barack just hit you over the head with a bat and smack you around like … well, like? Aren’t you saying that you were a damned fool for supporting President Bush? Is that your position?

9:43 PM … What’s the deal with CNN running commercials over the debate? Aren’t they involved in the scheduling on this thing?

9:46 PM … Watching Chelsea, I now get it that Bill has been taken to an undisclosed location.

9:49 PM … “I have to agree with everything Barack just said.”

Some very quick thoughts. The debate was a surprisingly substantive discussion of a number of issues that actually resonate in people’s lives. Which means it wasn’t really anything like a political debate. I thought both candidates had a good debate. For the first half and maybe a little more, I thought Clinton was the more commanding presence, though not overwhelmingly. Then in the second half things changed, the balance changed. The key seemed to be Iraq. No hard punches were thrown. And I thought Clinton did well. She just had a set of facts that weren’t as good as his to deal with. And even though it was gently, he kept hitting on this point of the authorization of the war. And it was very effective. There was just no really good answer for Clinton, though as I’ve said before many times I actually think there are decent arguments justifying the vote as not simply a vote for war.

In the context of the race, I think this helped Obama because it put the two of them on the same level, the same stature level. As I’ve said before, Obama in general has not been a good debater. But this was a good one for him. Clinton on the other hand I think helped herself by getting the focus back on her, as opposed to her husband. Not that there’s anything wrong with Bill. But this is her election. I guess on points I’d give this to Obama because of the exchanges on Iraq, but it was a very close call. And both had a good debate.

I was wondering when this would come up. As a lot of us remember, John McCain was very close to leaving the Republican party in 2001 and becoming either a Democrat or, much more likely, an independent a la Jim Jeffords who would caucus with the Democrats. The Hill gives the story another shake and talks to folks like Daschle and others who were in on the negotiations.

Need proof that it’s tough running for President as a Republican this year?

Mitt Romney had to pony up $18 million of his own money for his campaign in the fourth quarter alone, which was two-thirds of the total amount he managed to raise.

To keep his poorly financed campaign afloat, John McCain had to take out a $3 million loan and secure it in part with a life insurance policy on himself.

And those are the top GOP candidates.

We are still experiencing some technical difficulties following yesterday’s relaunch of the TPM sites.

We’re working on it. Thanks to those readers who have identified bugs for us.

Hope to have the remaining kinks ironed out soon and look forward to introducing you to the new site features.

The Senate struck a deal last night on how to proceed on the new FISA legislation. The votes are on Monday, and it looks like two of the key* amendments — including Dodd/Feingold, which would strip telecom immunity from the bill–will get up or down majority votes.

*Ed. Note: The post originally stated that all amendments would be based on majority vote. In fact, some of the amendments will require 60-vote minimums. Here’s the rundown on which thresholds apply.

You may remember a few weeks back we told you how the Justice Department had banned TPM from its press list and was coming up with a bunch of ridiculous reasons why we couldn’t be reinstated. Apparently one was a DOJ budget shortfall that meant they couldn’t afford keep us on their email list. (Talk about budget cuts!) Now Chairman Conyers (D-MI) is asking the DOJ if this isn’t another example of the politicization of the Department.

(In the background, the issue here seems to be that the new head of the DOJ’s Public Affairs office got his nose bent out of shape when we reported on a string of his knowing and intentional misstatements of fact. Our banning followed soon after.)

SurveyUSA has new polls out in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Short take, Hillary takes NY and NJ while Obama has a slight edge (within the margin of error) in Connecticut.

New York — Clinton 54%, Obama 38%
New Jersey — Clinton 51%, Obama 39%
Connecticut — Clinton 44%, Obama 48%

As I told a Republican friend this morning, it is with some regret and chagrin that I am forced to recognize that the only serious opposition to McCain within Republican circles appears to be from people with active personality disorders (admittedly a non-trivial number of people, but a reality nonetheless). The officeholders seem more than ready to sign on. Even the professional activists of the Norquist variety are ready to do business, albeit with some grumbling and demand to be courted. I’m waiting to see what the Dobsonites have to say.