Live-Blogging During Tonight’s Democratic Debate

10:09 pm ET: Quick thoughts: Hillary Clinton was able to change the storyline tonight. Her campaign was nible enough to change strategies, and to take on Obama and Edwards directly and sharply. She’s not going to take any more hits without a fight. I’m not sure that Obama ever really recovered from his poor answer on the immigration issue. And clearly he and Edwards are now going to have to adjust to the fact that Clinton is going to hit back — and hard.

That’s all for me — Rick Klein. As always, read The Note for all the analysis of the latest in politics.

10:07 pm ET: Diamonds or pearls, Sen. Clinton? "I want both." (Not quite boxers or briefs — and not a bad ending at all for Sen. Clinton.)

9:55 pm ET: Supreme Court justices who ran for "dog catcher," Sen. Biden? "Literally, not a joke." And a woman, who also supports the right to privacy in the 14 amendment. So a female ex-dog-catcher who supports Roe v. Wade. I’d root for Biden to be elected just to watch those confirmation hearings.

9:46 pm ET: Obama with perhaps his toughest line of the night: "This is the kind of thing I would expect from Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney, where we start playing with numbers to try to make a point." (Boos follow.) But Clinton shows that she’s read up on Obama’s record — don’t forget, everyone has oppo researchers.

9:43 pm ET: Clinton gets the Social Security question, but she’s still skating on this one: "I am for fiscal responsibility." Who’s against it, again? And then it’s that "bipartisan commission" again.

9:40 pm ET: Chris Dodd flashing the Spanish! Thought it would be Richardson dusting off the old Espanol.

9:39 pm ET: ABC’s Sunlen Miller notices that Kucinich is the only one not to stand up during this portion of this debate. Whatever that might say about his height, he probably is among those who are happy with their performances today.

9:34 pm ET: Just a thought on this format for the second half — Edwards and Obama both shine when they’re out of their chairs, connecting with the audience. I would suggest that they’d both of have made excellent actors.

9:28 pm ET: That was a pretty good John Edwards response, bringing Iran in deftly, and making a connection with the young veteran.

9:23 pm ET: ABC’s Raelyn Johnson, who covers the Edwards campaign: "What happens in Vegas in Vegas..but what happenend in Philly stayed in Philly. Where’s the fighting John Edwards this debate?

9:17 pm ET: ABC’s Eloise Harper: Huge crowd support for Clinton, especially with this line: "I am not exploiting anything at all. I am not playing as some people say the gender card here in Las Vegas. I’m just trying to play the winning card. I understand very well that people that are not attacking me because I am a woman, they are attacking me because I’m ahead."

9:14 pm ET: ABC’s Sunlen Miller: When Blitzer said I want to give "all the boys up here" a chance to respond, Clinton was the only one to laugh.

9:13 pm ET: Hmmm — Edwards booed during that last attack on Clinton. Turning point? Edwards as too shrill?

9:09 ET: Again Campbell Brown gets to ask Clinton the tough question — the gender card. Clinton: "I’m not exploiting anything at all — I’m not playing, as some people say, the gender card. Here in Las Vegas, I’m just trying to play the winning card." Good prepared line. And this about the all-boys club: "From time to time, there may be some impediments." (Prefaced with a "Campbell," the "come on, gal," tone of voice.) I’m hard-pressed to think how she could have answered that better.

9:07 pm ET: Obama saw an opening there to talk about optimism, but sorry, did it feel forced? There are inconvenient facts that Obama or anyone else would have to cope with until they get us to this supposed better place.

9:01 pm ET: Clinton calling for the trade "timeout" again — but not Peru. Clock is ticking for someone to jump on that — and THERE, Sen. Dodd did it.

9 pm ET: Clinton defused the NAFTA issue: "All I can remember from that is a bunch of charts."

8:58 pm ET: As we approach the midpoint of this debate, the Clinton campaign has to feel good about her night. She was going to be the story either way, and they’ve made the story her new strategy — at least so far.

8:51 pm ET: Thank you, Congressman Kucinich, for saying hello. Hi.

8:49 pm ET: Clinton was able to come down clearly on the same question that Obama didn’t want to directly engage, on human rights vs. national securit. It’s national security. (Surprised?)

8:47 pm ET: Obama won’t rank human rights and national security. He actually gave a good, thoughtful answer. But he’s got to be careful or the storyline will be him not coming down clearly on issues, not her.

8:41 pm ET: Actually a very substantive debate when you think about it. Biden is having a good night, talking Pakistan now in detail. His dream debate so far, really.

8:38 pm ET: I don’t recall an education debate this substantive in the campaign. Good for CNN for getting into it. But notice how most of the candidates are following the union line.

8:37 pm ET: ABC’s Raelyn Johnson: Looks like Dodd got a bad haircut–maybe the actors in his ad did it.

8:33 pm ET: I agree, Two Cents, that it was a good quip, but here’s guessing that’s not quoted one-tenth as much as his equivocations.

8:30 pm ET: Finally, Obama says, "Yes, but. . . " That is a very large but. And Sen. Clinton had a single word: "No." She just may have put this flap behind herself — and onto Obama’s lap.

8:27 pm ET: Interesting that Barack Obama didn’t quite answer the driver’s license question directly. I thought he was the guy who would talk truth to power, even if it’s not popular? "I am not proposing that that’s what we do," he said. That is a very, very bad answer for a candidate who is trying to say that other candidates don’t answer questions directly.

8:24 pm ET: Edwards threw away his good line: "is that a planted question?" And now, finally, he’s unequivocal in saying he will support the Democratic nominee.

8:23 pm ET: Bill Richardson again is the "be positive" guy. That’s nice, though it won’t help his caes that he is NOT running for president.

8:19 pm ET: So far, this is more of a pile-on than the last debate.

8:17 pm ET: We’re seeing again why Joe Biden is a strong sleeper candidate in the race. This is a straight-ahead presentation — and he hit that out of the park.

8:15 pm ET: Clinton: "When somebody starts throwing mud, at least we can hope that it’s both accurate and not right out of the Republican playbook." And again, swinging back at Edwards. Again, the Clinton campaign has adjusted — big time — coming into night.

8:14 pm ET: Something else unusual just happened: That was a real-life actual debate on a substantive issue, on healthcare.

8:12 pm ET: More from Clinton: "Senator Obama’s healthcare plan does not cover everyone." We’re seeing right away what we never should have forgotten: She is a street fighter.

8:10 pm ET: Wow WOW WOW did Clinton come loaded for bear. We just witnessed her taking Obama on very directly on universal healthcare. This is an entirely new playbook.

8:09 pm ET: Obama’s ready line: "What the American people are looking for right now are straight answers to tough questions. And that is not what we’ve seen from Senator Clinton." "Right now, we need a different kind of politics." And ABC’s David Chalian points out that Obama scored the first Nevada shout-out (and pronounced it right).

8:08 pm ET: Savvy of CNN to go with Campbell Brown (eight months pregnant) to go right at Clinton on the question. "This pantsuit is asbestos tonight," Clinton says. (As in, a carcinogen?) Clinton says right off the bat that she’s putting forward "very specific" policies — but notice that she’s talking only about experience, not those policies.

8:07 pm ET: Clinton takes round one (sort of). ABC’s Sunlen Miller reports: "Obama and Clinton just tried to go for the same podium . . . it was Clinton’s . . . Obama stepped aside."

8:01 pm ET: This is the longest introductory sequence ever in a debate — it’s like they’re introducing the starting lineup for the Running Rebels.

7:55 pm ET: As we get ready for the big event — and if you’re into politics, how can you not be into this debate? — a few items of pre-debate spin. . . .  Clinton strategist Mark Penn is out today with a memo that pre-buts Clinton’s rivals: "While opponents are strategizing and re-launching their campaigns with aggressive personal attacks on Sen. Clinton, one truth remains – running for president is not a qualification for president." (Seriously — personal attacks? If Camp Clinton really thinks this is personal, wait for the fight against Rudy or Mitt.)

And the Edwards campaign chose today to unveil a new Website, PlantsforHillary.com. Cute.

Rick Klein from ABC’s The Note here. I’ll be online starting at 8 pm ET tonight, blogging during the Democratic debate. Watch on CNN while following along online here, and be part of the conversation below. It’s shaping up as the biggest debate so far in the cycle — and watch to see if Hillary Clinton has a new tactic in responding to the criticism she just might receive…