Live From The MSNBC Democratic Debate!

I know you're not interested in a play-by-play on the debate, which better sources than I can and wish to provide. But I figured you'd like to see what it looks like from the media's point of view. Here we are all scattered in an enormous, very echoy exhibition space at Cashman Center watching flat screen TVs all over the place. The candidates are debating in another room similar to this, but I'm not real sure where that is.


The Democrats are supposed to be so concerned about the disadvantaged, but not a single TV here has captions on. I'm sure if I asked someone they'd say, "Well, it's really pretty loud." And it is. In this case, it's so loud as to be distorting. Oh well. They did, however, feed us an oft-replenished buffet of chicken breast, salad, pasta and very rich brownies...


Anyhow, the stars have descended on Vegas. Here's the shameless blowhard Chris Matthews of MSNBC with the brilliant and rocking Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post.

...and the lovely, very friendly and much slimmed-down Candy Crowley of CNN...

And the hardest working journalist in Nevada (besides me?) this week, Jon Ralston...


Here's the big screen with the big graphics that's set up as the backdrop for the MSNBC post-show events. That should be fun...


And, finally -- for now, until the spinmeisters come in here -- is my favorite shot of a clearly well-traveled journalist's laptop...