New York, NY —

In South Carolina, the nine Democratic Presidential Hopefuls squared off in their first major debate. WNYC's Brian Lehrer says the Democrats have to follow a tough opening act: President Bush's televised speech Thursday night on the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Brian: Actually, it wasn't really a speech the President gave aboard the Lincoln: he just invited the networks to come along for the ride on the taping of a Really Spectacular Campaign Kickoff Spot. On behalf of their viewers, who LOVE a good spectacle, the networks all obliged.

And if visuals used to be just the back-drop for the words in a speech, in this case, the words were merely the front-drop for the pictures. It was all visually appealing enough that my ten-year-old son, who hasn't watched much politics in his life, was wood away from the Yankee game to check out all the uniforms and airplanes and Pacific Blue Water. After about five minutes, though, he asked me, Daddy, why does the President keep saying the same thing over and over? He wouldn't last long in the White House press corps, that boy of mine, since the president would never call on him again after such an impertinent question.

What the President kept saying, one way or another, was this:

Bush: American interests and American values lead in the direction: liberty!

Never mind the complex issue there about whether American values and American interests really do lead in the same direction. It was great theater. And in effect, it posed the first question of tonight's debate to the Democrats: I look so much better in this Navy Fighter Jet than Dukakis looked in that tank. Can you compete with this?

While you're imagining Dennis Kucinich or Al Sharpton flying that plane, or answering that question, here are some other questions the Democrats might have to confront:

Kerry: Uh, what exactly was your position on the war again? Was that passionately for, or passionately against?

Lieberman: Uh, what exactly makes you a Democrat and not a Republican? Can you remind me again?

Edwards: What exactly qualifies you to be President again, after half a term in your first elected office?

Gephardt: Are you running for the nomination again? My dad voted for you in the eighties.

Actually, one of the most interesting dynamics tonight could be Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean's competing health care plans. Both claim to move the country toward universal health coverage. Both claim the other's is unworkable.

Another thing to watch will be the performance of Senator Bob Graham - a southern Democrat who chaired the Intelligence Committee, he was a skeptic about the war, but he's a hawk on terrorism, and may well criticize the President from the right on homeland security.

And there's Carol Moseley Braun, who's been billed as The Other Black Person in the race, while I think her real role will be The Only Woman.

It's ridiculously early, of course, to wrap our minds around next year's politics. But this debate matters. Big donors, just given new life by a federal court yesterday, want to give give give - before the Supreme Court has a chance to lock them back out. And just this week, New York and California announced that they'll be holding their primaries earlier than ever, on March 3rd.. The nominee will probably be decided by then.