Watch the debates live on msnbc.com. Whoa, corporate plug...

9:07pm: Clinton and Obama open by saying that they don't want race or gender to be a part of this campaign... Clinton talks about the Democratic party as a prominent player in equality struggles, Obama talks about that same "defining moment", and Edwards talks about a certain Woolworth's counter sit-in.

9:11pm: "All of the candidates" are committed to racial equality. Obama: "Race is a factor in our society" ... but goes on to say Iowa is a sort of proof against this?

9:16pm: To Edwards, "why should I not resent being forced to choose between the first viable woman and the first viable African American candidate?" and "What is a white male to do running against these historic candidacies?"

9:19pm: Hillary has a smug look on her face... liek, zomg.

9:22pm: Someone yells out in protest against "race-based questions"...

9:30pm: I am getting nothing from this talk. Edwards just said "fight" a billion times, Obama admitted his bad organizational skills, and Clinton... is still talking...

9:34pm: Xenophobia says hi! Emails to MSNBC claim Obama is a sleeper Muslim and pledges on the Koran. Wow.

9:37pm: I'm watching a silent camera being moved around the Decision 08 sign.

9:40pm: Brian Williams thinks it's considered "fundamentally wrong" for foreign countries to control these "American flagship brands"... corporations like Citibank, etc. Oh, no! I wonder what kind of fundamental wrongness he's talking about.

9:50pm: Wow, listen to Hillary. Economic disfortune falls "disproportionately on African Americans, on Hispanics, on some Asian Americans". Some Asian Americans? ... Are Asian Americans somehow privileged to a level farther away from other people of color? The emphasis bothers me, but I'll let it slide - she mentioned something worthwhile otherwise.

9:58pm: Brian is so funny! And his deadpan tone makes him even funnier!

10:10pm: It's been an hour.

10:14pm: OMG, Tim Russert says, "volunteer army disproportionately constitutes poor and minority students". What a concept! Just now it's a problem?

10:17pm: Wow, Obama just proposed to solve the problem with a problem itself... college aid to poorer students who serve in national service. Why not... just stop recruiting students and disadvantaged peoples?

10:20pm: Hillary calls post-traumatic stress disorder "traumatic brain wounds." Sorry, antsy neuroscience student talking.

10:29pm: Yay, Dems love scientists. (Energy policy.)

10:32pm: Thank gosh, on to immigration.

10:34pm: Tim just asked Clinton why one of her supporters said Hispanics are reluctant to vote for a black man. Pitting races against each other? C'mon, new tricks please. The candidates also keep saying black and brown, but never yellow. Apparently APAs don't have problems. Hillary: "This is a black brown debate." Thanks.

10:42pm: Hello, Virginia Tech. (Gun control and mental health.)

10:59pm: Debate just ended. No questions about, for, or from APAs.

Admittedly, we at The Blaaag have been slow to cover presidential election news. You might say, but we don't care about national politics to begin with! Well, it's time to quit that thinking, because a fundamental part of empowering our communities is using our votes to give elected politicians reason to hear our concerns and act on our issues. Then let's get started.

By word of Nhu-Y's amazing forwarded emails, tonight's Democratic MSNBC debates with Senators Edwards, Clinton, and Obama will feature discussion of race and "minority" issues. Although some of these candidates have explicitly said that they race is just something they just don't want to talk about, hopefully these debates will open eyes to the concerns and presence of communities of color in Nevada and across the country.

The debates are on tonight on MSNBC at 6-8pm PST... which is 9-11pm EST. If you want to ask a question to the candidates, fill out the form here. If I find the MSNBC channel on the McBain 6 lounge TV, I might just live blog the thing.

P.S. I hereby direct you to a post from Reappropriate about the representation of Asian American concerns in this race.

P.P.S. AAA is currently doing research into the candidates and their stances on APA issues in order to deduce the best candidate for Asian America. Our end goal will be to produce an election guide publication to help our fellow APAs to decide which candidate is best for them. Want to help us out? Just email whatever you find to theblaaag@gmail.com!

Just wanted to congratulate CU Democrats for their performance in the debate last night on immigration against the College Republicans. With the coming of the ostentatiously racist Islamo-Fascism week, we're glad this fight is starting already.

If you want a live-blog of the debate, here's the link to perhaps the only other campus blog to use a lame Blogger template. (Or do you?)

Alas, we couldn't be there (teahouse with Conchita's Collective!), or we would've submitted our own questions. As Howard University Professor Frank Wu writes in Yellow, all debates regarding immigration are ultimately debates about race. (And his word is absolute truth. Duh.)

Our favorite part:

9:35 Greer just took the Republicans to task for pretending not to see xenophobia in immigration issues while at the same time inviting speakers like Jim Gilchrist to campus.