Brown & Black, Part 2

Biden still not here. He's en route, the campaign tells me. The campaign says his flight was canceled in Chicago. He drove on the crummy ice-covered roads to Moline. Then he's flying from Moline to Des Moines.

We've begun again after about a ten minute delay.

The moderator asked why Clinton is beating Obama comfortably among African Americans nationally. Obama said Clinton is well-known nationally. He pointed out that he upped his support dramatically from the beginning of his campaign for U.S. Senator in Illinois til the time he got elected.

7:52pm--Joe Biden just arrived.

No time to catch his breath. He gets the next question. He said he favors a path to citizenship for immigrants. He also said it's not good to pit groups against each other. Everyone has to work together. He finished by thanking everyone for the chance to be here. Then, he did a quick gesture of the "thank the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost."

Richardson just complained about his face time. He asked moderator, Michelle Norris, if, as the only brown candidate on stage, could he get some civil rights fairness and get some more time?

Obama told a student named Melissa that he will help get students into college. He said he will give each student a $4,000 tax credit to go to college, which he says will "pay for a big chunk" of their college. I just googled this...The College Board last month said the average cost for a year in a four-year public university is $13,589.

Clinton just said New York Gov Elliott Spitzer made the right decision in withdrawing his plan to give illegals drivers' licenses.

Edwards asked Obama if he'll commit to raising minimum wage to $9.50 per hour. Obama said, yes.

Norris asked Kucinich to ask another candidate a question. Kucinich asked himself whether he would support a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system. He answered himself by saying, "It is true."