Monday Night's Democratic Presidential Debate

Charleston, SC (TLS). The Democratic Presidential candidates met on Monday evening for a forum in Charleston, SC at the military college called 'the Citadel.' CNN co-sponsored the forum with YouTube.

Citizens asked questions of the candidates via YouTube, moderated by Anderson Cooper.

The War in Iraq dominated the discourse during the forum. As William F. Buckley observed a couple of months back, the manner in which George W. Bush has conducted the War has the potential of burying the Republicans in November of 2008.

Democrats have wasted no time in jumping on this vulnerability, taking full advantage of public sentiment. They all wish to leave Iraq immediately, but the devil is in the details.

Not all would leave immediately, despite the rhetoric. There are nuances in the various plans for withdrawal offered by the candidates.

Hillary Clinton advocates for continuing an American military presence in the country even after most of the combat forces have been withdrawn. Dennis Kucinich, on the other hand, wants an immediate total withdrawal, including cutting off funds for the troops.

Democratic activists applauded wildly for Kucinich on that point.

It is most unfortunate, however, that the War dominates political discussion so far during this election cycle. By focusing on the War, the Democrats can avoid close scrutiny of their views on many other issues, which show that they are basically in one accord on social policy.

In short, they are all to one degree or another European styled socialists.

None of the Democratic candidates talk about the importance of Constitutional law, the Bill of Rights, or the necessity of appointing only those Judges to the bench who understand that strict adherence to the Constitution is the primary task of jurisprudence.

All of the candidates support abortion, including late-term 'partial-birth' abortions. All have a dismal record on supporting citizens' rights to self-defense as delineated in the Second Amendment. All have advocated dangerous limits on freedom of speech. All would dismantle the greatest healthcare system in the world in order to help a small minority of citizens gain access to medical care, rather than focusing on ways to fix the problem without killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Therefore, using our exclusive 'Liberty Rating System'--which rates the candidates on the basis of their stance on abortion, healthcare, gun rights, national defense, immigration, taxes, the War on Terror, and U.S. foreign policy--The Liberty Sphere rates the Democratic candidates in Monday night's debate as follows, with 10 being the highest score and 1 the lowest:

Bill Richardson--3

Joseph Biden--2

Chris Dodd--2

John Edwards--1

Mike Gravel--1

Dennis Kucinich--1

Barack Obama--1

Hillary Clinton--1

As time progresses during this campaign cycle, we are increasingly appalled at how thoroughly the Democratic candidates have virtually discarded and ignored every single principle for which the Founders of this nation stood.