1.    John Edwards was wearing a yellow support the troops ribbon, showing that he supports the soldiers in Iraq, probably won't back down from that.
2.    Though John Edwards did a good job, he once again looked impeccable, helped of course by his $400 haircut. This makes him hard to relate to for the common man.
3.    The Debate took place at a HBU; Though the material wasn't directed to the students and community there, it may help the democratic party sway some black voters or convince some black voters who may not have voted otherwise.
4.    The debate is being held in South Carolina, which is interesting because the south, which is traditionally red, is slowly becoming bluer and I feel the Democratic Party is capitalizing on this.
5.    Though all of the candidates commented on the Virginia Tech tragedy, not a single one wore a memorabilia ribbon, though this week every member of the Bush Administration was sporting one on their respective lapels
6.    Both John Edwards and Hillary Clinton spoke with pronounced Southern Drawls, which may be a tactic to make them seem more "down home" to the southern voters. Even though John is from North Carolina, I've seen him speak here at UMW and his accent wasn't nearly as pronounced. Hillary on the other hand is from Illinois.
7.    John Edwards pointed out that he believes women have the right to choose, but never went out and said that he supports the "partial birth" abortion. This was a good way to frame the answer by showing he supports a woman's right to choose, without opening himself to "Baby-killer" accusations.
8.    Obama didn't give a clear cut answer the majority of questions he was asked, rather responded with sentiments like, "I trust the people with this decision" This may turn out either good or bad for him, as he wont get bitten in the ass later on the campaign trail for any flip flop policy, then again, it may hurt potential voter confidence, as he doesn't have any  (or if he does, hasn't broadcasted) any plans for his possible presidency.  
9.    Obama also made the mistake of tying abortion to the clergy. I feel that a politician should never tie church and state together.
10.    Hillary Clinton was wearing a rather feminine suit and pearls, which I feel may possibly help her appeal to women by appearing as less of a "Ball buster"
11.    Kucinich: Claimed that he would be a president that wants to put everything he can towards supporting life, but also engage people to be more passionate towards Roe v. Wade. This is a very conservative viewpoint the pro-choice viewpoint, which may help him win votes from Liberal Catholics and other liberal religious voters
12.    Dodd: "Abortions should be rare, safe, and legal" He wants to support more adoptions and work on children's health issues rather than dealing directly w/ the issue: I think that this was an effective way of skating the issue; much more effective than Obama because he gave actual plans of what his plans were.
13.    Hillary Clinton referred to the previous Clinton administration several times for both mental health and universal healthcare and spoke historically how it worked. I think this may aide her case because every point she talked about was on the Congressional Floor at some point, though under a Republican Congress. She may have been alluding to the fact that there is now a Liberal Congress; her issues will have much more success.
14.    Every single candidate had a plan for implementing universal health care, showing that it may very well be an important issue in the election.  
15.    Richardson was the only one to clearly answer the question "What will we do if we are attacked again?" by saying "If you attack us, we'll attack you." This made him look extremely powerful and informed, and would make me feel much more comfortable, versus the other candidates who just skated around the issues rather than coming right out and answering it.
16.    Overall, Gravel was just a lot of noise and sound. He yelled and freaked out and gave off the wall answers to almost every question. A couple of his responses were reminiscent of the Howard Dean faux pas that ruined his presidential pursuits.