How easy does Hillary Clinton have it right now? Well, she can completely dodge tough questions on social security and Iraq, plus let loose several annoying cackles of laughter, and still come out on top of the Dems NH debate last night. This thing was all about HRC going in and coming out, as the biggest questions were when Obama and Edwards would attack her and if she would make any noticeable slip-up’s. Post-debate, it’s apparent that Obama has decided, for the moment, to leave HRC be and perpetually reside along the high road of civility and a debate of ideas. Edwards sees the desperation of his position and went for the jugular, but without much success. They’re scared of mediocrity and Hillary’s steady performance, which she displayed again in the Granite state. Why? Because HRC only needs mediocrity to win the whole thing. The buzz before the debate was that it’s about time JRE and Obama gave Dem voters a real reason not to vote for Hilary. They didn’t do that, and it’s a shaky proposition that they will ever be able to. Is it already over?

Here are our picks for winners and losers of last night, followed by a candidate-by-candidate rundown. (Of course, the real winner last night was Tim Russert. Can he do all of the debates - no matter the network? This was the first intelligent and informative grilling of the candidates for this campaign.)

WINNER - Hillary Clinton:HRC will forever be the winner of the debates until she really stumbles. That didn’t happen t Dartmouth. Shaky answers on plenty of Q’s showed that she isn’t a robot, but the lasting image of the night is her golden response to Russert’s Bill Clinton/torture hypothetical: “He’s (Bill C) not standing here”

LOSER - Bill Richardson -Richardson was getting uber buzz over the last few weeks for his “brilliant” Iraq withdrawal strategy and his rising poll numbers. Well, it turns out he’s actually a war flip-flopper, his numbers have now stalled, and he still can’t articulate any of his positions. This was his chance to become relevant. He blew it.

• Hillary Clinton- She’s just on cruise control now. Didn’t look as “presidential” last night as she did on the Sunday shows or in past debates, especially when she completely ignored many of Russert’s questions and completely dodged social security. Does she really expect ’90’s-era growth numbers to make it solvent? But nothing major threw her off, and not one of her rivals went after her with any vigor or substance. Like we said up top, there needs to be a reason to vote against her for Dem voters to change their minds. Discoordinated attacks from Edwards and Obama aren’t doing that. She can just par in (to use a golf term…) to win it by January.
• Joe Biden- Why hasn’t poor Joe Biden made more of an impact? He’s got charisma, solid ideas, and is showing a great`sense of humor. Isn’t that what voters want in a candidate? He still talks too much, but is making a running joke of his one word answers toward the end of the debates (i.e: “Yes” or “No”… and that’s it). Had a ego-boosting moment when he was able to say that the Biden plan for Iraq” passed Congress just this week. Showed lots of substance.
• John Edwards- We’re still conflicted (to use a favorite phrase of JRE) on whether he should be up this high. After all, he wasn’t able to touch Hillary on a host of issues where she should have been trashed. Is it the whole Southern chivalry thing preventing him  from letting loose? Who knows. But differences were explored and criticism leveled at HRC. Edwards made a surprising move in basically laying off of her health care plan and preferring to throw barbs over Iraq almost exclusively. Maybe he did his homework and realized that Iraq is number one for NH Dems. Liked how he painted HRC into a corner over her plan to still allow “combat operations” even after most troops are out of Iraq. He needs to make that point on the trail, too. Didn’t like his angry response to Russert’s questioning of JRE’s hedge fund past.
• Barack Obama- Definitelty in the middle of the pack. Looked listless on many questions, stalling for time and not presenting any attacks on Hillary, etc. But he stayed above the fray (unlike Edwards) and didn’t harm his “politics of hope” message and image. Made a great distinction between HRC and himself on Iraq at the very start of the debate but went slightly downhill from there. He needs to have some eloquent moment where he shows that HRC is not fit to be Prez, and that he is the best choice. He can do it, but it didn’t happen last night.
• Dennis Kucinich- Always good for laughs and to shame the other Dems on stage with his uber-liberal positions. Didn’t make as big of a splash as in other debates. Promised to bring all US troops home “…by April of 2007. You can mark that down…” Sure. Everyone’s just glad that he never goes bonkers like the freaky Gravel.
• Chris Dodd- Continues to fade into the background. He also constantly spars with “good friend” Joe Biden. Probably the most informed candidate on financial matters on either side of this race. TreasurySec? Perhaps, but not POTUS…for sure.
• Bill Richardson- Always perplexing. Never seems to address his huge shift on Iraq (wants to pull out everybody ASAP, versus his earlier proposal to leave when the generals say to) and always looks slovenly and unprepared. Spouted off his new slogan - “Change with experience” - to some cheers. Blew his big moment to climb into the very bottom of the Democratic first-tier.
• Mike Gravel- Let’s see. He screamed at everyone on stage (including poor Russert), made non-stop biting remarks about how little time he got for Q’s, and said the credit card companies that he was $80,000 in debt to “deserved” to get stuck. Is this guy really a wanted felon or something? Makes Kucinich look like Mr. Electable.