Folks, if you're not watching the South Carolina debate, you really should tune in.
I can't take notes quickly enough to keep up, so here's a paraphrased run-down of what's just transpired on the second question...
OBAMA: Hillary Clinton has been distorting my record -- including what I said about Ronald Reagan in an editorial board meeting, suggesting I praised Republican ideas.
CLINTON: I'm just going by what you've said. You said the Republicans were the party of ideas and that you admired them for it.
OBAMA: I never said that.
CLINTON: Yes you did.
OBAMA: No, I didn't. I said he was a transformative figure. I've always disagreed with his ideas. I saw the impact they had on communities during the 1980s, because I was organizing on the streets of Chicago back then -- while you were a corporate laywer sitting on the board of Wal-Mart.
CLINTON: Let's get back to the quote.
And then, later, Clinton denied making a certain accusation about Obama, saying this:
CLINTON: I didn't say that.
OBAMA: OK, your husband did.
CLINTON: Well, he's not here now -- I am.
OBAMA. I know, but sometimes it's hard to know who I am running against.
At that point, Clinton said something about Obama working for a slum lord -- frankly, I couldn't hear because my wife and I were too busy gasping at the back and forth. Then Edwards spoke, suggesting that this wasn't helpilng to get people jobs and make sure kids have health insurance -- and that, by the way, he was the first candidate with comprehensive plans for universal health care, energy, and such. (All true claims, as best as I can tell.)
I'll revisit this all when I have a real transcript -- and maybe video. In the meantime, I think it's safe to say that Obama has decided he's going to hit back at Clinton -- and the Clintons -- in this debate. And it's become something of a free-for-all.
Note: notwithstanding this exchange, it's actually been quite substantive. Prior to this, there was a very meaty debate about trade.
Update: Marc Ambinder has some of the precise excerpts.
Update 2: Ben Smith has a longer transcript.
--Jonathan Cohn