The 21st Democratic presidential debate took place in Philadelphia Wednesday night, and it's clear that—in addition to American voters—there was one clear loser: Barack Obama. This owes primarily to a steady barrage of darts tossed by Hillary Clinton and ABC debate moderators and aimed directly at his soft spots. The guy live-blogging the tussle for National Review at one point rejoiced over the "GREATEST DEBATE QUESTIONS EVER" and George Stephanopoulos even dinged Obama with a question suggested to him by Republican attack smurf Sean Hannity. Obviously it won't be hard for Obamaniacs to write the night off as a big screw-job put on by ABC.

Still, their guy did not handle the front-runner inquisition well, registering a "near disastrous performance" that will give Clinton supporters hope and political reporters enough fodder for several days worth of fresh copy. But as with most debates, everyone will probably forget that it ever happened within a week or so. That is, until—oh, goodie—we're reminded again this fall when quotes from the night reappear in GOP television ads and mail pieces.