The July 23 Democratic Debate

Dennis Kucinich

(Click center arrow to play)

Grade: C-

Gave accessible and hard-hitting answers more frequently than in the other debates, and seemed to be enjoying himself without undue giddiness. Pitched his relatives' military service to positive result and came out in favor of reparations for descendants of American slaves and gay marriage with soaring rhetoric. Also the victim of a bad makeup job and a skittish CNN cameraperson apparently on loan from MTV. Not quite in the spirit of the event, he responded to the Claymation-style snowman video about global warming with Kucinich-ian intensity, only remembering at the end that he was, you know, talking to a snowman.

—by Mark Halperin