I just finished watching the Democratic debate in South Carolina from last night, and I gotta say, while I support Sen. Obama and the change that he represents, I wouldn’t have a problem with any of the three remaining candidates serving as our next president.

I’ve said before — and I’ll say again — I really don’t want Sen.Clinton to win the nomination because I don’t believe having two families run the country for over 20 years is a good thing for any democracy, but with that as a given, she would be a ridiculous improvement over President Bush and a much better president than anyone running on the other side of the ticket.

Sen. Edwards, for his part, would work tirelessly to repair and grow the middle-class, and his passion for ending poverty in this country is one that would have great ramifications for the future of the United States. Not only would the poor have more opportunities to succeed, but the nation would, by effect, have more opportunities to discover those leaders who otherwise may have been lost in the ghettoes.

Watch the debate on YouTube.

As has been reported elsewhere, the beginning of the debate was a bit rancorous, with Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton throwing barbs at each other like a couple of bullies in a school yard. “You worked for Wal-Mart!” “You worked for a slum lord!” It was more than a little childish.

Sen. Edwards sat on the sidelines for most of the exchange. His strategy has been to criticize Sen. Clinton’s campaign tactics and disagree with Sen. Obama’s policies, and this debate wasn’t any different, except where usually it’s him and Sen. Obama ganging up on Sen. Clinton, this time he seemed to side more with Hillary. One wonders if he’s not just hedging his bets to get himself a nomination for Vice President, regardless of who wins.

Again, I support Sen. Obama, and this is one of the major reasons why (in his words):

We as Democrats have not had a working majority in a very long time. What I mean by that is a working majority that can push through the kinds of bold initiatives that all of us have proposed. One of the reasons that I am running for president is because I believe I can inspire new people to get involved in the process, that I can reach out to independents, and yes, some republicans who have also lost trust in their government and want to see something new. When you look at Bush and Cheney and their record, the one good thing they have done for us is they have given their party a very bad name. And that gives us a unique opportunity in this election and what we can’t do is just take the playing field as a given. We want to expand the scope of the electorate so we can start getting a 60% majority, more folks in the House, more folks in the Senate, and I think that’s something I can do. And that’s why we’ve seen record turn-out in every election so far…I’m not taking all the credit for it; I think people are voting against George Bush…but I also think we’ve inspired people who have not previously voted before and that’s something the Democratic party needs to do.

I think he’s absolutely right, and Sen. Obama will inspire more new people to get into the process than will anyone with the name Clinton.

But as I said…all three of these folks are head and shoulders above the Republican field, and I’d vote for any of them before I vote for Sen. McCain, Gov. Romney, or Gov. Huckabee. And dear people of Florida, do not let Guiliani out of your primaries with his campaign still alive. He is perhaps the worst thing that could happen to this country. Please, for the love of Mickey Mouse, do not let him win.