On PBS tonight, Tavis Smiley (author of The Covenant with Black America – website, Amazon) moderated a discussion at Howard University among the democratic presidential candidates.

There was consensus among many of the candidates on the following issues:

Criminal Justice System
- eliminate minimum sentences for non-violent offenses
- treat powder cocaine offenses like crack cocaine offenses
- create rehabilitation programs for non-violent offenders
- create good jobs in inner cities that pay more than the minimum wage

Poverty
- expand WIC programs
- increase jobs, education
- let tax cuts lapse for wealthy Americans

Education
- fund birth-preschool programs so that all children have good/fair/head start
- pay teachers to go to inner cities and rural areas
- provide access/opportunity to all to get college education

Healthcare
- several candidates mentioned supporting universal healthcare.
It is the first time that I have heard it positioned as not only something we need to do for all americans, but also it would be a solution for businesses b/c they are overwhelmed paying for it for their employees.

Katrina
- there was a question asked about supporting a human rights bill to repopulate New Orleans and other Gulf areas. The point was made that its not just getting people back, but we need to rebuild the infrastructure (hospitals, fire, police, etc.)

The candidates by and large didn’t take issue with each other. Many times they all agreed with each other, with just a few exceptions. Also, in one answer Obama said he was going to finish one of Edwards’ points when Edwards ran out of time b/c it was a good point.

I think it was Kucinich who said that we should repeal NAFTA. Gravel was the wild one. He said that we should get rid of the income tax and replace it with a sales tax.

The biggest difference between the candidates is how polished they are when speaking in public. It’s really apparent that the top candidates have spent a good deal of time practicing good intelligent answers to fit the short amount of time they have for each question.

Here’s my take — I think Clinton had good answers, especially in the 30 second time slot. She sounded knowledgable about infrastructure and economic issues. Biden was well-spoken, but I can’t remember any strong points he made. Edwards distracted me by enumerating his points with his thumb in the air, and he tried to tell stories in the short time slot that didn’t work so well. Obama was well-spoken but can do even better with sound bites. As I said above, Gravel was the wild one with much different answers and often condemned his fellow candidates for not taking more drastic positions that would really create change (iho). Sorry, but the others all ran together for me.