That's not a typo. Hip-hop star 50 Cent, aka Curtis Jackson, appears to be leaning toward Hillary Clinton for president. In an interview with fans that ran in Time magazine, the rap mogul was asked the one question that it's safe to say all of American has longed to know the answer to:

Q: Are you endorsing a particular candidate in the '08 election?
A: No, but I like Hillary. I think she was already our President once. [Laughs].

That's funny stuff. No word on who Kanye West is endorsing . Someone who cares about black people. Probably a Democrat. Could be Hillary, John Edwards, Mike Gravel. Hell, a lot of people would seem to fit the bill on that one. As for Barack Obama, he's doing just fine in terms of the hip-hop vote. Asian American rapper Jin has even written a song about him, "Open Letter 2 Obama."

"B-Rock," as he's known in some circles, has also graced the cover of Vibe, a place you won't see Hillary any time soon. What does it all mean? You guessed it. Slow news day. Now let's play count the racist remarks left in the comment section!

Not much of a debate if you ask me. Democratic candidates, one at a time, get asked pointed questions about their position on issues that matter to gays. Ryan Sager has a good liveblogging summary, and the Sun-Sentinel has a write-up:

The candidates underscored differences with Republicans on gay and lesbian rights, but leading candidates also faced aggressive questioning on their reluctance to embrace marriage for same-sex couples.

All of the Democratic candidates support a federal ban on anti-gay job discrimination, want to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays from serving openly in the military and support civil unions that would extend marriage-like rights to same-sex couples.

Sure, but that's the easy stuff, what about gay arriage, an idea against which amendments have passed by large margins in most states of the union, including states that Democrats need to win the presidency.

Uh-oh, Someone left an microphone open and now Dennis "Department of Peace" Kucinich is mad:

"This is a serious matter and I'm calling him on it," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in a telephone interview Friday. "Whispering, trying to rig an election, then denying what's going on and making excuses. It all reflects a consistent lack of integrity."

Kucinich's comments came after Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton were overheard Thursday discussing the possibility of limiting the number of participants in future presidential forums.

Now usually the top dog wants to include the extras to keep the opposition from coalescing around any one single candidate. Hillary's either completely comfortable in her position as the very top dog, or she too is bothered by the time and energy wasted by the one percenters, or she was just being diplomatic.

Either way, I'm torn. I like the idea of having the second and third tier candidates getting a chance to break out, and debates are a part of that, but when you have up to 11 or 12 on the Republican side, it's definitely getting too unwieldy. Is fund-raising ability a good separator? Polling? Either are fraught with problems. Or can we just use common sense and say that those candidates who don't have a snowball's chance in h*** of becoming president don't get to play. I'm looking at you, Kucinich and Gravel.

On the GOP side, the immigration issue is a three-ton anchor around John McCain's neck. He won the last poll and since then has dipped dramatically. For Barack Obama, he seems to have shored up the African-American vote and has assumed a nice lead over Hillary. The numbers are bleak for the second and third tier candidates:

With strong support from the African American community, Illinois Senator Obama has assumed a strong lead over New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. On the Republican side, Thompson zoomed to the top spot, slightly ahead of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, even though he hasn't yet announced his bid for the GOP nomination.

The Mason-Dixon poll, made available to McClatchy Newspapers and NBC News, offered disappointing news for two candidates who previously had been polling well in South Carolina. John Edwards, a South Carolina native who won the primary in 2004, was well behind Obama and Clinton on the Democratic side. Arizona Sen. John McCain, meanwhile, appeared to have lost many of his supporters to Thompson, and was far back in the GOP field.

Obama polled at 34% while Hillary was at 25%. The biggest news is that the hometown boy John Edwards only garnered 12%, a showing that is more dismal given that he has always had major support in the state.

On the Republican side, Fred Thompson beat Rudy Giuliani 25% to 21%, a good amount considering he hasn't even announced. Mitt Romney polled at 11% and McCain is in single digits at 7%.

A few observations from the second Dem debate.

-Unlike Ron Paul, Democratic spoiler Mike Gravel could not keep up the entertaining hijinks from the first debate and looked rather bumbling all around.

-At times it felt as if John Edwards and Barack Obama were having a private conversation.

-Hillary Clinton continues to show that she's a polished candidate. She has an alert, articulate presence, and doesn't wither from attacks (be they from Dennis Kucinich or Edwards).

-If you assumed that each of the moderators' microphones would have been tested before the debate started, you would be wrong.

-Obama is damn good at thinking on his feet, and, of the big three, seemed to answer each question the most directly.

-Bill Richardson did well in stressing his experience, but tends to bite off more than he can chew. Why is Bill Clinton angry at him, and why do we keep worrying about what job the former president will be given?

-Whose bright idea was it to get rid of the podiums and tell them to sit down? And where's Oprah? Somehow I think she'd be better at this format than moderator Wolf Blitzer.

-Thanks to the Fox News Republican debate, it seems that idiotic hypothetical questions will now be a staple of all future debates.

-Joe Biden (whose delivery was, at times, the most impassioned) and Chris Dodd did pretty well but have no chance whatsoever.

-Kucinich and Gravel did poorly and have no chance whatsoever.

Bottom line. A fairly substantive, if not boring, debate.

Tonight the Democratic candidates square off -- on the same stage, face to face -- at South Carolina State University in Orangesburg, S.C. for the first time in the race. About time! I mean, there are only nine months until we have to vote.

First, the debate rules: This thing lasts 90 minutes; The question order is at the discretion of moderator Brian Williams; each candidate gets 60 second to respond (ha!); and candidates are supposed to refrain from asking direct questions of each other (huh?). So, as one of our commenters pointed out, it's more of a Q&A then debate.

In the most welcome modification to the typical debate format, the candidates skip opening statements. Nor do they go through the usual niceties of thanking everyone. "Consider yourself thanked," deadpanned Williams.

8:30PM Update: And it's over. Though it was a rather civilized affair, with few fireworks and zingers, I have to admit that was a quick 90 minutes -- as far as debates go anyway.

My Quick Thoughts:
- Brian Williams did a good job keeping things moving along, even trying to vary the types of questions. I liked the hand-raising thing on the gun question;
- Good thing little-known Mike Gravel was on hand to supply some moxie. He made the most of the few questions directed at him, going directly after his rivals with a passion rarely displayed the rest of the night;
- Hillary Clinton came across as knowledgeable and likable, willingly offering up mistakes she's made in the past. The Wal-Mart answer was good too;
- Laugh out loud moment: Joe Biden, (in)famous for his "verbosity," was asked if he was capable of a brief answer. The Delaware senator succinctly replied, "Yes."
- Why isn't anyone looking more seriously at Bill Richardson? His candid reply to the Alberto Gonzales question, among others, was refreshing;
- John Edwards took a good ten of his precious 60 seconds to pause before taking on a question about who is his moral compass. It was odd for him, but apparently smart: his choices (his Lord, wife and father) might have been predictable, but the reply as a whole was genuine and compelling.
- The only "scuffle" of the evening was between Barack Obama and Dennis Kucinich, over security and Iran. It was oddly the most memorable debate moment for both men.

So what did you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Missed it? You can watch over at MSNBC. And don't worry: The candidates will be doing this for, oh, another nine months. Plus remember, up next week: the Republicans.