CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich said he thinks he set himself apart from the other candidates on Thursday night at the Democratic presidential forum by establishing himself as "the peace candidate."

"I'm the real deal," Kucinich proclaimed.

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

WASHINGTON (CNN) - It's about an hour after the Democratic presidential debate ended and the spin room is slowly clearing out. But Democratic presidential candidates Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich still linger to talk to reporters.

–CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

WASHINGTON (CNN) - While top Obama strategist David Axelrod predictably touted his candidate's performance at Thursday's debate, he was mum on the battle for fundraising dollars.

"We'll see," Axelrod said with a smile, when asked if Illinois Sen. Barack Obama would beat top rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, in second quarter fundraising.

"I feel good about what we have done," Axelrod added. "As I speak we have received donations from more than 250,000 people, which is historic - it shows the support at the grassroots."

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

WASHINGTON (CNN) - "Black voters are looking for a candidate who is both battle tested and willing to champion their issues," says CNN Political Analyst and Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile, who was in the audience at tonight's debate.

When asked if there was urgency in this debate, Brazile said that, in her opinion, "Hillary Clinton and Dennis Kucinich were the only ones who saw how necessary and urgent it is to fix the racial divide in our country. The urgency was totally lacking from some of the other candidates who clearly believe African-American voters can simply wait for a new occupant in the White House."

Brazile said that "this type of debate that focuses on minority issues is a reflection of what happens when the contenders are those who are not just stale, male and pale."

Brazile went on to say that tonight's debate was "another demonstration of the boundaries that this 2008 race breaks. Diversity matters, especially when the topics are education, health care, HIV-AIDS and the criminal justice system."

So who won the debate? Brazile says, "I didn't think that anyone knocked it out of the park. But they spent some time addressing problems facing a large segment of the American electorate"

Brazile says "the candidates are all champions of civil rights, and could have used their own personal stories and battles to better connect with the audience and reach the congregation watching at home."

But she says they didn't.

As to which candidate offered hope, Brazile says, "It's too easy to paint the disastrous picture of race in America, which most of the candidates did." But she said they didn't do much else.

– CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, told reporters in the Spin Room after Thursday’s Democratic presidential forum that he’s “talked the talk and walked the walk” when it comes to dealing with race issues in the Senate.

“I’ve done a lot of this,” said Dodd, who directed reporters to review his legislative record. He also said the forum “went well” for him.

– CNN Political Researcher Xuan Thai

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick put his stamp of approval on Thursday's debate, calling it "very useful and positive."

Patrick wouldn't say if any candidate stood out, but said they all differentiated themselves "from the Republican candidates in their proposals with regards to issues affecting the lower class."

Patrick is the country’s only black governor.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Campaign surrogates were out in force in the spin room following Thursday’s presidential forum. A sampling of their spin:

Sen. Bob Menendez on Clinton’s best moment: She noted that if HIV/AIDS mainly afflicted young, white women, it would have been eradicated already. "She showed her wealth of experience, depth of knowledge and core principles that are important to minority communities.”

Biden spokesman Larry Rasky on Biden’s best moment: “The last answer on Darfur. . . In the last debate he really called the field out on the no-fly zone and using troops. It’s interesting that Sen. Clinton has changed her position since the last debate.”

Richardson chief of staff David Contarino on what his boss needs to separate himself from the pack: "More of the same. He's moving up in the polls. People just need to get to know his record. Nights like tonight help."

– CNN’s Lauren Kornreich, Alex Mooney, and Xuan Thai

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel made the trip to the Spin room following tonight's presidential forum and defended his earlier comment that several of the Democratic presidential candidates lack all "moral judgment."

Asked to clarify what he meant by the statement, Gravel said the Senate Democratic candidates who supported the war's authorization "squandered the money that could have gone to Katrina, healthcare and other projects."

"That is a lack of moral judgment," he said.

"This is a competition for president of the United States, not president of Harvard," he added.

Sens. Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and former Sen. John Edwards all voted to authorize the Iraq war.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel said he thought he was treated unfairly in the two previous Democratic presidential debates, but that he was satisfied with the format of Thursday's forum.

The long shot presidential candidate said he doesn't understand why other candidates get more time to talk during presidential forums, because "they made the judgment to go to war."

"Am I in the wrong world?" he said. "Am I so bright I see everything differently?"

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, held her own at Thursday’s presidential forum, according to Clarence Page, a nationally syndicated columnist.

Page called one moment in particular “dramatic,” when Clinton responded that the nation's response to HIV and AIDS would be better if it mainly affected white women.

He said you know you’ve made a point as a candidate “when you have African-American women jumping up.”

– CNN Researcher Xuan Thai

(CNN) - Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy were both sentenced to more than six years in prison for their roles in a corruption case dating from Siegelman's term in office. U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller sentenced Siegelman to seven years and four months in federal prison and fined him $50,000.

A jury in Montgomery convicted him last June of charges including bribery, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and four counts of mail fraud and obstruction of justice, but acquitted him of numerous other counts, including racketeering and extortion.

Scrushy - who was acquitted in a massive corporate fraud case involving HealthSouth in 2005 - was sentenced to six years and 10 months in prison and fined $150,000. He was convicted of bribery, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and four counts of mail fraud.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Delaware Sen. Joe Biden's trademark blunt talk set up the liveliest and one of the frankest admissions in a gathering of presidential candidates so far this campaign.

In response to a question about AIDS in the black community at Thursday's Democratic presidential forum at Howard University, Biden said, "I spent last summer going through the black sections of my town holding rallies in parks trying to get black men to understand it's not unmanly to wear a condom. Getting women to understand they can say no. Getting people in the position where testing matters. I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack [Obama] got tested for AIDS. There's no shame in being tested for AIDS."

In response, Obama said, "I just gotta make clear I got tested with Michelle [Obama] when we were in Kenya in Africa. I don't want any confusion here about what's going on," eliciting the largest round of laughter from the audience.

Biden then replied, "I got tested to save my life, because I had 13 pints of blood transfusion."

WASHINGTON (CNN) – In an unusual moment, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson praised President George Bush at Thursday’s Democratic presidential forum.

On the topic of HIV/AIDS and African American teens, Richardson said there is a need to also address the issue of the disease in Africa and the need to fund the effort.  He went on to praise President Bush in this effort.

“And here I'm going to say something positive about President Bush,” Richardson told the audience.  “His funding for Millennium accountability and Millennium appropriations has been relatively impressive.”

Millennium Challenge provides funding to international projects in poor foreign countries.

– CNN Political Researcher Xuan Thai

WASHINGTON (CNN) - After taking too much time to answer a question in Thursday night's presidential forum, moderator Tavis Smiley decided to jump in and interrupt Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut.

Dodd responded, "I was going to say I'll have global warming for 600."

"If you were Paris Hilton, you could have an hour," Smiley shot back. "But you're not."

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

There is little disagreement at tonight's presidential forum.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - So far, this is less a debate and more a series of short stump speeches.

Halfway through Thursday's presidential forum or "debate" and no candidate has expressed a disagreement with another candidate. In fact, the candidates are often clapping for each others' answers.

Clearly, the Democratic candidates are in broad agreement on issues of race, healthcare and education. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, went so far as to say, "It's hard to disagree with anything that has been said."

– CNN Political Director Sam Feist

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Among the familiar faces in the audience at Thursday’s Democratic presidential forum are:

• singer and activist Harry Belafonte
• Children’s Defense Fund president Marian Wright Edelman
• Wade Henderson, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
• Radio host Tom Joyner
• Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey
• National Urban League president and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial
• Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick
• “Young and the Restless” actress Victoria Rowell
• Former Surgeon General David Satcher
• the Rev. Al Sharpton, 2004 presidential candidate
• Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California
• Princeton University Professor Cornel West

– CNN researcher Xuan Thai

Reporters are watching tonight's debate in a press center located in a separate building from the event.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Viewers might think reporters covering Thursday's PBS Presidential Forum are in the auditorium with the candidates.

Yet because of size constraints, members of the press have flown in from all over the country to watch the debate the same way viewers are - on television.

But members of the press didn't make the trip for nothing. After the forum ends, several candidates will make their way over to the press center - about 30 yards from where the forum is taking place - to offer their "spin" on the night.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel said in Thursday's Democratic presidential forum that the "war on drugs" has been a "failure" similar to Prohibition, and vowed to end the effort as president. 

 "If I'm president, I'll do away with the war on drugs, which does nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk," said Gravel. "When will we learn that the issue of drugs is a public health issue? Addiction is a public health issue,  not a criminal issue where we throw people in jail and criminalize them to no advantage to the people."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Where do the candidates stand? Not on the issues, but physically on the stage. From left to right: New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd.

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel went after CNN and MSNBC right off the bat at Thursday's presidential forum by thanking the organizers and saying, "This is the fairest debate or forum that we've had thus far this year."