It begins with the same first question from yesterday about fiscal responsibility. The Democrats approach the problem completely differently, of course, talking about the costs of the war and the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Obama mentions growing inequality and Edwards rails against shipping jobs overseas.

Bill Richardson advocates a Constitutional amendment to give the president line item veto power over the federal budget.

—Dana Goldstein

Dana Goldstein, a former associate editor and writer at the Prospect, comes from a family of public-school educators. She received the Spencer Fellowship in Education Journalism, a Schwarz Fellowship at the New America Foundation, and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellowship at the Nation Institute. Her journalism is regularly featured in Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Beast, and other publications, and she is a staff writer at the Marshall Project.