Okay, I’ll be back at a little before 8:00 PM EDT with some quick impressions of the second-tier debate, and will then undertake live-blogging the main event. I don’t know how much obligatory Reagan-worshiping CNN is planning before the actual debate begins, but I’ll keep you posted.

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.