On October 30, seven of the eight Democratic candidates for president gathered in Philadelphia to debate a range of international and domestic issues – from how to handle tensions with Iran to whether illegal immigrants should get driver licenses.

But, as American and international media outlets reported, the debate was mostly about New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s record – one more sign that she is considered the candidate to beat. The other two top-polling Democrats — Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards — spent a large part of their time on stage questioning Clinton’s past statements on Iraq, Iran and social security.

Clinton, Obama and Edwards grabbed most of the air time, and the Associated Press reported some of the other candidates were visibly frustrated with how little chance they had to speak.

Although he might not have had much time on camera, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich received a lot of press coverage for an unusual debate topic: Sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). Kucinich confirmed that he once saw a triangular craft hovering in the sky. He also noted that former President Jimmy Carter reported seeing a UFO, and “that more people in this country have seen UFOs than, I think, approve of George Bush’s presidency.” The debate moderator pointed out that only 14 percent of Americans believe they have seen a UFO and that Bush’s approval rating now is higher than 14 percent.

Why was one person missing? The Democratic National Committee and NBC News, whose channel MSNBC hosted the debate, decided that former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel had not met the polling and fundraising requirements it had set for participation. Gravel held his own debate in another venue – where he answered the same set of questions the other candidates were asked.

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