After last night's debate Hillary and Barack are licking their wounds as Edwards basks in renewed media attention.

A simmering feud between Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama erupted into charges of distortion and exaggeration in a gloves- off presidential debate Monday, with Clinton accusing him of representing a Chicago slumlord and Obama countering that she was a corporate lawyer for anti-union Wal-Mart.

Even in the superheated atmosphere of their fight for the party's nomination, the statements and exchanges between Clinton and Obama were unusually acrimonious and personal. The debate came as the two campaigns continued to complain about dirty politics and disenfranchisement of voters in last Saturday's Nevada caucuses.

As Obama tried to defend his recent comments about Republican ideas and Ronald Reagan, Clinton interrupted and said she has never criticized his remarks on Reagan.

"Your husband did," said Obama, who has accused the former president of misrepresenting his record.

"I'm here. He's not," she snapped.

Obama followed this remark by saying "I can't tell who I am running against sometimes." Which was one of my favorite quotes of the night.

You know I have a lot of experience with bullies. I have unfortunately bullied others in my life, been terrorized by bullies when I was very young, and been a "bully buster" when I was in high school.

There is a dynamic used by a bully to intimidate or control his chosen adversary. He may often feel the need to bully out of jealousy or to get back something that he, or she, think they lost to the other person.

The bully often feels inadequate compared to his, or her, target. Being unable to compete in the same arena as his target, he needs to bring that person down to his level. Where he, or she, thinks they have a better chance of inflicting damage. They may use name calling, fabricate lies, or bother those that the target cares about to get them down to their level.

We saw these same techniques used by Hillary last night to make Obama feel defensive and begin to fight the Clinton kind of fight. And that was a mistake.

Hillary was able last night to scuff up Obama's shiny shoes and damage his untouchable image. She did not make herself look any better, but she focused on making Obama look worse. And she did not do it alone.

Hillary has Bill, and that has put Obama at a disadvantage. He is running against two powerful political opponents. And he may be outmatched.

He needs help. He needs John Edwards. Edwards demonstrated last night that he can keep his head in a dogfight and he can also keep the debate focused on the issues. And he can beat Bill Clinton. If it were an Obama/Edwards vs Clinton/Clinton match, the Obama/Edwards team would wipe the floor with them. That is not just my opinion, that is fact.

I think the time is right for Obama to reach out to Edwards and strike up an alliance. Edwards is essentially out of this race if he stands alone. But if he and Obama team up he can guarantee his chance to do all of the good work that he has been talking about doing. It is clear they like each other. It is clear they both dislike Hillary. So what is the damn hold up?

I would plead with them both to get together and win this thing! The time is now!