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Three women, one man - me - a cozy adobe home tucked in one of those little streets near Old Town and politics. What could be better?

This was the scene Tuesday night for the Moveon.org Virtual Town Hall meeting, where seven presidential candidates, all Democrats, riffed on the subject of Iraq. It was the first of three such meetings, with health care and global warming coming later in the summer.

Nice idea. I think Moveon.org is onto something. Get your friends and neighbors to engage in the decision process, while joining thousands of others doing the same in living rooms across the country.

Suzanne, Jean and Susan, along with seven candidates, some of them familiar, some still unfolding themselves to the nation.

One at a time, here they came. Virtually. A rotating set of still photos of each candidate on a split computer screen, sharing space with a blue U.S. map floating on a black background, dotted with a constellation of 1,000 homes doing the same.

John Edwards was first up. And first down, without even a ripple of reaction from the group. Joe Biden followed with a numbing litany of Beltway-like policy rambling. He got the first chuckle of the night, but I'm not sure if it was because of his positions or the picture of Biden posing with the Dalai Lama.

What can you say about Dennis Kucinich?

"I can't see him as president," Susan said, somewhat wistfully. "There's just something about his stature."

At this point, it was starting to feel like a poetry slam event, where the participants who drew for an early slot end up more like an appetizer. Right on cue, our virtual waiter, the Moveon.org host, lifted the dome.

Gov. Bill Richardson. The air in the room warmed noticeably.

Our guy.

And boy, was he "there."

Where the previous three had that annoying wind tunnel-like sound that is part of the voice quality over an Internet line, Richardson sounded like he was sitting in a radio studio. It snapped you to attention.

It didn't take long for the comments to flow.

"Gee! He has a résumé?" Jean served up sarcastically during his introduction.

He also elicited the biggest laugh of the night when he offered a decidedly Richardson-like quip: "I would put all three in a room," he said, regarding the Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis.

It was a little too familiar, considering the House versus Senate scuffle during the recently wrapped legislative session.

The governor also had the best slide show so far. The best one was Richardson at a window thoughtfully reading a policy paper, the New Mexico state flag behind him. It was beautifully composed.

But then he tripped up, when he said "I may not be a rock star."

"That's what he said on Jon Stewart," Suzanne noted. All agreed "The Daily Show" appearance did not go well.

Halftime. More popcorn in the microwave and the last of the wine poured. Tom Waits warbled out of the computer.

The Richardson re-cap was fairly positive.

"He did better than I thought."

"He's the only one so far with an idea."

"He is a diplomat."

Tom Waits kept warbling.

Hillary Clinton was first up after the break. The warmth in the room went stone cold. She never had a prayer.

Chris Dodd stepped into the batters box. And then right back out as if he wasn't even there.

These women could do the math. Seven candidates, six down and one to go. The biggest hitter in the line-up was at the plate.

Barack Obama.

Composed, pitch perfect, and the most intimate in his closing. Rock star indeed.

"Wow!"

"He doesn't have the experience, but he's got it `up here.' "

"Obama just blew me away."

It didn't hurt that Obama, in a brilliant stroke of timing, was riding a knockout performance on David Letterman's show the night before.

It was over. No one made up their mind completely from it, but bonds were established and plans were made for the next one. Popcorn, wine and policy. Welcome to the new era of presidential campaigning.