Interesting too was the spectre cast over the event by Fred Thompson, the guy who is not running (if he were, no doubt he'd be the "Law & Order candidate.") The appeal of Thompson is based on 2 things: (1) He isn't one of these 10 White Guys; and, (2) he's an actor, JUST LIKE RONALD REAGAN. In a party torn asunder by the willful incompetence of the Bush administration, heavy with nostalgia for the Gipper, anyone who shares any trait at all with Reagan is going to seem appealing.

Anyway, our take on the debate:

What a genuinely creepy bunch, nasty and dangerous. Romney is a cyborg, programmed to run for president; total disingenuous show pony who will adopt any position that is politically expedient. Watch as he reverses every social position 180 degrees in moving from Governor of the most liberal state to would-be presidential nominee from a conservative party... Giulliani is as snarky and nasty as ever. I remember the first time he ran against David Dinkins for mayor (and lost) in 1989, there was some controversy about Dinkins paying his taxes. No matter what anyone asked Giulliani, his answer would include the phrase, "David Dinkinth didn't pay hith tak-theth." Now its the same thing all over again; no matter what you ask him-- "did you want potato or vegatable with that?"-- the answer will include the phrase, "9/11." What a smarmy dick... McCain hits me as the most likable of the top-3, but I'm sorry, he's aged past his prime, and there is just too much "dodder" in his demeanor. Oddly, the guy I like among the second tier candidates is Mike Huckabee, who gave a killer explanation for why he raised his hand as not believing in evolution (basically that he didn't know how things were created, he wasn't there, but that he took the question to be about belief in God, and make no mistake, he believes in God.) I'm not doing it justice, but the answer took him from crazy religious nut to thoughtful, sincere regular guy. They asked Brownback (totally in the pocket of the Religious Right, by the way) the same question next, and he was screwed because Huckabee has just totally aced the question and left no other room to answer, save for "What he said."... and of course the fringe lunatic candidate, Ron Paul, makes the most sense of any of them, and I pray to God that he scores well in New Hampshire, only because he deserves to. (Bill Maher has had him on twice already.) Its funny that Paul sounds so out of step on this dias, but really, he is probably the closest to what might have passed for traditional conservative values to, say, Barry Goldwater. Then again, Hillary worked for Goldwater... Also I enjoyed nut job Tommy Tancredo's answer about what role Bush would play in his administration; basically, "Karl Rove told me never to darken the White House doors again... that would have to be my answer to president Bush."

Duncan Hunter, Jim Gilmore, and Tommy Thompson also attended.