I was able to see only about the last half hour of the GOP debate last night, which happened to feature a charmless squabble between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney on religious faith and politics. Romney was on the right side of secular constitutionalism, of course, but the fact that the founders had already, vividly settled this issue more than 200 years ago only attests to contemporary Republicanism's extreme reactionaryism.
I've got to say, it downright depresses to listen to two potential presidents debating a non-debatable matter -- especially one as inflammatory as religious tests.
Otherwise, from the coverage I've read it appears that Herman Cain took his first return steps to political obscurity as he "defend[ed] his 9-9-9 tax plan against nearly unanimous criticism from his fellow candidates," reports the Times. I think it was David Gergen who commented immediately after the debate that if all your opponents are against your tax plan, you've got "a problem."
But look, Cain never expected to get this far, so his political problem is decidedly non-problematic (just as the Romney-Perry debate was non-debatable). If Cain has a problem at all, it's with Roger Ailes: Is the former too crazy for even Fox News?
I also see -- again, according to the Times -- that Perry "displayed a much more combative style." Translation: Like a desperate quarterback who starts throwing interceptions, Perry will soon screw things up even worse than he already has.
Last night's biggest story was, however, the story that wasn't. The most qualified GOP contender, Jon Huntsman, was absent from the stage. The Times reports that he "opted out in solidarity with New Hampshire Republicans who are angry that Nevada moved its caucuses up in the voting schedule." Yet the political reality was instead rather "Animal House"-esque: Huntsman was simply too well to attend.
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