Being a dreadful sucker for these things I stayed up to watch the Republican presidential debate in Iowa last night. As Jonathan Bernstein notes the stramash, hosted by Fox News, did not really matter very much and nor, of course, does (or should) the preposterous Ames straw poll this weekend. Nevertheless, it was unusually entertaining (by the standards of these things) and, actually, quite interesting.
Like Conor Friedersdorf, I felt the most telling, significant moment came when the candidates – a grim, motley crew to be honest – were asked if they would endorse a (hypothetical) deal that offered ten dollars in deficit reduction in return for one dollar of tax increases. This being the modern Republican party every single one of the blighters said they’d reject any such splendid compromise. Mental, but there you have it.
Clearly Mitt Romney was in a class of his own last night, the only candidate present who actually looked like he could be President one day.
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