I watched the second Republican "debate" last night (I've seen all the debates so far), and a couple things jumped out at me. (I put debate in quotes, of course, because they are not debates at all in the traditional sense. I'm not sure what you'd call them. Auditions?)

First, I think FOX came up with some pretty softball questions compared to MSNBC. Eg. they asked Tom Tancredo, whose campaign is entirely based on the immigration issue, what he thought about immigration.

I was surprised to see Mike Huckabee taking that jab at John Edwards ("Congress spends money like John Edwards getting a haircut", or something like that). He seemed like such a nice guy. :)

McCain really needs to stop trying to be funny. He wasn't quite the embarrassment he was in the first debate, but he was still pretty awkward.

I was utterly floored and incredibly impressed by Libertarian-turned-Republican Ron Paul. I mean, that guy has got cahones the size of cantaloupes to stand up on that stage, go completely against the party line, and say that America's foreign policy in the Middle East led to the 9/11 attacks. But that wasn't even the most amazing part. After Giuliani indignantly retorted with the standard stuff about terrorists attacking because they hate our freedoms and he demanded a retraction, and after the audience roared its approval, Ron Paul didn't back down one bit! It was great to see a politician with a spine, convictions, and a well-reasoned argument to back up his claims.

Now I realize Ron Paul never had a chance to be president, and now never will have a chance to be president, and I'm not even sure I agree with him completely, but it was simply awesome to see a presidential candidate in a public forum setting aside the fear of saying something politically damaging and stepping forward to challenge our thinking on important issues. I wish there was some way to reward him for that, and to encourage other candidates to do the same.