I just watched the Des Moines Register’s Republican debate, the last GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses. I almost got whiplash when Alan Keyes showed up. It took me a while to even remember who he was, and I’m still wondering what he was doing there. It was a bit like seeing a streaker running across the stage … much more interesting and provoking than the scheduled event. He sounded like a gatecrasher who had managed to grab the microphone a couple of times and deliver parts of some personal diatribe.
The comic relief aside, I thought Mitt Romney did very well. Still, there is something a little too “slick” about him. Mike Huckabee didn’t impress at all; I found that surprising considering his first-place standing in the Iowa polls. His folksiness is beginning to grate. Rudy Giuliani sounded better than I expected, considering all the negative press he’s been getting recently. McCain sounded like … McCain. (I wish he’d stop using that “my friends” line; it’s presumptuous.)
I missed the introduction of the moderator. I don’t know who she was, but she was pathetic. Deadpan, cold, oblivious. A robot could have done as well, and would have been a lot more entertaining. I suspect she and Keyes will grab a huge share of the media’s attention in the analyses of today’s proceedings.