I would be remiss if I left this analysis without dedicating at least a few sentences to Alan Keyes. If moderator Washburn was Nurse Ratched, Alan Keyes was a patient who went off his meds. I'm quite confident that he broke the presidential debate record for most frequent usage of the word "womb."
To bring it full circle, Keyes's distracting presence was yet another indictment of the unworthiness of the Iowa media for the enormous role it plays in this process. Keyes isn't just a frivolous candidate for president. He's not a candidate at all. And yet he was allowed on the stage to toss bombs and to perversely whine about his lack of airtime. Thompson and Romney, alone amongst the contenders, had the good sense to use Keyes as a comic foil.
SO WHAT RIPPLES WILL today's snoozefest send forth? The YouTube debate was a seismic shindig--it heralded the arrival of Mike Huckabee as a serious candidate in this race. Today, the incompetence of the Des Moines Register's moderator may well drown out all other stories.
But Fred Thompson had a big moment when he took on that moderator, and refused to play by her idiotic rules. That moment, and his overall performance, may well reignite his campaign. Dean Barnett is a staff writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
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