Republican debate reflections

The PBS Republican debate moderated by Tavis Smiley at Morgan State University failed to include four of the top five candidates, namely Giuliani, Thompson, Romney and McCain. A "slap in the face" to the black community, to be sure, but there's not an incentive to talk about the issues of that community when they are not a powerful constituency in Republican primary elections.

There's a great account of the debate here, and I agree with the comments offered, notably the assessment Huckabee was given a good grade but "lacks the gravitas to be president."

It was interesting that Ron Paul got loud ovations, when he didn't pander like the other candidates (Huckabee, Brownback).

Mark Shields and David Brooks on PBS tonight agreed that it is a stain on the Republican party. That's true in particular because four of the top candidates weren't there. But would it have been true if only one hadn't? Or two? The decisions by candidates of both parties to skip other debates (such as the values debate or the health care debate) was not considered a slap in the face of anyone. What we have here is a case of the tragedy of the commons. The stain is on the Republican image, not any single candidate, as Brooks and Shields agreed. What incentive does an individual candidate have to bolster the brand image of the party? They're running hard for themselves, their individual campaigns. They are all going to be judged by the money they raise, and that is their consuming obsession. The media is obsessed with getting a story and the tarnished image of the party was the story, but the candidates have other priorities.