I’m masochist, so I watched part of the Republican debate. Here are some observations 1) Carolyn Washburn—the moderator, or REQ (Register Editor Questioner) according to Wonkette, or Nurse Ratchet according to The Weekly Standard—stole the show. She almost seemed like a spambot, with her android like “thank you” and “you have 30 seconds.” Some of her best quotes: “I will try not to be a grinch.” (Failed.) “A little snappier gentlemen.” “Thank you all for being with us, despite the ice yesterday.” (I’m sure the ice nearly stopped Mitt Romney from coming.) She also had tiffs with Alan Keyes and Fred Thompson (more on that later). 2) They’re not going to be talking about Iraq or immigration. Brilliant. Iowans, are apparently bored of those issues. 3) How did Alan Keyes infiltrate the debate? (Too bad the ice didn’t keep him away.) Luckily REQ mostly ignored him. He did not like this and he told REQ, who responded with awkwardness: 4) Fred Thompson also had a bit of a row with REQ. He didn’t want to raise his hand, and again, she was awkward: 5) More seriously, hearing the Republicans talk about the need to “save American jobs” from going overseas is so depressing. Of course, most of them talk about free trade at the same time, but they want to have their cake and eat it to. (Of course, outsourcing is actually a net good for the economy, and creates jobs in the long run.) 6) The most encouraging answers were in response to REQ’s question about education. It was very heartening to hear Republicans talk about the need for choice in education, and others even pointed out that the federal government doesn’t need to be involved at all. 7) Does anyone want to hazard a guess about what Tommy Tancredo used his candidate speech to talk about? The healthcare crisis? Global warming? Abortion, maybe? Nope; he decided to change things up and discuss immigration.