Well, I watched the entire Republican debate last night. I was struck by their cordiality towards each other; any criticisms of each other fairly muted. I didn't think any of the candidates did badly. I didn't really hear much from them that I hadn't heard before. One question I had was this: Huckabee, Romney, and Giuliani all need to do battle with Sen. McCain. So why didn't they criticize him in areas where he's clearly vulnerable to conservatives? Why didn't they go at him on substance--on immigration, and especially on McCain-Feingold? The 11th Commandment among Republicans isn't understood to prevent pointing out--civilly--differences between the candidates on policy.
I see today that Senator McCain is now rather loudly criticizing Mitt Romney.
I guess last night's civility is now only a memory. I suspect also that Mr. McCain fears he's behind in the polls in Florida.
