I couldn't watch the whole Republican debate tonight. I tuned in for the last twenty minutes. I'll have a couple observations below. After the debate, Frank Luntz interviewed 29 Republican primary voters to get their take on how it went, who won, who lost...the whole drill.

The first thing Luntz did was to ask for a show of hands of how many of the 29 were satisfied with the candidates' performances. No one raised their hands. Then he asked them how many were disappointed and almost all of them raised their hands. So, it doesn't look like any of them really won the debate. Their messages are not resonating with the their base.

Luntz then asked how many of them were planning on supporting Sen. McCain. Three of them raised their hands. He followed up by asking how many of them thought McCain won the debate. A majority raised their hands. He went around soliciting explanations and they generally felt that he had a better grasp of the issues and seemed more 'presidential'. He is definitely suffering heavily for his position on immigration.

In the twenty minutes of debate time I saw, I did take note of a couple of things. Mike Huckabee was explaining why his 23% sales tax (to replace the income tax) is a good idea. And he said that most Americans are more worried about getting audited by the IRS than they are about getting mugged. It was a real moment of clarity. I worry about getting mugged every time I leave my house, but I've never cheated on my taxes. For me, it gets to the core criminality of the Republican mindset. They see themselves as criminals and worry about getting called to account for it, while I consider myself law-abiding and worry about being a victim of crime.

Now, I realize that most Americans live in neighborhoods where mugging just doesn't occur. And maybe Huckabee's comment makes sense to them. But that kind of rhetoric just falls completely flat to anyone that lives with high crime.

Ron Paul had a vocal fan club that cheered him wildly. He was asked about prior comments that he would like to eliminate the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security. And he responded by calling his opponents a bunch of big spending bedwetters that would sacrifice their liberty to gain security...and wind up losing both. He also told them, in a separate answer, that we stood down the Soviets and we shouldn't wet our pants over Iran. His opponents giggled nervously. I don't think we need to dismantle our national security apparatus, but we ought to take a fresh look at it. It hasn't served us well.

On that Iran question, the rest of the Republicans, save Huckabee, were bellicose and utterly dishonest. Where Ron Paul said that Israel had 200 nuclear weapons and could defend themselves, the others insisted that Iran would try to eliminate Israel with a nuclear weapon or would pass off the fissile material to terrorists.

One of the features of fissile material is that it is highly radioactive. Another feature is that it takes billions of dollars and over a decade to create. It's too valuable to give away to people you don't control, and it's too dangerous to handle to easily transport. This idea that Iran will give fissile material to terrorists is absurd. But it is groupthink among the Republican candidates. They aren't even embarrassed to suggest this ludicrousy. Nor are they embarrassed to say that that they would start a war purely for Israel's benefit even though Israel clearly has an adequate deterrent.

Huckabee was more nuanced in his response. He emphasized the importance of dialogue.

Since I didn't see the first hour or so of this debate, I can't really say why the Republican primary voters were universally turned off. The little bit I did see was nauseating, but I always think Republicans are disgusting when they gather in groups and talk in public.