Charles Finch

As has already been well documented in numerous places, last night's Republican debate was a joke: Long minutes of sturm und drang about immigration from a northeastern Governor and a northeastern Mayor, little mention of Iraq, no mention of Iran and Pakistan. A lot of breathless nonsense about abortion, including Fred Thompson's bizarre statement that it was the most important issue of our day. (Really? An ancient court decision? While we're at war?) The Republicans could use somebody like Joe Biden, who keeps the Democrats honest about foreign policy. In theory that should be John McCain, but instead, after speaking eloquently and with complete authority about torture, he went off the reservation and started talking about isolationism and how we never lost a battle in Vietnam.

Most pundits have agreed that Mike Huckabee was the winner. Maybe. Hendrik Hertzberg got it about right, as usual; Huckabee has insane policies on taxation and a host of social issues, but at least he seems nice enough, and conscientious. But a question he answered "correctly" last night brought into relief the problems of his party and our country; when a viewer asked if the candidates believed in the Bible as the literal word of God, he said yes, and rather eloquently. But does that matter? Should that question - a very faintly disguised litmus test - be at all significant for either of our parties' candidates, much less our President?