The RNC Debates

I. Brownback Has Lost Me
Really, I am so embarassed. C'mon Brownback, you're Catholic, didn't you get JP's memo? We believe in evolution!

II. I'm Calling the Debates for Paul (Mainstream Media to spin it for Romney)
MSNBC has this completely unscientific interactive poll, where you could vote on your impressions about the candidates, positive or negative, before and after the debates. Most of the candidates pre- and post-debate had similar ratings, variations of one or two points. Ron Paul jumped up 32 points, from the bottom to the top, all in one night.

Ron Paul apparently pushed a very Goldwater conservativism, not at all Bush II (or so I hear, see III). It's an interesting solution for Republicans, who face a really tough 2008 election (as Bill Lacy recently confessed). How do you distance yourself from a reviled President? Conservativism! A movement that arguably elected this President, a movement which he has arguably abandoned.

UPDATE: More votes are in, and Ron Paul has kept his lead, but it's as if everyone across the board got a big dish of neutral votes. Paul's positives are down to the high 30s, Romney still second with high 20s, now with no change pre- and post-debate.

III. Your Democracy, Copyright MSNBC (et al.)
Third important fact about the debates: you can't watch them. You aren't allowed. MSNBC's copyrights are apparently more important than participatory Democracy. Barack Obama and John Edwards have signed on to a letter from famed copyleftist Larry Lessig advocating open access to the debates, they are joined by a number of politicos from both sides of the aisle.
UPDATE: CNN has freed the debates!