The real winner in that South Carolina debate wasn't even there

Well, that debate in South Carolina among all the Republican candidates (except the eventual nominee) was very interesting. The real winner seems- predictably- to be the man who wasn't there- Fred Thompson.

I really enjoyed the best sound-bite of the night: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's statement that "Congress spends money like John Edwards in a beauty shop." Though he's a distinct dark horse, were I, personally, charged with appointing the nominee, Huckabee would be on the short list- perhaps right after Thompson.

But to me, Huckabee's real moment of glory came when he finally punctured the absurd, morally indefensible position on abortion Mario Cuomo first tried to stake out in his imfamous Notre Dame speech- the one that has become the standard, boilerplate apologia for Roman Catholic Democrats (and now Republicans) who want to defy the moral teaching of their church on the issue: the notion that it's ethically possible to personally regard abortion as a monstrous moral evil, even as murder (which is- like it or not- what the Catholic church teaches, and what has been the characteristic position of the Christian tradition throughout history) - while still advocating its legality. Huckabee gave precisely the rejoinder Giuliani's popular cop-out deserves, equating it with that of an ante-bellum politician who regarded slavery as morally wrong, but who nevertheless opposed using the law to stop people from owning slaves.

Rudy's response failed to really address Huckabee's analogy. The scary thing, though, is that I suspect that Giuliani himself didn't notice that fact, and probably still doesn't realize it. Other morally absurd positions can and have been held as sincerely as Giuliani's incoherent position on abortion- including the one Huckabee cited in his apt analogy. But sincerity is not the equivalent of moral integrity, or even comprehensibility.

Mitt Romney- the only one of the top three declared candidates I could ever have imagined supporting for the nomination ( due to McCain's position on stem cells and Rudy's on just about every social issue I can name) seemed to me to be going overboard with his suggestion that the size of Gitmo be doubled. And while I know that many for whom I have no ideological affinity whatsoever like this Ron Paul character, I fail to see the appeal; historically, he's right in saying that Osama and the other lunatics responsible for 9/11 cited the 1991 invasion of Iraq as their motivation for the attacks, Paul should have known better than to point it out in terms that it would enable Rudy Giuliani- or any of the others, had Giuliani failed to seize the moment- to make him look disturbingly like a nutjob who was taking bin Laden's side.

This campaign will be over quickly. With so many states "front loading" the process- moving their primaries and caucuses to dates following the Iowa caucuses in quick succession- we could easily have a nominee selected by the end of February. So I hope the voters are paying attention.

And I also hope Fred Thompson gets his act together and announces soon. He's the best of the lot- but in order to prove that, he's going to have to give the voters a chance to make the comparison.

(Cross posted at Iowans for Fred Thompson)