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Brian Beutler:
Just at the moment when Mitt Romney was making a reasonable case for his mandate plan in Massachusetts, the moderator intervened in a panic. "We're in the weeds here." Not the weeds! The dreaded weeds! Those weeds that contain information that might educate the people watching! Stay away from them!Also Brian Beutler:
Plenty of Ron Paul critics note that his substantive views are pretty crazy, and I think that's just about right. But his views, as announced at this debate, are far, far more coherent than his competitors' views. And yet his competitors hear what he says and just mock him. "Wait. So you're telling me that we were attacked on September 11th because people in the Muslim world have legitimate grievances against us? That's so stupid! Now let me tell you a bit about the Laffer curve and the merits of preventive war." It's really bizarre.And in the most perfect comment of the night, Chris Hayes walked into the room where 600 media folks are watching the debates on large TVs, turned to me, and said, "why are we all here?"I have no idea. On the bright side, we're very near "spin alley." If we were in our hotel rooms, campaign flacks would have to call us op one at a time to lie to us.
