Lessons from the Republican Rumble

GOP GAGGLE Republican candidates, Nancy Reagan and Schwarzenegger (inset)

So Republicans hate terrorists and love them some Reagan. (You know your party faces challenges when you spend the better part of a national presidential debate wishing you could resurrect a dead guy for a run.) But what of the really vital, personal, common sense stuff—the factors by which, as smart as we like to consider ourselves, we'll eventually judge our candidates? What did we learn last night? We learned ...

Who doesn't believe in evolution: Tancredo, Brownback, Huckabee

Who was put on the spot to explain the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam: Giuliani, who at least did better than the current Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee

Who would consider amending the Constitution so that Arnold Schwarzenegger could run for president: Huckabee, McCain, Giuliani