Republicans Debate in Iowa for Last Time

To be honest with you yesterday's final Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses was rather calm in nature. It took place in Johnston, Iowa and was sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper. The Des Moines Register editorial board endorsement is usually something that is heavily coveted because a lot of folks still read the paper.

The debate itself seemed poorly organized and time arrangements were very uneven. The candidates were very taciturn in general It seemed as though people like Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson were ready to criticize the moderator more so then they were each other. Alan Keyes appeared ready to add some fireworks to the race, but his colleagues on the stage appeared to basically ignore him. When Keyes announced he could not support Rudy Giuliani due to the former NYC Mayor's support of abortion rights Rudy said he wasn't going to change. Keyes also tried to incur Romney on the same subject and the other candidates on the stage did not take the chance to criticize one of the frontrunners in the Iowa caucuses.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee got some pretty audible applause from the studio audience when he pledged to look at ways to lessen the dropout rate in this country. Huckabee contends that the reason most kids drop out is because they are bored. Huckabee offered the solution of granting more funding for music and the arts to stimulate both sides of the brain. Expanding the funding for such programs was met with criticism by Congressman Tom Tancredo who said it would make no difference whatsoever if the Department of Education were abolished.