And the Winner Is?

Al Qaeda. The House Democrats Intelligence Authorization bill includes a provision directing an assessment of the effects that climate change has on national security. Intelligence panel Chairman Silvestre Reyes, Texas Democrat, said the climate-change study is one of several shifts his party has made to intelligence policy. He described the idea as “cutting edge.”

Muslims are now required to pray at least once daily facing Washington, DC.

In the GOP debate on Thursday, the winner was … any Republican… well, maybe excepting Ron Paul. But any of the other nine in the debate would make a much better president than anyone on the Democratic side. The amazing thing was that the Republican candidates would agree to debate on MsNBC with that Democratic attack hound Chris Matthews as moderator. In true journalistic spirit, Matthews asked a series of “Have you stopped beating your wife?” questions, such as:

>> Governor Huckabee, in light of the scandals plaguing the current administration and its allies, which mistakes have you learned not to repeat?

>> Senator Brownback, what’s with your party and all this corruption?

>> Do you think Scooter Libby should be pardoned?

>> Governor Gilmore, is Karl Rove your friend? Do you want to keep him in the White House if you get elected President.

>> Governor Thompson, how many American soldiers have lost their lives in the Iraq war and how many have been injured to date.

>> Mayor Giuliani, has the increased influence of Christian conservatives in your party been good for it? If a private employer finds homosexuality immoral, should he be allowed to fire a gay worker?

>> Senator Brownback, will your personal religious beliefs influence your foreign policy thinking.

>> Congressman Tancredo, do you have a plan to solve the shortage of organs donated for transplant?

The remarkable thing is how well the GOP candidates handled these biased questions. Here are a few of my favorites.

>> A recent NBC poll shows that just 22 percent believe this country is on the right track and 55 percent of Americans say victory is just not possible in Iraq. Why shouldn’t they have a president who will listen?

MR. ROMNEY: Well, if you wanted to have a president who just followed the polls, all we’d need to do is plug in our TV and have it run the country, but that’s not what America wants. It’s not what America needs.

>> Fred Thompson said that Iran has already committed acts of war. Do you agree? And secondly, as part of that, what’s your trip wire for a U.S. strike in Iran?

SEN. MCCAIN: My greatest fear is the Iranians acquire a nuclear weapon and give it to a terrorist organization. The tripwire is that if they acquire these weapons -- our intelligence tells us that this is a real threat to the state of Israel to other states in the region.

>> Is it worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars, just trying to catch Osama bin Laden?

MR. ROMNEY: Of course we get Osama bin Laden and make sure he pays for the outrage he exacted on America. But I don’t want to buy into the Democratic pitch, that this is all about one person. Because after we get him, there’s going to be another and another. This is about Hezbollah and Hamas and al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. This is the worldwide jihadist effort to try and cause the collapse of all moderate Islamic governments and replace them with a caliphate.

>> Governor Romney, what do you dislike most about America?

MR. ROMNEY: Gosh. I love America. America for me is not just our rolling mountains and hills and streams and great cities, it’s the American people. And the American people are the greatest people in the world. What makes America the greatest nation in the world is the heart of the American people -- hard-working, innovative, risk-taking, God-loving, family-oriented, the American people.

>> Would the day that Roe v. Wade is repealed be a good day for Americans? We’re looking for nuance here.

MR. HUCKABEE: We are a culture of life. We celebrate, we elevate life. When hikers on Mount Hood get lost, we move heaven and Earth to go find them. When coalminers in West Virginia are trapped in a mine, we go after them because we celebrate life. This life issue is not insignificant, it’s not small. It separates us from the Islamic fascists who would strap a bomb to the belly of their child and blow them up.

>> Mrs. Reagan wants to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Will that progress under your administration?

MR. ROMNEY: It certainly will. Altered Nuclear Transfer, I think, is perhaps the best course.

>> Embryonic. Embryonic.

MR. Romney: Altered Nuclear Transfer; we do not have to kill.

>> Senator McCain, do you believe in evolution?

SEN. MCCAIN: I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset that the hand of God is there also.

>> Seriously, would it be good for America to have Bill Clinton back living in the White House?

MR. ROMNEY: You have got to be kidding!

REP. HUNTER: You know Bill Clinton cut the U.S. Army by almost 50 percent. In this war against terror, he’s the wrong guy to have in there.

MR. GIULIANI: It would mean that we were back on defense against terrorism, given Senator Clinton’s recent positions.

And here is my absolute favorite.

> Governor Romney, what do you say to Roman Catholic bishops who would deny communion to elected officials who support abortion rights?

MR. ROMNEY: I don’t say anything to Roman Catholic bishops. They can do whatever the heck they want. Roman Catholic bishops are in a private institution, a religion, and they can do whatever they want in a religion.

> Do you see that as interference in public life?

MR. ROMNEY: Well, I can’t imagine a government telling a church who can have communion in their church. I can’t -- we have a separation of church and state; it’s served us well in this country.

Matthews simply does not understand the First Ammendment.

Contrast these reasoned answers with the responses of the Democratic contenders at their debate.

>> What would you do if two American cities were devastated by terrorist attacks?

SEN. OBAMA: I’d worry about the first responders.

>> From whom do you get your moral guidance?

MR. EDWARDS: Hmmmm……