Dennisless Debate Format Works Well

The glass top table at last night's Democratic Primary debate was short (get it) one candidate but I doubt he was missed. Despite the legal challenges and pleas from Willie Nelson, Dennis Kucinich was not permitted to participate in last night's debate hosted by MSNBC. I'm not part of the bash Dennis crowd but I have to say the format of this debate would not have suited having an odd man out (and I mean odd) included in the panel. Tim Russert has a hard enough time avoiding the appearance of being disingenuous without having to coddle also ran candidates.

The Democratic race has been distilled down to three serious contenders for now and this forum provided a glimpse of three separate candidates each working to portray an image of presidential preparedness to the viewing audience in cable television land. The debate was more of panel discussion with each candidate permitted to ask the other a question while sitting comfortably at the table. As Daily Kos offers,

Each of our three candidates brings tremendous strengths to the contest. Any of them would be a strong general election candidate, and they all appear to be sufficiently prepared to enter the White House in 370 days.

The Dems have a steady confluence of energy that looks like it will lead to an orderly synthesis of selecting a clear nominee. They need to continue moving in that direction being careful not to backslide towards the Hobbesian state of the GOP race. Sadly that means the end of the line for the bottom tier candidacies. No more standing at podiums and making jokes about the other candidates' political gaffes or debating about the nature of Jesus. As much as I think Dennis has to offer in the marketplace of ideas his presence would have been counter productive (and the chairs didn't go up high enough). Sorry.