With Rudy Giuliani out of the way, the remaining Republicans were free to catfight at the Reagan Library last night. Much of the debate involved front-runners John McCain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney trying to out-Reagan one another.

No matter what they said, each moment felt like this:
Romney: "I'm more like Ronald Reagan than you are!"
McCain: "No, you're not, you helmet-headed bitch!"
Romney: "Nancy just checked me out, so that proves it."
McCain: "You wanna take it outside?"
Huckabee: "Hey, what about me?"
Ron Paul: "You people are making me look reasonable."
Everyone: "Oh, shut up, Ron!"

Oh, it got ugly a few times. For example, Romney said of McCain, "If you're endorsed by the New York Times, you're probably not a conservative." McCain served up a fake laugh after that line that was petrifying. Then McCain threw the fact that the Globe and Herald endorsed him--and not Romney--right in Romney's face. Politics just brings out the dignity in everyone.

Photo by Mark Terrell/AP.