Yesterday, Dean Barnett gave his predictions regarding last night's debate:

Last night, [Hugh Hewitt] had YouTube's “director of news and politics,” Young Steve Grove, on his radio program. It's an interview that has to be heard to be believed. Young Steve showed an unusual mastery of the new left’s rhetorical tics; he mindlessly repeated his talking points, while evading such simple questions like where he went to school and how old he was.

In a way, it's sad that this most important of Republican debates will descend into demagogic idiocy. Expect the same kind of purportedly heart-tugging rubbish the left faced, e.g. hospital patients asking about health care reform and school teachers inquiring about No Child Left Behind with a brood of smiling tykes in the background. Of course, it will probably be worse than that. Let your mind run wild, picturing wounded vets and grieving widows.

The good news for the candidates is with all this stupidity running amuck and wildcards being dealt, there's a golden chance for some candidate to have a real “I paid for this microphone” moment. Tonight's format will likely reward the bold.

And I would have liked to see a Republican candidate rip into CNN for using a cartoon that mocked the sitting Vice President to ask a question. I don’t care if his approval rating is at 2 percent, you don’t mock the number two man in government as a power-hungry paranoid snoop at a GOP debate. You just don’t.

On the other hand, one of Dean's predictions is very much coming true:

And hopefully tonight will serve as a teachable moment for Republicans regarding technological flash vs. political substance.