There’s a weird egalitarianism to this debate. Dodd and Biden and Richardson are getting as much time to talk as the front-runners. Washburn is also challenging them on long-lost gaffes—stuff that doesn’t normally come up for anyone who’s not ahead in the polls. She asks Biden about his awkward remarks about race, to which he responds that he “got into politics because of the civil rights movement.” She asks whether Dodd is running for president to restore his family name. He says he’s “motivated by my family because of their public service.” If the questions were meant as gotchas, the candidates dodged the bullets by wide margins.
