Love fest? Good or bad

The Democratic presidential debate could have used Donald Trump - someone to trumpet why the others aren't as smart as they are.
Roger L. Simon wonders if Republican infighting will make next year harder.
The “evil party” didn’t spend much of the evening tearing each other down. Quite the contrary. With the most minor exceptions, they provided a cheering section for each other.
If Republicans continue their approach in their next debate, bashing each other at will and in extremis, they are likely going to lose in November 2016 and then we all  lose.  The country loses, maybe even disappears as we know it.  Republicans aren’t the “stupid party” for nothing — and that includes the Tea Party and RINOS,  both equally dopey, not to mention Kevin McCarthy who may have made the greatest unforced political error of the no-longer-young century.  Republicans should focus like the proverbial lasers  on the opposition, not each other. Fiorina and Rubio have both showed how to do this on different occasions.
Megan McArdle sees a missed opportunity to ready Hillary for the fall of 2016.
Can Clinton survive a race against a more gifted campaigner, in a nation with considerably more conservatives than New York has? Now would be a good time for Democrats to find that out. At least Democrats could see how she performs under pressure from politicians who are out for blood. Instead they mostly treated her like a delicate aunt whose ears must be protected from harsh words.