The Republican debate in Iowa this past week is being universally awarded the Worst Debate Ever by most, if not all pundits. Jonathan Martin at The Politico wrote on Friday:

Dissatisfied with the debate here Wednesday that drew widespread scorn, Iowa Republicans will discuss on Friday the possibility of holding another forum before the January 3rd caucuses.

The debate this week, sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television, was to have been the final gathering of the GOP contenders, but one well-placed Iowa Republican said tonight that they were interested in getting the candidates back together

“We’d prefer if the Register debate did not leave a bad taste,” said this source, who requested anonymity. “Iowa deserves a little better than that.”

The most likely possibility would be the week after Christmas, when many of the contenders are expected back in the state to make a final push before the voting.

I do agree with Allahpundit who wrote, “Do it well or don’t do it.”

The biggest obstacle will be the logistics of the short time left between the Christmas holidays and the Caucuses. Leaving that aside, what would make this debate worth doing?

I have a few suggestions:

• Limit the debate to Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney. While I like both Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo, eliminating them along with Ron Paul and Alan Keyes (why was he included anyhow?) would allow for a much more substantive debate.
• Limit the number of questions. Allow more substance over quantity.
• Related to the above, allow the candidates time to answer, allow rebuttal, and encourage discussion.
• Find a moderator who can control all of the above, and ask relevant follow up questions. I have seen Rush suggested.

Add your suggestions in the comments. How many and what questions should be asked? Who should moderate? Format? Anything else?

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The latest and last (before the first caucus) debate of Republican presidential candidates takes place in Iowa at 2pm EST. The stage will be crowded. Participating: Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney.

Real Clear Politics includes this in their analysis:

Add it all up and we should expect to see another round of sharp exchanges between candidates, most of which will involve Mitt Romney. We’ll have to see whether today’s debate changes anything, but given the location and the proximity to caucus day, it’s a fairly important day for the top tier candidates to have a good showing and, most importantly, not to make a big mistake.

Captain Ed offers up some thumbnail thoughts about what various candidates need to accomplish. Here are a few snippets.

Mike Huckabee — No mistakes, connect emotionally, and seem reasonably conservative.

Mitt Romney — He has to stay focused and ignore Rudy while gently gunning for Huckabee.

Rudy Giuliani — Rudy needs a good performance, but not a great one, and will do best if he’s not the central focus.

John McCain — An extended dialogue on immigration hurts him here, but again, he’s not all that concerned with Iowa.

Fred Thompson — If he plays analyst instead of candidate, he’s toast.

It is with his thoughts on the rest of the field that I most agree:

As for the rest, at this stage, the Register should have taken a pass. They have not developed into contenders by any measure, and the inclusion of Alan Keyes is a strange joke. The DMR could have given us a chance to hear five realistic candidates with some time to get into detail on the issues, but instead chose to have nine with time for little more than soundbites.

Brian will be liveblogging at Liberty Pundit (if the power stays on). The link is here.

Steveegg (No Runny Eggs) is liveblogging here.

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