“WHEN REPUBLICANS ACT like Democrats, America loses,” Mitt Romney said last night. “You’ve seen that over the last several years.” It was a typical Romney comment, and typical of Thursday’s GOP debate, which confirmed much of what we already knew about the top contenders but did not cause any major ripples in the campaign.

As is his wont, Romney found a way to repeatedly bash “Washington” without directly attacking President Bush by name. When asked whether he would run away from the recent Bush-GOP record, Romney responded, “I will run away from the record of Washington.”