During the first Republican presidential debate last night, two people who were not in the room were nevertheless clearly on the minds of the GOP candidates: Barack Obama and Paul Ryan. The former, the sitting president, was not at all surprising; the latter, not having yet entered the presidential race, was perhaps more so. In truth, however, these two have clearly become the leaders of their respective parties, and on some level, the candidates seemed to realize that fact, even as they debated each other.
In all, Ryan was mentioned by name ten separate times, by five different people: Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty, John King, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain.
