Dave Weigel has a good summary up at the Washington Independent about Monday's televised debate of candidates for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. Like me, he's struck by the extent to which Republicans are uninterested in any questions about their conservative ideology, other than to talk about how it's been insufficiently followed.

Weigel also captures the moment in the debate that shows the difficulties facing candidate Michael Steele, who is the closest thing (though not very close, in my opinion) to a "moderate" in the race. Asked by the moderator, the ubiquitous Grover Norquist, how many guns they owned, the candidates responded:

“Four handguns and two rifles,” said Duncan.

“Too many to count,” said Dawson.

“Seven,” said Blackwell. “And I’m good.”

“Two,” said Anuzis, “but they wouldn’t let me carry them in Washington, D.C.”

“In my closet at home,” said Saltsman, “I’ve got two 12-gauges, a 20-gauge, three handguns, and a 30.6. And I’ll take you on any time, Ken.”

“None,” said Steele.

What a terrible handicap to have in today's GOP.