Candidate Conspicuous By His Absence From Las Vegas GOP Debate. (Update One- 10-19-11).

The gaggle of candidates vying for the Republican nomination for president in 2012 gathered once again, this time in Las Vegas, Nevada, for another round of debate last night. This time the moderator was CNN's Anderson Cooper, who struggled mightily, but ultimately unsuccessfully, to rein in the candidates, who repeatedly spoke over each other and refused to answer the questions posed by Mr. Cooper. But the thing that made this showing stand out from the others was not those present nor what they had to say, but who wasn't there and why.