What to watch for in tonight's debate: Muslim slamming or debt slamming?

It should be amusing to watch the candidates duel tonight over who is the true conservative.

The definition of that word is so amorphous that in one sense or another they are all conservative, but tonight will be about who can fit the definition according to the religious right, while appeasing fiscal realists. Increasingly in the past few years conservatism has been equated with Christianity- or an adherence to the idea that America is a "Judeo-Christian" country. (That characterization is an odd development which, from what I can see, has only developed in the past half-century or so. There has always been the argument that the United States is Christian, but this new notion that it was founded in the spirit of two of the three Abrahamic religions but not the other, is puzzling to me.) This is different, though not necessarily in opposition to, an agenda advocating smaller government, the previous backbone of the right's theology.

Maybe though, the pendulum is shifting back.

While maligning Islam has been the preferred way to score points in the GOP over the past decade, the extreme right must now balance criticism of Muslims with the reality that waging war is not cheap. An increasing awareness of the cost of our (alleged) Pax Americana runs contradictory to the "Muslims are our enemy and we must get them at any price" ideal. Frugality in government has always been at the center of the Republican Party; tonight we'll see if it is starting to win out over anti-Islamic hysteria.

The candidates need to score points in the heartland, where the Bible ordinarily trumps concerns from the checkbook. The usual references to religion are inevitable. Observing how the candidates try and do this while admitting bills need to be paid (and that maybe there are some civil liberty concerns in how we have prosecuted our security effort since 9/11), will be entertaining.