At last Thursday’s Ames debate, there was a particular word missing: jobs. Sure, the candidates touched on the economy a bit. But mostly it seemed the debate strayed into other (arguably less important) issues, such as whether Iran should have nukes. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think Iran should have nukes, but at a time when unemployment is still over 9%, you’d think jobs would be the top issue. Yet, it wasn’t. It’s almost as if all the candidates had agreed to not discuss the issue.

I think it was a mistake. Instead of using the time to let each candidate make their case for them as the job creators, the candidates and debate hosts missed an opportunity to highlight that issue. Now Rick Perry, who has long been touted as the uber-job creator, has entered the race, and I think every other candidate will need to begin to stake their claim to the role.| MORE ›