Opening a new phase in a race to define the direction of their party, the leading Republican presidential candidates gathered Monday night for the first time to begin drawing distinctions among themselves in a vibrant competition to be seen as sufficiently conservative for primary voters, but electable enough to defeat President Obama.

The seven contenders, standing onstage here for two hours in a prime-time televised debate, repeatedly passed on the opportunity to seize upon the fissures that have roiled the Republican Party for most of the last two years. They presented a forceful, and nearly unified, attack against Mr. Obama, especially on the economy, the budget deficit and health care.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/us/14repubs.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

Is it me getting older or is the bunch of GOP presidential candidates looking more like a bunch of rich brats (and bratettes) full of that annoying snake oil merchant confidence?...