You know, I have to lodge a small objection for the "both sides did it" false equivalency that seems to creep into so much political reporting. In this case:

". . .  because the candidates were not as self-deprecating in their humor as the ground rules call for . . ."

And:

"The candidates' routines this time, however, "really almost became a stump speech, they almost really became a partisan speech, and that's not the best," Dolan said."

Sorry, but only one candidate made a jackass out of himself. And how interesting that it turned out to be the Republican candidate, and now "conservative" voices are now calling for the entire dinner to be scapped forever.