McCain has just turned another question into a holier-than-thou lecture, and has dismissed what seems to be a plausible scenario where some coercion would be appropriate. His emphasis on "world opinion" sounds annoyingly like a "global test." What's more, it strikes me as silly to believe that Al Qaeda jihadists will refrain from chopping off our soldiers' heads if we refrain from waterboarding them. I don't think those are people who play by the Marquess of Queensberry rules. It also strikes me that it doesn't help us to announce in advance that we won't torture anyone -- shouldn't there be at least a little doubt in the bad guys' minds? Finally, I'm tired of him invoking Colin Powell and the rest of the generals. I admire their military service, but they're not God.

Giuliani's response is more popular because he seems to acknowledge the necessity of all interrogation methods in certain circumstances. The distinction he makes between "enhanced interrogation methods" and torture isn't entirely clear to me.

Romney isn't answering the question, but he's hot on Guantanamo and making it clear that terrorists don't belong in American prisons. It's a good moment for him. He's also using the Giuliani "enhanced interrogation methods" and torture distinction, for what it's worth.