We can’t go a week without a wise word or two from E.J. Dionne from the Washington Post.

 Debating In Parallel Universes

So when Democratic presidential candidates get together, they argue about who has the best health-care plan. When Republicans have a big discussion, it’s about torture and who’ll use it when.

Okay, okay, Republicans had their chat about torture in one debate in response to a hypothetical question. Still, the contrast points to one of the strangest qualities of the 2008 presidential campaign: Our two political parties and their candidates are living in parallel universes. It’s as if the candidates were running for president in two separate countries. Their televised debates next week will be productions as different from each other as “American Idol” is from “P.T.I.”