Via The Note:

This week alone brings some crucial developments in the Invisible Primary, most notably the first DNC sanctioned presidential debate this Thursday in Albuquerque, New Mexico. All nine declared candidates are scheduled to attend this event, hosted by Governor Bill Richardson and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The debate, parts of which will be in both English and Spanish, is expected to be a conversational affair on domestic and international issues.

Richardson claims: “[t]his will be the first bilingual debate in the history of American presidential politics.” Well, not quite. Then-Governor George W. Bush and Ambassador Alan Keyes squared off in Spanish during the Des Moines Register GOP Debate on January 15, 2000:

Keyes: “”You have done nothing to respond to this [a Texas town declaring itself to be Spanish-only]. What action do you plan to take to show the people that you stand for one nation, one language rather than a nation linguistically divided?
Bush: “No es la verdad.” [That is not true.] Keyes: “Es la verdad, Senor.” [Yes it is true, Sir.] Bush: “Un momento. I did talk to . . . (Crosstalk) I don’t want this town’s business being conducted in Spanish. It ought to be conducted in English.”

Better Spanish speakers than I tell me the Bush-Keyes exchange was conducted in excellent Spanish. We’ll see how the Democrats do on Thursday. And, given the debate in Slate (scroll down to What’s the translation of “Por La Raza todo. Fuera de la Raza Nada?”) on the proper translation of just two short Spanish sentences, there will be plenty of opportunities to argue about precisely what each candidate meant to say for days and weeks afterward.