By the way The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times described the New Hampshire forum between 14 of the 17 candidates vying for the Republican nomination for president, it was a yawner of an event. It was awkward at points. There was no clash. There was no Donald Trump, as he felt slighted by a New Hampshire editorial and decided to flake out. “GOP Candidates Keep It Civil at Forum,” WSJ wrote at the top of its coverage. Such a headline sounds more appropriate on a piece describing the local mayoral race than on a piece describing the first time the politicians aspiring to be leader of the free world appeared together at the same venue. Monday’s forum came ahead of the presidential debate that will air Thursday, an event that most people anticipate will be something of a WWE spectacle because Trump will be there. Admittedly, the New Hampshire forum highlighted the challenge every politician whose name doesn’t rhyme with ‘dump’ has in this race. The forum skimmed over the candidates, as each politician, in the words of NYT, “took two turns at the microphone, fielding rapid-fire questions from the moderator, before being given 30 seconds for closing statements.” How do you deep dive into policy in that format? Furthermore, how do you break through the noise of a dozen other competitors to reach distracted voters? Candidates were able to sketch out their stances, but the challenge will be to not get lost in the crowd.