I meant to point to this awhile ago. It's a throw-away comment in a BFA thread, but I find it very telling:

On NPR's Talk of the Nation they just mentioned that during the dabate it was clear that while candidates talked, the rest would just fiddle through their papers or look at the audience, but that everybody looked at Howard when he spoke!

The guy is riveting, even to his competitors. And I think that's what we call a leader. In reflecting on my own reactions to The Nine (now Eight), I find that I pay attention to Edwards and Clark (not coincidentally my 2nd and 3rd choices) but have been known (literally) to fall asleep when Kerry's been on the television. And I can't even stand to listen to Lieberman, so, there you have it. Heh.