Call it a landmark moment in the history of presidential debates: A heckler in the audience who seemed to speak for the vast majority of Americans.

Time describes the Democratic debate in Nevada:

The first twenty minutes of Tuesday's Democratic showdown in Las Vegas passed without a single substantive question, as the NBC moderators busied themselves prodding the soft spots of identity politics. Barack Obama was asked if New Hampshire whites didn't vote for him because he was black. Hillary Clinton was asked how race had become such a big factor in the election. John Edwards was asked, "What is a white male to do?" That was actually the question.

Then some guy started shouting from the back of the auditorium. "Will you stop all these race-based questions?" he hollered. There was an awkward pause around the big table where everyone sat. The moderators, Tim Russert and Brian Williams, looked guilty and confused. For two days, the cable networks had run wall-to-wall coverage of the race-tinged war of words between Obama supporters and Clinton supporters. One can imagine why the network thought the mudslinging would be the subject of the debate.

But the candidates declined to engage. "Neither race nor gender should be a part of this campaign," said Clinton. "I know that John and Hillary have always been committed to racial equality," said Obama. "I'm proud of the fact that we have a woman and an African American who are very, very serious candidates for the presidency," said Edwards.

[T]he moderators, wisely, moved on.