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Turns out the real Democratic presidential nomination was the friends we made along the way.

After three hours of overtalking,Big Thing Chief: The Stolen Wife arguing, some really positive and forward-thinking ideas, and whatever Tulsi Gabbard was trying to do, the final question of Tuesday night's Democratic debate was about... Ellen.

To borrow the evening's most overused phrase, let's be clear: Previous questions covered areas including the Supreme Court and women's reproductive rights, Turkey, the opioid crisis, breaking up tech monopolies, and whether billionaire and this debate's "Who?" guy Tom Steyer feels Personally Attacked by Bernie Sanders' rhetoric about the 1%. The CNN moderators did not ask candidates directly about immigration, the climate crisis, campaign finance, housing, voter suppression, LGBTQ+ rights, or domestic violence.

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And for then the very last question of the night, Anderson Cooper asked the 12 candidates on stage to tell the audience — in the wake of Ellen DeGeneres using "kindness" to defend her friendship with former president and fellow extremely wealthy person George W. Bush — about a friendship they had that might "surprise" people.

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Basically everybody watching handled this about as gracefully as Trump handles being fact-checked.

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It was the only question put to all the candidates, and an absurd note to strike, ringing into the night as the final one of the evening. It's hard to imagine how everybody at CNN decided that this exact questionwas the best way to — and I'm being generous in my guess at what their aim was here — find out how this rabble of potential presidents and persistent also-rans plan to handle the most divided electorate in the history of the nation.

The purpose of debates is supposed to be to help voters get the information they need to choose which candidate they trust to take on Trump next year, and the actual job of president after that.

Safe to say this is a question that nobody — absolutely nobody— needed the answer to.

Topics Ellen DeGeneres Politics