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Do you remember when Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis ran for president and capital punishment came up in that 1988 debate? Those were the good old days.

Bernard Shaw asked him, "Governor, if [your wife] were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?"

Dukakis replied with the soul of a doorknob, "No, I don't and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life."

And so, he said something no American would ever feel in their hearts to be true and lost the election.

Now, two decades later, I have a similar question for Sen. Barack Obama — and only him, because after all, he is going to be the nominee. Here it is:

"Terrorists have decimated the Malls of America. With rescuers sifting through the rubble, the hospitals jammed, the empty condemnations pouring in from our European allies, Mr. President, what will be your first reaction? Is it: How will we punish the guilty or, why do they hate us?

"Now, you can't pick both. It's one or the other. And Senator Obama, you're allowed one, maybe two sentences, to answer the question. There will be no allowance for elegant elocution or flowery exhortations on change that render such a simplistic question irrelevant. Just a short answer to a basic question, is all we really want.”

So, who is going to ask it first?

We've asked Sen. Obama to be on "Red Eye," but he's not gotten back to us. We'll wait. I've packed a lunch and brought my Underoos.

Greg Gutfeld hosts "Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld" weekdays at 2 a.m. ET. Send your comments to: redeye@foxnews.com