That went down differently than I had thought on several points. My overall impressions: i) First and foremost, Thompson stepped up his game dramatically. I'm giving him "most improved". Generally regarded as dry and boring during the past month, someone lit his shorts on fire last night. I still don't think he even makes it to super tuesday, but it was fun to watch. ii) Paul was getting hammered left and right. Even the hosts were going at him. His responses were expected as he doesn't seem to have anyone thinking up answers for him. This is a good thing in general, but it won't win you an election. Overall his answers were ok, but I don't think he gained a significant number of votes. I like him, but he is a one trick pony. His only topic is the FED and gov't overspending. His answer for foreign policy, "We simply don't have the money!" That doesn't get votes. iii) Huckabee took some blows with only marginal answers. He lost a bunch of support last night. SC was in the bag for him. Landslide in his favor. I still think he wins it, but it will be closer. If Romney had taken Thompson's strategy, Huckabee wouldn't have been hurt by it because Romney is already the bully. Quiet and boring Thompson going at him full force really killed him. Interesting for Thompson to accuse him of raising taxes and Huckabee's response is that he actually cut taxes 92 times. That is one of Huck's favorite lines. Great policy! Cut taxes 92 times while raising taxes only 10 times and it looks great on paper. Nevermind the fact that there was a $500MM net increase in tax revenue. :eek: Thomspon brings it up again, and now Huck's response is that Reagan actually raised taxes $1B, so that should excuse his actions. Wait! I thought you just said that you cut taxes? iv) McCain, also a one trick pony in this debate. "Nevermind that I've made a lot of extremely liberal calls that most republicans hate. I have the most war experience, and that's what matters most." His risky decision was the jobs comment. We are a few days from the Michigan primary and he says that jobs lost from Michigan are simply not coming back. That might be true, but it doesn't mean you look them in the eyes and tell them that hope is lost. To me his follow-up comment was scary. He said that even though it is a sad fact that those jobs are permanently lost, they should take comfort in the fact that the government will take care of them. Wait, you're running for the GOP nomination right?!? v) Giuliani and Romney gave marginal performances and had a couple good answers each. Romney focused on Michigan responses and Giuliani is focused on the huge states. He's trying to be the first GOP to win the nomination without winning the South.
Pretty much agree on all counts. Best performance by far by Thompson. I thought Paul defended himself pretty well, and Fox's neo-con bias was on full display. People should be beginning to see that Huckabee is not exactly Mr. Forthright behind that Gomer Pyle exterior. McCain gives me the creeps. He's the kind of nutcase who would blunder us into a big war. Stupid and belligerent, bad combination. Guiliani and Romney were not as much front and center as in prior debates.
Yeah, in regards to Ron Paul, the most interesting thing came in the analysis after the debate. 90% of the focus group said Thompson won and Ron Paul did the worst. The H&C text message poll had Paul winning the debate at 35% with nobody even close to him. That is what plagues RP. He's attractive to the minority (young people who would actually participate in a text message poll), but repelling to the voting majority (35+ years old). IMO, Huckabee was the big loser in that debate. Not because he performed the worst, but because he had the most to lose. Getting attacked by Thompson blind-sided him and he was on his heels all night. The problem for Huck is that the attacks are true and the only way to get around them is to try to spin it. I have the same problem with McCain that you do, but you stated it much more eloquently. "blunder us into a big war" Romney and Giuliani are trying to sneak into Super Tues without a fight. Romney's plan is to win Michigan where nobody else has the money to campaign heavily and then take the stepchild that nobody care about (nevada). Giuliani had hoped florida wouldn't be close given the amount of energy he put into it. Same mistake Romney made with Iowa. Make yourself the huge front-runner and then everybody is gunning for you. Can't peak too early.