I agree with fellow "Stump" blogger David Knowles that Fox did an excellent job of moderating last night's debate. The panel asked tough questions and forced the candidates to give relevant, perhaps uncomfortable answers. Now you know why the Democrat's will not debate on Fox, they are not ready to answer a question from Brit Hume.
As David noted, the exchange between Rep. Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani was the highlight. Rudy took it and ran with it and his statements were pure red meat to Republican viewers. Conservatives may have issues with Rudy on social issues but alot of those feelings may well have been assuaged by his comments last night. Video of the exchange and the subsequent interview with Sean Hanity is here.
Other winners: After Rudy, everyone else just seemed secondary. Sen. John McCain did nothing to hurt himself and that may have been the point. Another winner would be Fred Thompson. These debates will weed out the long shots and eventually lead to a debate with F. Thompson, Romney, Giuliani and McCain in which the substantive issues brought up tonight will be debated more thoroughly.
Losers: Paul is of course the standout loser of the night. His parroting of the Michael Moore line of "root cause" and such just will not resonate with Republican primary voters. Others who are considered losers by not making a huge impact are Tommy Thompson, Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter. They can't seem to get any traction during these debates and their personalities aren't conducive to the debate arena.
It should be interesting to see what type of bump in the polls Rudy gets.
Update: NRO has a comparison of MSNBC's questions versus Fox's. Fox stands high above the Chris Matthews/Politico inanity.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. bring fred thompson into the debate with McCain, ROmney, And Giuliani would be a boxing match. as much fun as that would be to see. I say narrow the playing field more first. I agree weed out the long shots but do that first the thompson should jump into the race. then with the top four have an all out debate..
http://www.todaypolitics.blogspot.com/
bloggershaven at 10:44AM on May 16th 2007
2. I find it hard to believe that 30% of Americans believe that Saddam was an eminent threat. And in a world were everyone one day will have or be able to purchase a nuke we do need to look at the root cuase of why we are veiwed as infidels or negative. This scenerio of a cowboy president has made the world uncomfortable and I dont see how that makes us safer. To the 30% who still believe that we have not made any mistakes, I pray for your soul. I have childrean who will have to grow up in this world as you may. I have deployed to the middleast for my country. But I cant understand how Americans can be so detached from reality. We did have a north and a south fly zone with the latest photo and sound imagery on board. If there where nukes or chemicals we would have seen them now. And please gulli quit bringing up 9/11. You are going to blow your whole pitch and your still a year out. I think Paul is the only one who reminds us that Bush was not going to be the police of the world and that we can balance the budget and get rid of big government by getting rid of certian agencys. He is the only one who had the courage to name which agency's are the biggest waste of money. I like McCain but he is looking old. So Pual they are going to try and tear you down but like the flag of the great state of TEXAS, be that lone star. O and you cant make us X vets believe that a country with no ballistic capabilitys, no planes and no navy can ever be a bigger threat than the Nazi's of old. It shows that if you tell a big enough lie someone will believe it. And there are fools born every minute but if your not sure look it up for yourself. The only way they can hurt us is by spending billions to stay on there lands. Russia was a super power and they spent 7 years in Afganistan before they pulled out broke. That is the plan for us. Not to beat us by force but to nick pick us to death and as we spend trillions to stay there we go broke at home. Wise up and Mr Paul please keep speaking truth to falsehood.
j wilson at 11:23AM on May 16th 2007
3. MITT ROMNEY IS THE WINNER ! ~ ONCE AGAIN !
Mitt Romney came across as the most decisive in his comments and demeanor. He did not mince words in dealing with interrogation, immigration, and the clear defining and spearheading of the Jihadist threat.
He responds to all topics with directness and clarity, and is well versed on the intricacies of the issues without engaging in pat broader swept replies in answer to the questions or those orchestrated to garner applause. He expresses himself with great spiritedness and energy that is refreshing and infectious.
And in speaking of the highlights of this debate, let us spotlight Mitt Romney's brave and unprovoked comment on GITMO, which trumps the Rudy comment that could have been uttered by any one of the candidates given the fair opportunity.
Mitt Romney seems raring to go with ideas and the decisive aim and courage to achieve the goal.
Mitt Romney has guts and an independent vision that fortifies the Presidential stature that is innately his. He more than fulfills the requirements of a formidable GOP nominee in 2008.
I would look forward to voting for him.
Maria Rose at 3:06PM on May 16th 2007
4. IMAGINE TEN MEN IN THE REPUBLICAN DEBATE LAST NIGHT. SOME OF THEM HAVE DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR. THE LIGHT WEIGHTS SHOULD GET OUT OF THE RACE AND SAVE THEIR MONEY. THAT GOES FOR SOME OF THE SUPER RICH DEMOCRATS. MY CANDIDATE
FRED THOMPSON WOULD SHINE AND MAKE ALL OF THEM SIT ON THE SIDELINES.
SHEILA MORGAN at 4:19PM on May 16th 2007
5. Ron Paul is a brave soul and I worry for his safety. I can not believe he had the courage to tell the truth on national television like that. If he is still around, I will vote for him hands down. Sometimes the truth doesn't make you feel good, but it still needs to be said.
Jamie at 1:27AM on May 19th 2007
6. Ron Paul was the only candidate who was brave enough and truthful enough to speak the truth. He was the only one to mention supporting civil liberties and the Constitution as being the primary American values. He dared to support the Constitution (First Amendment)in stating that Congress shall MAKE NO LAW establishing a particular religious belief. He was the only one to point out the trillions of dollars Republicans have wasted,not to mention hundreds of thousands of human lives, on the insanity of a pre-emptive war on Iraq. He was the only one to honestly state that the reason so many Republicans were defeated in 2006 was because 70% of the American people favor a withdrawal timetable of six months to LEAVE IRAQ!
Steve Asmussen at 4:23AM on Jun 6th 2007
7. Ron Paul- the main stream media sucks he clearly won the debate. He doesn't dance around the questions and not give an answer. he is right on . I pray that he is prez. the only one that can stop all this washington bull crap!
mike sandel at 5:34AM on Jun 6th 2007