Thompson spoke in generic terms and played it safe. Romney and Giuliani clearly outshone the rest of the field while sparring over the economy and their conservative roots. The other candidates were just plain dull, though Huckabee and Hunter made good points. Once again, Ron Paul must have forgot to take his medication. That being said, the best one-liner was the Thompson smack down of Chris Matthews, “That’s your opinion, Christopher”
Now, Romney and Giuliani were the best-prepared Giuliani plied his New York tough guy shtick to no avail when called on the facts by Romney, “Baloney! Get your facts straight Governor.” Of course, Giuliani will never win on the line-item-veto issue; he got hammered.
Romney, well versed on the Michigan economy, was much clearer and spoke with confidence and optimism. His line about Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm. (“I figured she was going to put a tax on the debate before it was finished.”) was classic and got good response from the crowd
Somewhat disappointing was the lack of reference to the greatest danger to our economy; the democrats and Hillary Clinton. Romney and Giuliani did their part, but the rest of the field seemed to have forgotten the bigger picture. We must keep taxes low, we must bring spending under control for the survival of the economy. Kudos to Romney and Giuliani for attacking Hillary on these issues. That is why they are the front-runners.
The after debate polls mean nothing really. The Ron Paul supporters spammed up the works again, and CNBC and CBN closed their polls down. No one really believes 72 percent of viewers think Ron Paul won anything. The MSNBC poll is so skewed due to the Ron Paul spammers that it’s irrelevant; though, if you throw out the Ron Paul numbers, Romney wins hands down.
I'm a Mitt supporter and I am getting concerned. Mitt's "lets get-the-lawyers-to-sort-it-out" response is spinning out of control. Conservative talk show hosts are saying it was a serious gaff and may cost him the nomination. They say he seems so scripted as to appear insincere. All these alligations going unanswered. Where are the Romney supporters to fight the negative spin? Everyone is commenting on Fred and Rudy 's army of bloggers and where are Mitt's. It seems like Mitt is fadding just as McCain and Fred are surging. Is it all going down the tubes?
The notion that McCain and Fred are surging is not true. Actually, it appears as though Fred is flailing and McCain is slipping back to where he has been for months. Check out the latest Rasmussen numbers which show Mitt surging pre-debate. Mitt's position as challenger to Rudy is a good position to be in.
I have to say, I think Romney clearly won the debate yesterday. Rudy has very little to gain by engaging Romney. Romney has much to gain as being the challenger to the front runner. Romney can out with a good joke, and ended with a good joke. In fact, I would not be surprised to see Romney get a bump from the debate, but I don't know how many people were really paying attention.
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