[Cincinatus' Wife]

CBS's Scott Pelley wanted to make it the Mitt Romney Victory Lap Show (and verbally hugged Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman after many of their comments) and did I see Newt wink at National Journal's Major Garrett?

[Darkwolf377]

I predict the day after Huntsman ends his campaign, he calls a press conference to announce he is becoming a Democrat. He will instantly become the press darling McCain wanted to be, and you won’t be able to turn off the TV up till election day without seeing him bashing the Republican party for ‘cowtowing to the Tea Party.’

Perry seems to have stabilized. It may end up being Pery and Gingrich fighting for the Not Romney slot.

Cain seems to be fading.

The others need to go.

[greatvikingone]

Santorum was the biggest loser when he said he would surround himself with people who thought exactly like him. Diversity in ideas allows a leader to make the strongest decisions, not yes-men.

[mosesdapoet]

Thanks for the posting ...When Iowa Republican’s Kevin Hall leads off with Michelle Bachmann winning the debate and Herman Cain “Without the ability to use 9-9-9 as a crutch” this review would be valueless.

Actually any of these debates monitored or hosted by “the enemy” are valueless.

[toddausauras]

Perry did great. He’s back. I disagree with the writer, Cain did well as the front-runner. Rick Santorum needs to stop whining.

[nathanbedford]

Handicapping winners and losers:

The reality is that there are only three candidates in the running: Romney, Herman Cain and Gingrich. Because the author and a couple of posters include Gov. Perry, I will throw him in.

Of these candidates only one is on an upwards trajectory, the other three are on a down slope. Rick Perry is unquestionably crashing, his performance simply was not good enough to redeem him from his disintegration. Cain has fallen dramatically and, as the author points out, his performance only aggravates that trend. Mitt Romney seems to be holding his own but that is only because his former rivals have failed so dramatically and his standing looks improved on a relative basis.

Only Gingrich is on the upswing and his improvement is absolute not just relative. He augmented his positive trend in this debate as he has in every debate.

If Newt can withstand the onslaught which will come not just from the left but from here on FreeRepublic as well, he will be well on his way to the nomination. Now that he is the front runner from a momentum point of view, he will of course become the target du jour. I cannot conceive of a candidate better able to cope with what is to come and it is well that he is because he will have much to respond to. It will take a full-time scorekeeper just to sort out the baggage which is real and that which is urban legend.

If Gingrich has the stuff, and I think he does, he will inoculate himself now for the campaign.

We shall see.

[muawiyah]

Yemen's "corrupt president" is actually a pretty brave guy. He volunteered for the job ~ and there were no other volunteers at the time.

That's a pretty rough country when it comes to politics. Folks wandering the streets with RPGs strapped to their backs. Assassination is an ever present danger for every rich guy or politician.

Yemen is NOT a model democracy and never will be.

[cpa4you]

Yep! I saw that wink, too!

[ixtl]

My wife and I watched the first hour; she tried to catch the rest on our computer, but gave up.

As for winners and losers. The moderators attempted to marginalize Jon Huntsman, Micelle Bachman, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum by ignoring them. They gave way too much time to Romney, but then what do you expect.

The “winners?” Really, no one.

The big losers: CBS, and unfortunately, the American voters.

[Yaelle]

Disagree that Cain looked bad. Will agree that he is not the most knowledgable re foreign policy. Not convinced he would be weaker than perry, who obviously was taught to memorize certain responses S stick to them,with great oomph, no matter what was asked.

Cain is a quick study and he is already growing in foreign policy. It’s his weakest area but everyone has a weaker area. He will be fine. He is not fading.

[lahargis]

Cain proclaimed, “I do not agree with torture. Period. However, I will trust the judgment of our military leaders to determine what is torture and what is not torture.”

Just like his abortion answer, Cain's answers are I want to have my cake and eat it too. Please both sides... Won't happen. His Cain train his headed somewhere...but it isn't to the White House...

[SoJoCo]

I thought Romney’s answer on Iran was asinine. Issuing a blanket promise that Iran would never had nuclear weapons and offering, as his solution to preventing that, “crippling economic sanctions” is ridiculous. Especially since the U.S. could not impose such economic sanctions on its own, and he didn’t explain how he would get the rest of the world to agree to cripple their own economies in order to punish Iran.

[CGalen]

Bachmann and Gingrich have substance. A Gingrich/Bachman ticket could beat obama. Gingrich could crush obama in a debate. Michelle could crush biden in a debate.

Perry took a dive with his immigration answers. Cain uses 999 for everything and 999 will not pass and will not work. Romney is too liberal.

Ron Paul and the others cant get enough votes to win.

[Future Snake Eater]

Cain proclaimed, “I do not agree with torture. Period. However, I will trust the judgment of our military leaders to determine what is torture and what is not torture.” Huh?

How is this a "huh?" moment? What he said was perfectly clear, but I guess Kevin Hall failed most of his classes which is why he's a journalist.

[shield]

Perry Ping....

IF you'd rather NOT be pinged FReepmail me.

IF you'd like to be added FReepmail me. Thanks.

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[cricket]

Have to say too, do not know how one concludes that Perry over all winner in this debater; by the mere fact he covered a greater gap, per his less stellar performances.

He may have earned 'most improved' - but that hardly makes him the overall winner. You win: you lose....place; you can improve; and you can hang in there.

[GOPyouth]

From the author:He provided his answers with a slow, methodical delivery, probably trying to avoid a gaffe

Here are a few thoughts on the debate. There's no secret on here that I support Perry. That doesn't blind my objectivity to the point where I'm a kool-aid drinker. I am very aware that he has screwed up in the prior debates. I was quite frustrated with the earlier debate this week b/c he was doing a good job, and having his best debate so far, then had his brain fart. That was so frustrating to me b/c I know what kind of governor he is, and I know he's better than how he's has come off. Last night was a different ballgame. I thought he did 10x better, even with the small mistake of referring to Ron Paul as senator.

Regarding the author's description of Cain's slow methodical style, I have absolutely no problem with that. I sure as hell would prefer a thought out response over the shoot from the hip style he and Block have been using recently in blaming this sex scandal on Perry, a Politico reporter, the Free Masons, CIA, the Jews, etc. (I'm being slightly sarcastic) Even if this isn't his strongest suit, I don't think he did poorly at all. His only remark that I had issues with was deferring the definition of torture to the military. Otherwise, I thought he did well, and I'm glad he stood up to say that waterboarding isn't torture.

Romney was Romney. I had no real beef with his answers last night, from what I can remember. He's polished, and there's not much more to say about him on style. Style is good, but I want core principles. If there is not a solid foundation, then the there is no hope for a solid conservative governing style.

Newt did well, as he always does. I would suggest that he take care on going after the moderators. That can be off-putting, as he runs the risk of being known as the person who bitches about the press and moderators. That can be red meat for us conservatives, since we don't particularly care for the press, therefore don't care about their feelings getting hurt, but when it comes to the independents and such, I think that may come across as condescending. I could be wrong, but that's my take. Substance wise, he's spot on, which is of no surprise to anybody. He will be in the firing squad now, and will have much more baggage than Cain has. He was once the most hated man in politics, and don't think for a second that the press will sit back and take him speaking down to them. They will bite back when the time is right, and will do the whole "Gingrich that stole Christmas" theme all over again. I hope for his sake that he has dropped his prima donna issues. He pulled that nonsense with Clinton regarding an Air Force One flight, and Clinton made him look like a fool.

Santorum was Santorum. I have problems with his stance that we must always give money to Pakistan. This is why I support the zero-sum game that Perry and others support. Whatever issues I have with Santorum, he would be a million times better than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania.

Bachmann was given the shaft last night. I thought the moderator was rude to her on two separate occasions. I'm not a fan of hers for the presidency, but I think she was disrespected. She should have just said "screw it" and kept on talking, especially the 2nd time they shut her down.

Paul was Paul. His people drive me nuts. I couldn't be in a debate audience b/c of them. You would hear me on national TV yelling for them to STFU. I completely disagree with Paul of foreign policy, and his waterboarding answer provided Rick Perry with the best answer of the night, which, if I remember correctly, got the biggest applause line of the night. Unfortunately it was on the online part of the debate.

Huntsman? Whatever. I'll give him credit on providing 50% of the DNA on some hot daughters.

Overall I enjoyed the debate. I hated the brilliant idea to split this up between live and online. That was a stupid move. I also hated that this was on a Saturday night. I didn't watch it live. I had family priorities. I did happen to dvr it, and found the 2nd part online. I think that guaranteed low viewership, but we'll see. It couldn't be any worse than last week during the LSU Bama game.

[pgkdan]

I agree with the overall assessment that Perry won this one, hands down. Herman Cain was awful. have you noticed that when he doesn’t have a clue for an answer he just restates something from a previous answer and and drawss out his answer with overly precise annunciation?