[Laverne]

These candidates are so far superior to the dems its amazing (I would expect most msnbc viewers wuold not agree with that assessment). I think Mitt is doing the best and Hunter is doing quite well...all the Governors outshine the Senators by leaps and bounds. Rudy is stumbling in the debate and McCain is just not clicking with the audience at all. He is using prepared remarks, and has said the same thing more than once. Asking about appointing a democrat in a republican adminstration...I certainly don’t recall any such question to the democrats during the their debate.

And the whole Rove thing was just too strange.

[mountainfolk]

Yes, the candidates are superior in every to any RAT running. Good start for testing our candidates. Looking forward to more debates.

[ChessExpert]

I think they are working in a terrible environment with Chrissy interrogating them machine gun style. I agree with you that Mitt and Hunter both look better than most in this rushed environment. Those that don’t look so good have a fair excuse that the environment was not conducive to good discussion of complex topics. McCain and Rudy do not LOOK like front runners. I thought Gilmore, and Brownback were pretty good. Handling the liberal press is part of the game. Another part of the game is handling liberal voters!

It may be a bow to shallowness, but I think liberals and conservatives will like the look and sound of Romney and Hunter. And I think I can live with them on the issues.