I’m interested in the first reliable polls (meaning polling a lot of likely Republican voters in a scientific way) after the debates.
Gingrich was stunning. I though Perry equitted himself very well too. I did not think Santorum did as well.
I felt Romneuy handled himself well...nothing spectacular, but also nothing damaging. He came across with several very patriotic general statements that got a lot of applause...but nothing like the fervor Gingrich generated.
I hope that after South Carolina, which IMHO is lining up to be a Gingrich race and assault on Romeny’s lead, that both Santorum and Perry will throw their support behind Newt, which should give Newt the advantage going forward.
This would end up allowing, IMHO, Newt to win, with Romney having a sizable seconbd place finish and number of delegates, and Paul himself having a 3rd place finish with a surprising number of delegates too...though I do not see him winning any of the contests.
This was probably Newt’s best debate and we know what happened before when he debated so well, he surged to outerspace, so no reason to think he won’t this time. If Newt can win SC, Florida is definitely going to be in play. It will be war and no doubt Mitt’s PACs will do whatever it takes to win. I thought Romney did just o.k. in the debate last night, but at first he was very pansy-like, flapping his hands, trying to explain away his Bain record and releasing his tax returns. Santorum did well in the beginning when he called Romney out on the prisoner voting rights issue, but he was uninspiring the remainder of the debate.