You keep saying that, but he won both of his races for Senator by over 20 points, after being written off due to polls.
Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/
Tonight, Fred Reminded Me of Roy Hobbs.
Winner: Thompson. This performance was so commanding, I wanted his last answer to echo back to the lights in the back of the auditorium, blow out all the lamps and spotlights, for the theme to the Natural to play, and for him to trot around the stage in slow motion while sparks showered down in the background.
Silver Medal: Actually, Giuliani, McCain and Romney all had pretty good nights although I wonder if Romney missed a golden opportunity to make a point when Paul suggested that Iran was not much of a threat. McCain seemed a little softer-edged tonight. For a guy whos arguably now the frontrunner, he didnt seem to catch a lot of flak tonight.
Giuliani is good, but when you watch all of these debates, his rhetoric gets repetitive after a while. I feel like hes in reruns.
All of these guys felt kind of like the supporting cast tonight; the headline fight was Thompson vs. Huckabee, with everybody periodically jumping in to beat on Ron Paul.
Bronze: Huckabee and ironically, he had some good answers tonight economics, and the religion one. Still very likeable, as usual, but I wonder if Thompson started taking the bark off him a bit tonight. South Carolinas Republicans are different from Iowas, and I dont know if hes going to be able to smile and populist his way through it. Responding to a tough attack is never easy, and I credit him for not taking the Romney-esque, oh, thats uncalled for, I dont think we should make such personal attacks
Playing his own game: Ron Paul. I have to wonder do his supporters really enjoy watching him in these debates? Every time he speaks, somebody uses him as a punching bag for some cheap and easy applause lines. I dont think hes necessarily winning everybody over, and I dont think his opponents are dislodging any of his supporters.
For once Im in total agreement with Frank Luntzs focus group they loved Fred. Theyre saying he showed passion.
Two people in the focus groups said he was “in the shadows” before this evening. What? He’s an illegal immigrant?
Good point, I must admit.
In the era of the Republican Revolution. I think coattails may have played a bit of a role in his election...