I mildly criticized a Perry speech (the only one I watched in entirety) but then it was pointed out it was in front of union members and he had to tiptoe. In hindsight, I think he should have been more forceful in that speech (and maybe others).
I was a out-of-state supporter of Santorum in his Senate race. I had no criticisms of the other candidates except the ones I ignored like Huntsman. But there is a huge problem of letting the media definitions of candidates leak over into this forum and other serious debates. I think the biggest problem is that the primary process is way too long and gives the media too much power.
And wide open.
The only logical conclusion for an open primary in party politics is to ultimately create one party. Open primaries defeat the purpose of a ‘having’ political party by definition.