Monday, June 13, 2011

The CNN GOP Debate

A few chunks of last night's debate for interested parties, and following that,my analysis:













A few thumbnail impressions...and no, I'm not going to comment on the CNN moderator's handling of things.

The big winners tonight were Mitt Romney, Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain and yes, Ron Paul, who came across as reasonable and common sense unless you know his record on obtaining federal pork for his district..sticking earmarks in bills and then voting against them when he's sure they'll pass. In terms of pure theory though, a lot of what he had to say resonated, I'm sure.

Romney scored because he came across as presidential and because there seemed to be a tacit agreement among the rest of the herd not to attack him.This definitely worked to Tim Palenty's disadvantage when he was forced to wimp out on his charge of 'ObamnyCare' publicly by the moderator. Pawlenty could have turned that to his advantage easily and put the ball back in Romney's court by saying something like, "I don't mind withdrawing the term and admitting I was mistaken provided I get an unequivocal statement from Governor Romney that in retrospect, the health plan he introduced in Massachusetts was a mistake and hasn't worked the way he thought it would." Unfortunately for Pawlenty, he didn't and simply ended up looking insincere.

Romney was also able to shed some of his normally wooden persona and have a little fun, as he did with the barbecue sauce question. If he does more of that sort of thing and uses his sense of humor, he's going to be formidable.

Michelle Bachmann absolutely sparkled last night.She took the occasion to announce that she had filed papers to run, so she's definitely in...which means Sarah Palin may not be. She looked great, answered questions directly, spoke to the issues well and established herself instantly as a serious contender.

Newt Gingrich is pretty much on the way out.One humorous moment was at the very beginning of the debate when the other candidates all introduced themselves partly by mentioning their long term marriages and their kids (and in Michelle Bachmann's case, 24 foster kids). Newt was pretty much forced to gloss over that part of his bio, for obvious reasons!

He came across as simply not sincere throughout.

Herman Cain is long on energy and enthusiasm if a bit short on actual details. He has a gift for coming across as a real person rather than a politician, and it served him well tonight.

All of the candidates did a fine job of eviscerating President Obama, which I found to be a pleasant surprise, especially when it came to Romney and Pawlenty.The way to send Prez Zero packing is going to be to attack his record and his lack of leadership, and it was encouraging to see that none of the candidates shied away from that in the least.

All in all, a decent evening. There are definitely some good candidates here.

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3 comments:

louielouie said...

this is odd.
in the bachmann paragraph ff gives sarah palin little more than a passing comment.
knowing as we do, what a fan of gov. palin ff is, it seems odd that the prospects of her candidacy being brushed aside is out of place.
does ff know something he isn't telling?
has gov. palin already decided not to run?

Scott Kirwin said...

I have to keep reminding myself that things are early. This election cycle does not have a clear cut leading candidate in the opposition, making it similar to the '92 campaign (when the Dem candidates were mocked as the 7 Dwarves). One of those "dwarves" ended up winning and serving 2 terms.

My heart is with Cain and Bachmann, but my head tells me that Romney has the chops regardless of his health care plan. But I'd kill a puppy to see a Cain/Obama debate.

Rob said...

Scott, I know better than most how bad you want that debate if you'd be wiling to off one of your four-legged pack. I like Herman Cain,but I just don't think he has the foreign policy chops to pull it off and I'm afraid Obama would play to that weakness in order to make him commit an embarrassing gaffe.

Louie, I'm not writing Governor Palin off..others have done that and wound up with egg all over their faces.

However, if Michele Bachmann is getting in, I'm not sure Sarah Palin is. The two of them are close friends and political allies, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they had an arrangement that if one got in, the other wouldn't - because it would split their strength and the Tea Party influence.

Michele Bachman's quickie announcement that she had filed also leads me to believe that some kind of arrangement was made, but I suppose we'll see.

Regards,
Rob