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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