Orlando GOP Debate Review
21 October 2007If there was any doubt that the gloves were off, the debate tonight removed that doubt. The debate had Chris Wallace pitting Thompson, Romney and Giuliani against each other almost from the start and each rose to the questions. Thompson compared Giuliani to Hillary Clinton in terms of his positions on immigration and sanctuary cities, gun control, right to life issues and others. Giuliani promptly accused Thompson of being against tort reform. Each responded in kind.
McCain wasn’t left out of the party, taking on Romney’s record and accusing Romney of distorting not only his own record but McCain’s as well. In the first round all questions were asked of Romney, McCain, Thompson and Giuliani. No questions were asked of any of the other candidates in the first 15 minutes of the debate.
Ron Paul got his time, primarily I think, because he says such nutty things and that is good for ratings. He drew boos from the audience on several occasions.
The clear winner of the evening, in my view, was Mike Huckabee. Readers may object that since I’ve come out in support of Huckabee my view is biased. While it is true that I have a bias, the fact is, Huckabee answered every question resolutely and thoroughly and never stumbled once. That cannot be said for anyone else in the debate. Indeed, in the unscientific FOXNews poll following the debate, Huckabee won solidly. Yes, I know, Ron Paul won the numbers but everyone actually paying attention understands that Ron Paul’s numbers must be filtered out of any poll that isn’t scientific since the RonBots come out en mass to every poll out there, slanting the polls horribly when good polls show Paul with numbers in the low single digits.
Huckabee got his first question 20 minutes into the debate with a question leading him to attack Giuliani on the abortion issue. Huckabee declined to take the debate, instead declaring his was more interested in fight for his beliefs rather than fighting against the other candidates. He went on to articulate strong pro life position which stood in contrast to Giuliani’s pro choice position.
McCain didn’t look bad tonight but he is, for all intents and purposes, out of this race. And he really has been for some time. His voice adds an interesting dimension to the debate but he has no chance at the nomination.
Thompson certainly outperformed his last debate outing, which wasn’t too difficult to do. Indeed, Thompson did pretty well but he has a bad habit of referring to his notes repeatedly during a single answer and that just doesn’t look very presidential. He appears to be less than prepared. As an early Fred head I’ve come to the conclusion that Thompson simply isn’t ready to run for President. Considering how long he had to prepare while he waited to make his announcement, this is a real disappointment.
For his part, at least Giuliani speaks his mind. I disagree with him on a number of issues but as he told the values voters, he’s not trying to claim he believes things he doesn’t. Right now Giuliani appears to be the man to beat and I very much hope he is beaten in the primary. His foreign policy ideas and fiscal ideas are wonderful but his views on social issues are so foreign to conservatives that it is hard for me to imagine him winning the nomination. Time will tell but I still do not believe conservatives will nominate him.
Duncan Hunter also did well for himself. I’m not sure why he’s has so much trouble catching on. I think he’d make a fine President but he just hasn’t caught on. Lack of name recognition has probably been his biggest problem and we’ll probably see him again in future presidential campaigns. But he’s toast in this one.
Tom Tancredo is always interesting but he has the reputation of being a one trick pony. Tancredo’s main issue is illegal immigration and that resonates with a lot of Americans. But he doesn’t come across as serious on a lot of other issues. I like Tancredo but FOXNews’ post debate poll didn’t even give him 1%. Viewers didn’t seem to notice he was there.
What can I say about Ron Paul? He made a very good point about the cost of healthcare. He said healthcare was the only industry where technology results in higher prices, not lower. Excellent point. In truth I find much agreement with Paul on domestic issues. But when he begins talking about the empire, I just want to reach out and slap some sense into the man. He appears to genuinely believe that the United States in engaged in building an empire, I assume, like the old British empire. Never mind that the US has never engaged in such activity and isn’t doing so now. By his reasoning we should be running Germany and Japan today. We defeated those countries and then rebuilt them. That is precisely what we are trying to do in Iraq. But you wouldn’t know it listening to Paul.
It will be interesting to see what the polls say over the next few days. I believe we’ll see Huckabee tick up a few more points. Thompson has to fear him and Romney is likely starting to worry as well. Indeed, with Romney, Thompson and McCain fighting over the conservative moniker, Huckabee may be poised to take the lead. Two months ago I wouldn’t have given much of a chance. Today, I think the nomination is within his reach.
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