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Jan
Myrtle Beach Debate
While watching the debate tonight in Myrtle Beach, SC, I have several observations. Firstly, I missed the first 20 minutes, so these comments are based on the remaining hour 15 minutes or so.
Winner: Fred Thompson. I thought Fred Thompson was very sharp tonight. He took several stabs at Mike Huckabee tonight (which Huckabee stood up to fairly well for the most part). While I am not a fan of having to give the perfect sound bite, Thompson’s inability to do this has seemed to hurt him up to this point. Tonight he had several good sound bites. He was funny and prepared. This seemed very different than several than the other times I have heard him. Will this help him? I don’t know, but at a time when it is do or die, Thompson proved up to the task.
Runner-up: Mike Huckabee. Clearly several of the candidates were attacking Huckabee, but he seemed up to the task most of the night. I particularly liked his response about the fact that if Reagan was running for President The Club for Growth would be running ads against him for raising taxes his first year as governor of California. Also, his response when asked about women submitting to their husbands was a home run on every front. He started by saying that religion is off limits for everyone but him. Then he very eloquently explained his position on this subject.
Loser: Ron Paul. Tonight he seemed even more kooky than other times I have heard him. Some of what he says is very sound, but almost every time he was called on tonight it did not come across as good to me.
Additional Thoughts: I don’t think Romney, Giuliani, or McCain did anything to really help or hurt themselves tonight. I thought the debate format was pretty good and well run, although I really wish the audience wouldn’t clap (perhaps that’s just me) because I think it kills any flow to the debate. The seemed to tackle all the issues, including some recent events (the Iran boat incident, etc).
[...] The Roundtable: Winner: Fred Thompson. I thought Fred Thompson was very sharp tonight. He took several stabs at Mike Huckabee tonight (which Huckabee stood up to fairly well for the most part). While I am not a fan of having to give the perfect sound bite, Thompson’s inability to do this has seemed to hurt him up to this point. Tonight he had several good sound bites. He was funny and prepared. This seemed very different than several than the other times I have heard him. Will this help him? I don’t know, but at a time when it is do or die, Thompson proved up to the task. [...]
January 11th, 2008 at 10:46 am