I have to admit, Mitt Romney is smooth under pressure. Everyone was gunning for him, and he held his ground. This was his night, and he did well in defending his record. Granted, it would be convenient for my chosen candidate if the field gets split, but I wouldn’t be at all disappointed if Romney were the nominee.
I have great respect for John McCain, but this wasn’t a good debate for him. Oddly enough, he doesn’t do well under pressure. He tends to get too combative when questioned, which doesn’t look good for him.
Everyone knows who my candidate is, and once again, he did well. Not great, but well. Remember, New Hampshire isn’t his state. He isn’t campaigning here, so his position in the polls isn’t relevant to his campaign. He needs to win South Carolina, though, and he didn’t do anything that would knock him out. The problem is that he needs to do more before that contest, or his campaign won’t be able to recover.
Giuliani also failed to make traction. New Hampshire should be a strong state for him, but he’s largely out of the picture. Everyone’s carping on Fred, but Rudy’s really blown his lead in a way that no other candidate has in this race. He could still come back, but that strategy of waiting until Super Tuesday to do well seems to be failing him. Then again, a few weeks from now I could be eating those words, along with many pundits.
Here’s what infuriates me about Mike Huckabee: he’s not qualified to be President, but he gets the pulse of the electorate right. I despise political populism, but the reality is that the electorate doesn’t feel that this country is going in the right direction. He’s the only one really speaking to that, even though Rudy Giuliani touched upon an argument that the GOP should be making. The problem with Huckabee is that he is utterly clueless about foreign policy, and would follow the Bush big government model of conservatism—which ultimately becomes a betrayal of conservative principles.
Romney helped himself tonight, but nobody made any critical mistakes, which leaves the race fairly wide open. Giuliani and Thompson are in the second tier, but could come back based off of the results in South Carolina and Florida. McCain, Romney and Huckabee remain in a deadlock. Of those three, Romney is the most conservative and the most acceptable to both wings of the GOP base. He did very well in Frank Luntz’s focus groups, and for good reason.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—even with all the divisions, the Republican field is strong on the issue, better informed the than Democrats and far more substantive. That certainly counts for much. It’s not just about “change,” it’s about taking this country forward. The Republican field would do that, and for all Obama’s personal magnetism, he doesn’t nearly the depth that the Republicans do.
Jay, Bush was not qualified to be President and I know that now as do millions of americans, including many like myself who voted for him. He is a simpleton. As fro Thompson, I really have to wonder opn what planet your on these days? I have agreed with you on so many things but not Thompson. he is a somber, self important toad. He appeals to no one which is why his candidacy has been a disaster. He has no shot and never did.
You complain about all this talk of change. Well middle class Amerca is having its heart torn out. Stagnant wages, rising healthcare costs are killing the middle class, the heart and soul of America. What do the current republican candidates have a solution. Tax breaks and deductions which dont amount to a hill of beans. The GOP is seeting itself up for slaughter in November….
Who has a Harvard MBA, had better grades than Kerry did, and was the governor of a state that has a larger land mass and GDP than many countries.
He’s the only candidate with realistic and considered policies. If you don’t like him, that’s fine, but the fact you dislike him for such inconsequential reasons says more about you than him.
If that’s the way you feel, fine. Some people get off on misery. The reality is that the more government meddles, the worse things are going to get, and all these populist wannabes who rail against “corporate greed” will be responsible for the consequences that come from killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
There is a way forward for this company, but it doesn’t come from the sort of sleazy scaremongering coming from people who want to exploit people’s fears for political gain.
“Rudy’s really blown his lead in a way that no other candidate has in this race. He could still come back, but that strategy of waiting until Super Tuesday to do well seems to be failing him. Then again, a few weeks from now I could be eating those words, along with many pundits.”
I won’t count him completely out at this point. If this is a McCain vs. Huckabee race going into Florida, “real Republicans” who despise the two remaining candidates may ultimately find Rudy the least objectionable alternative. I would welcome it. Rudy would be a cinch to destroy in a national election.
“I despise political populism, but the reality is that the electorate doesn’t feel that this country is going in the right direction.”
This is progress for you….acknowledging that your “ownership society” worldview is the antithesis of what voters are looking for going into 2008. Thankfully, you and most Republicans are still poised to nominate a Republican nominee who panders to corporate boardrooms and ridicules the anxieties of the peasantry even though you know the message is hard-pressed to sell.
“was the governor of a state that has a larger land mass…than many countries.”
Wow….defending Bush’s limited pre-election experience on the basis of his adopted home state’s land mass. I gotta give you points for originality on that one, but if we’re gonna start electing Presidents based on the size of the states they governed, doesn’t that mean that the President will always come from Alaska? Who knew you were a closet Mike Gravel supporter!
“Who has a Harvard MBA”
Maybe if Mike Huckabee’s parents were sitting on the Bush family oil empire, they would have been able to buy a ticket for a C-student son into Harvard as well.
“all these populist wannabes who rail against “corporate greed†will be responsible for the consequences that come from killing the goose that laid the golden egg.”
The very mantra that came from the bourgeoise when both of the Roosevelts came to power and demanded reform, even though the ultimate consequences of said Presidents’ policies was the dramatic improvement of Americans’ standards of living and continued survival (indeed success) of those “geese laying the golden eggs”.