My take on each candidate after this debate, which I live blogged over at Heading Right and joined a round table discussion on afterwards at Debate Central @ BTR:
Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas):What can I say, his was one of the weaker performances, Mr. Brownback, save your money and call it quits now.
Former Virginia governor James Gilmore (R-Va.): Nice tie, liked the Rudy McRomney thing, but come on, the guy could prattle on for days and still not say anything. Hasta La Vista.
Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani: I personally thought he was weak on the issues, but Ron Paul served him up a home run with his ridiculous "9/11 was our fault" crap.His now outed pro-choice stance will kill him with the hard core conservatives. I like him, but I wish he'd nailed some of the harder questions with more conviction.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee: Kevin Spacey's twin, best thing he said all night was comparing recent spending to John Edwards outings at the beauty salon. I did however like on other thing he said about his constituent, something along the line of,"Well, 80% of my constituents wanted it, so I had to go with what they wanted." Yes, and that's what you are hired to do.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.): I love Duncan, but geez, the guy only got 2 or 3 questions. Best thing I love about Hunter is he's presidential. He has the charisma and the balls. And his voting record shows he's very consistent.
Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.): Yawn... more drunken sailor jokes. He was stronger in this debate, but..... JOHN, RETIRE ALREADY!
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.): Ron Paul is a complete and utter imbecile, and on a side note, I think he's insane. Probably why one of my regulars here likes him, explains a lot. Thank the stars that there is a Ron Paul drinking game, it was the only way I could get through his diatribes.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney: What can I say, I just don't like him. He has snake oil salesman written all over him.
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.): Tom was looking like he's had one too many triple espresso's last night, and he's a one note candidate. Yeah Tom, I loathe those illegals as much as you, but can you address any other issue?
Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson: The guy looks like a Weeble People, and he sounds like a robot. Nope, I want a president who can orate. Bye-Bye.
I'd like to thank FOX NEWS for, unlike MSNBC, actually providing good hard hitting questions that were relevant and not letting any of the candidates get away with sidestepping. It was one of the better debates I've seen in years.
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