Republican debate wrap

Keep in mind my tremendous biases...

Fred did pretty well. The format was good for him in that he had time to expound on topics. On the other hand, he wasn't aggressive enough in answering questions. I'm not sure that's bad, though, since he looked different from some of the other guys on stage. His common sense conservatism worked well here.

Ron Paul had time to show the world that he may as well wear a tinfoil hat. He's a crank, and he should not have been invited.

Rudy was decent. He was bad on immigration (as usual) but solid on everything else.

Romney was a pinata for the other guys, as they really went after him. He tried to stay above it, but he could only do so much. I don't know how much the cheap shots by McCain and Huckabee will affect him. He could be sunk, or he could get a lot of sympathy. Also, he seemed kind of rattled all night. I think he's not thrilled with having to come from behind and it showed. He's very good on policy details, though.

McCain was an ass. His constant pokes at Romney made his seem like a jerk. Thankfully, he was horrible on immigration as usual. Hopefully lots of people watched it and grew to hate him again, much like I have for a long time.

Huckabee looked horrible in this format. He's the king of one-liners, and substantive policy debates make him look like an amateur. In addition, he looked kind of petty with the McCain-like shots on on Romney. His answers were generally bad, but even worse were his constant lies about his beliefs. Small government? Right! Amazing how your positions changed in TWO DAYS. And you have the gall to go after Romney for changing his positions on some things? The gall of this guy...

By the way, the Democratic debate just started. I don't know how long I can watch this. It's not the answers or Hillary. It's Edwards. The guy is so phony, he makes Huckabee seem like Ronald Reagan. I can't handle watching him. (In fairness, Gibson is REALLY challenging their silly answers; I may have to stay around for this after all.)