The version I was watching had frequent interruptions, so I’m not going to emphatically declare anything. But my opinion of the debate was this:
Losers:
Tim Pawlenty
After stumbling over his words several times, and repeating stories he used last debate, he failed to confront Romney when given the clear opportunity to. In my opinion, Pawlenty is toast.
CNN
Fact: nobody was comfortable giving 30 sec answers.
2nd Fact: Most people didn’t give 30 sec. answers – killing the “honor system” as this no buzzer, no end-time light method was called.
3rd Fact: Moderator didn’t always cut people off at 30 sec.
4th Fact: Local Newspaper man lost everyone as he read off his lengthy questions.
5th Fact: Not everybody was treated equally. Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich were targeted for hardball questions.
Winners:
Now you can look at this several different ways…
Best answers: Newt Gingrich
Best Manner: Mitt Romney
Strategic Winners:
Michelle Bachman – she pulled some good pro-life punches, shared that she’d taken care of 23 foster kids, referenced her chairmanship of the Tea Part Caucus, and more importantly gave current examples of her experience on the hill (no one else up on stage was in an active congressional office).
Newt Gingrich – saved his neck, and gave smart answers. Plus, he got out of the Paul Ryan scrape for good.
Rick Santorum communicated a lot better at this second debate. But he had also took extra talking time for himself, limiting it for others (another example of the broken “honor system”).
Ron Paul got one goodie in. Paraphrased, he said this: “I can’t figure out why we are worrying about the borders ofAfghanistan andIraq but not our border.” Genius (and that’s coming from an “anti-Paul” guy).
Herman Cain still has it! His analogy got him off to a good start. But without his humor (he did say Deep Dish pizza in a funny way), and no direct confrontation with any of the other candidates, he didn’t shine. Alas his positions were disappointing (said that marriage was a states rights thing), even though they seem to point to his overall message: Let’s focus on the economy. He still was able to summarize his plans well, but had to rush them for time limit. He was one of the best for keeping in the time. And he had specifics! That myth was destroyed at the debate.
Debate Hero (in my biased eyes): Newt Gingrich
He got my man Cain out of the Muslim scrape. The Hermanator’s explanation was Ok. But Newt stood firm and gave a historically sound answer that prompted applause from the audience. I won’t be voting for Newt (unless he’s the only opposition to Romney by the time the primary gets toTexas), but I give him two thumbs up for backing up someone he agreed with. No one else stepped in after Romney casually brushed Cain off as a nut, even though I’m sure Bachmann and Santorum have the same viewpoint.
Trent's Take 