SOME THOUGHTS ON LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE
- Much has been written about last night’s debate, which you can find on our blog, on the main news page, and elsewhere around the internet. I will just make a few observations, take them for what they are worth:
- CNN should have dropped the pretenses of inviting Ron Paul to the debate as an equal candidate — I’ve never seen a serious politician with millions of supporters around the country treated with less respect. Anyone ever heard of equal time?
- Mitt Romney needed to keep John McCain and his positions on issues at the center of this debate — and he didn’t.
- John McCain, as the presumptive front-runner needed to keep his cool, and except for the Reagan question at the end, did just that.
- Mike Huckabee continued to demonstrate a level of charm that continues to make him popular enough to be a real pain to Romney.
- Ron Paul’s reference to the gold standard immediately made everyone think, "Nicholas Cage in National Treasure."
- The seemingly endless McCain-Romney showdown on Romney’s alleged use of the word "timetables" in the context of U.S. involvement in Iraq served only to emphasize that this has turned into a two-man race.
- John McCain wriggled like a fish on a hook on the immigration question, but the fish got off the hook – he never had to admit his support for amnesty.
- Huckabee nailed the Reagan question for a strong close.
- Hardcore Romney supporters all think Romney won. The McCaniacs think he won.
- I am neutral in the race, and I think that no one was the winner — which, in itself, is a win for the frontrunner – John McCain.
ARNOLD’S ENDORSEMENT OF MCCAIN
It has been widely reported that later this morning, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to endorse the candidacy of John McCain. This immediately raises the question about whether this endorsement is helpful for the Senator’s efforts in California (and elsewhere) and what to do with it.
Well, conventional wisdom is that the endorsement itself is a good thing — McCain will be outspent by Governor Romney many times over (Or will he? See my comment further below on this point), and so there is nothing more important for the campaign of the Arizona Senator than to show momentum, and to continue to wrack up earned media where he can. We’ve all see the "celebrity status" of Governor Schwarzenegger make him a darling for the media – I’m sure this endorsement will be no different.
**There is more – click the link**
January 31st, 2008 at 12:00 am
McCain supporters can’t be too happy. That was not a very cohesive performance. It looked like Mac didn’t even prepare for that debate. He looked like he was stumbling, and got way too emotional. It was almost as if he just walked in and didn’t even prepare…the worst performance I’ve seen of him in 9 years.
We all agree that Sen McCain has done a great service for this country. With that being said, it’s hard to equate running the federal government is in any way comparable to his military operations. His chopping his left hand on the table and insisting that it’s all he needs to win this elections is disappointing.
In government, insubordination is very frequent. The legislature is constantly doing whatever it pleases–even when the party coincides with the President. A President can’t order everyone around, he can only control his cabinet & make stern recommendations to his legislature.
Romney lost a lot of points simply by getting highly emotional. Although he was far more polished than McCain, if he goes in with that approach in the general election, he’ll get shredded by Hillary as she’s a great manipulator. He had better learn to get his emotions under control when on camera because it’s not very flattering. In government, everyone questions your motives, credibility, competency and other facets of your office all the time. He needs to get used to it if he wants to continue on running for president.
As far as the comment, “…If John McCain thinks that Arnold Schwarzenegger is super-popular with conservatives right now, then he definitely has been checked-out on California state politics…”
I think that statement is profoundly true with one exception, McCain isn’t running for President of the Conservative States, he’s running for President of the United States. He’s doing what Arnold’s doing–roping in everybody to vote for him. Without a populist movement, it’s going to be hard to follow in the wake of Pres. Bush with a hard, right-wing extremist approach.
It’s gonna be hard for McCain to lose this nomination now. It’s also going to be hard for Romney to gain any steam. Clearly he looked better than McCain in the debate, however, Romney needs a silver bullet on Tuesday or else it’s over. He can’t just win a 6/5 or 4/3 margin, he needs a decisive victory. The kind where McCain is going to need lots of money to compete…because his campaign is broke now.
Ron Paul sucked the life out of the room on the issue of the economic stimulous & overall monetary system because the other three guys on stage are clueless on the economy. That, and government meddling is the reason we have such a crisis in the financial/mortgage sector. Everyone knows it’s a bitter pill, but noone wants to solve it because they aren’t familiar with the root cause of the ire. Bad monetary policy is harder to correct than laise faire…which is more of what the fed should have been doing
I think Huck is ‘charming’ to a sizeable population of Republicans. He just won’t carry a whole lot of votes outside that fraction of the population.
Final score? I got it:
Romney 32
McCain 14
Huckabee 14
Paul 5
Reagan…..35
January 31st, 2008 at 12:00 am
PS by “…The kind where McCain is going to need lots of money to compete…because his campaign is broke now…”
that meant McCain’s campaign is broke. A longer, more arduous battle favors the favors the money, which McCain doesn’t have right now.