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 … Read More

Nothing. This is getting irritating.… Read More

We’ll assume that FR readers who care are watching the debate live, or will catch the video stream at CNN.com. Nick and I are so close…but yet so far. We’re upstairs in the Spin Room, which is just a few hundred feet from the Air Force One hanger where the debate is taking place. So far, 25 minutes into the debate, our point made below that there is no Ronald Reagan in the race is being reinforced. Neither Nick nor myself have been impressed thus far.… Read More

I’m not sure which is worse… CNN’s repeated cutting off of Ron Paul… Or the fact that Paul doesn’t seem to be capable of sticking up for himself…… Read More

If you accept the notion that John McCain is the frontrunner for the nomination, then if you are Mitt Romney, you have to be on the offensive. You want John McCain in the hot seat. As we sit here, most of the way through this debate, clearly it has been Romney on the defense. If this doesn’t change, Romney’s ability to try and “win” the debate will be non-existant. McCain isn’t breaking a sweat tonight.… Read More

The other day I put up a video of what I thought was a very effective Giuliani ad (guess not so much!). A loyal FR reader sent me a link to the following ad by Citizen’s United — a very effective piece against McCain… … Read More

Nick Romero and I have finally made it to the “spin room” here at the Reagan Library. The security here is pretty hardcore, but somehow Nick and I have our names on the media list as “credentialed journalists” – go figure. We had to park off site, and shuttle over with a bunch of real reporters. Now that we’re here, we’ll go see how many reporters bash on Republicans when they “think” no one is listening.… Read More

In between 3:40 pmand 7:32 pm today I received 14 different press releases at the same email address from Team Romney, 11 of them literally in a 62 minute time span between 6:09 and 7:11 pm.

I’ve heard of trying to keep folks informed, but did the Romney Press Shop want me to watch the debate or read their barrage? After the fifth one, it became drivel, quickly going to the trash. I’m not exactly a big John McCain partisan, but excessiveness is not becoming the Romney camp. I don’t know whether to think he’s grasping at straws or be embarrassed by the clumsiness of such a "media effort."… Read More