We take a look at the Republican presidential candidates after the Sept. 7 Debate at the Reagan Library:
As the clear frontrunner in every recent poll, Perry could have entered the race as if it were a coronation. He could have moved through the debate without engaging the other candidates at all and without saying anything terribly controversial. Instead of taking this approach, he eagerly got into fights with both Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. He declared Social Security a Ponzi scheme, pushing the envelope of what it’s acceptable for a frontrunner to say.
Although this baffled some commentators, it served him well. Perry doesn’t need to hide from the other candidates, and the most intensely interested voters were given clear evidence of this. You couldn’t say he outperformed the other candidates (especially as he showed signs of fatigue in the second hour) but he accomplished what he had to in the first debate. For now, his frontrunner status is safe.
Mitt Romney
Romney held his own. He showed he was no Tim Pawlenty – he didn’t back away from a fight with Perry, and those fights generally ended as draws. But Romney also didn’t go out of his way to attack Perry or the other candidates. When he stuck up for Social Security as a good program, he drew potentially a very important line that could help define the rest of the primary campaign.
Once again, Bachmann showed herself a better politician and better policy wonk than she gets credit for. But still, the debate served as a reminder that she’s becoming irrelevant. Even the issues where she distinguished herself from the front-runners – such as showing more passion and knowledge on repealing Obamacare – she failed to make a big impression.
Once again, Ron Paul turned in a sloppy debate performance. Paul is absolutely crystal clear in what he believes, but his speech is very unfocused in these debates. Paul at times offered indecipherable arguments and explanations. He uses libertarian shorthand that leaves most people dangling. Paul has never been an orator, and he will never be the GOP nominee. But that doesn’t mean someone else can’t pick up his mantle in a future election cycle.
Huntsman shows poorly in the polls, we were reminded last night, not because he’s too liberal, but because he is not a very good candidate. The man continues to run like an also-ran, and not like the kind of also-ran who can be chosen as a running mate. The most distinguishing feature of his performance last night was the smarminess of it all — especially his gratuitous boast that he could address the Chinese in Mandarin. Perhaps he’ll find some line of work where that will be possible.
Newt Gingrich
Newt’s debate performances are truly odd. Sometimes you have to wonder what exactly the man is up to. For a second straight debate, he ran not against his opponents, but against the debate moderators — to great applause. Does this actually win votes? It’s hard to see how, but it’s odd enough that there’s no telling how it plays.
The Field
Rick Santorum, Herman Cain. Both had strong moments in the debate, but neither one has gotten much traction in the polls.
