Manchester, New Hampshire A little secret about tonight’s debate at Saint Anselm College: The press doesn’t even get to be in the same hall as the actual event. We’re in a gymnasium a few buildings away watching the broadcast on giant-screen TVs. If you’re watching from the comfort of your own home, what makes our experience different from yours? This:
That’s one of the Ron Paul supporters lining the road on Saint Anselm. Campaign supporters began lining Saint Anselm’s Drive a mile from campus, with McCainiacs making up a plurality of the frozen masses. None of them was dressed as wookies. In advance of the debate, however, the Clinton campaign did its best impression of Darth Sidius, sending out an email blast asking, “Where Is The Bounce?” The memo makes the case that Obama hasn’t received a post-Iowa bounce in New Hampshire, and it cites two polls, CNN/WMUR and the Concord Monitor, which have Clinton and Obama tied, statistically unchanged from before Iowa. The memo goes on to point out that Kerry gained 17 points in one 2004 poll after Iowa. I’m not buying it either. But first, the Republicans. Some thoughts on their debate: * Romney is the story (of the first half) of the night. He got hammered for 90 minutes straight. His camp is already making the case that this must mean the others are worried about how strong a position he’s in. Maybe. It’s equally plausible that, like hyenas fighting over a wounded water buffalo, they’re fighting over the spoils of his carcass. Or, to switch Nature Channel metaphors, that the other candidates smell blood in the water. * Thompson’s retort to Ron Paul about saving money on Iraq so we can spend it on socialized medicine was priceless. * Huckabee’s “health care maze” is valueless as a policy prescriptive, but may resonate very well with voters. By the way, it seems to me a mistake to dismiss Huckabee as a one-hit wonder. He’s a very formidable candidate who could easily be in the final pairing of the GOP race. And it’s not out of the question that he could win the nomination. * Charlie Gibson’s decision to let the candidates slug it out on the foreign policy question for a full 30 minutes was pretty smart. Gibson has quietly become America’s best news anchor. Here come the Dems.
