GOP SC Debate Recap

That was a rather raucous event last night. We had it all, a fire in Fred's belly, Romney looking cruel, Huckabee being hammered, Giuliani not really making any impression and Ron Paul coming off as a cranky, doddering old fool. All in all, the best debate of the entire campaign on both sides. If you read the Inquirer/AP recap, you wouldn't know this of course, was the reporter, Liz Sidoti, even in the building or did she watch it on Fox? Never mind, members of the MSM never watch Fox.

Anyway, aside from Ron Paul, I think Rudy Giuliani turned in the worst performance--uninspired and droll. I think he was just playing it out as he knows there's no chance in hell of winning in SC. Rudy's a Yankee and a Yankees fan, not a good combo in Dixie.

Romney had some moments but again, when he could have taken the high road with Paul stuttering and stammering, he chose to go for his jugular. It wasn't a smart move in my opinion because Paul was already on the ropes. Policy-wise, he to seemed uninspired and going through the motions.

Huckabee had some good one liners but it's like nails on a blackboard when he quotes scripture. That may have worked in South Carolina once but this is the new SC, a state that has had large-scale emigration over the last decade. You've gotta credit Fox for asking the question about his wife "submitting". In Huck's defense, he was ready for it and, while he didn't hit a homer, he at least hit a Texas League single.

On to Fred. The consensus is that Thompson made the best showing of the night. If he did enough to win in SC and ride some momentum to Super Tuesday, anything can happen in this race. He's won raves from some heavy-hitters and left us all wondering where was this guy before?

Now Paul. Ron Paul has had a bad week, TNR revealed that his newsletter contained some serious anti-Semitic and racist language. He denied writing the materials but it was under his name and the facts say that he was at least responsible for some of the content. Last night was the final straw for the public who had heard about this "savior" and what they saw was a flop--a guy who is one-dimensional politically regardless of the Paulians who clapped at his every word like some trained seals in a circus. I was embarrassed for him and I'm sure I wasn't the only one cringing when he repeated he couldn't hear. Don't get me wrong, Paulistinians crawled back out of their holes last night and responded to my posts--and in some cases defended the man, but it's over guys.