I am in the spin room on the campus of Iowa State University. You can follow all of the Tweets, and all of the action, via Twitter. Just look for hashtag #pjtvstraw, or follow me on Twitter.
Everyone is here. Ran into Ed Morrissey of Hot Air, Guy Benson of TownHall.com, Stacy McCain himself is here, Chuck Todd of NBC is just 20 feet from me, and even Obama denizen David Axelrod was sighted outside.
Please tell us your thoughts about the debate. Leave your comments below. Thanks!
UPDATE #5: Be sure to check out PJTV for all of our debate wrap-up.
UPDATE #4: Rep. Paul has hit some stride on the conversation of individual liberty. Sen. Santorum is hitting a stride on being for values, and being unapologetic. It’s a very interesting back and forth between them. I haven’t said much about Gov. Romney…and I don’t think that is going to change. He started off with good fire, but now he is settling in to simple answers and getting done with this debate and away from the Straw Poll (which he is not participating in.) And is Ambassador Huntsman still on the stage?
UPDATE #3: The conversation between Sen. Santorum and Rep. Paul was great. It should be a national conversation about who we are as a nation, and which way is the best way to secure our safety. I like Herman Cain, but I think he is fading. He’s not connecting on stage. Newt continues to impress. He is taking on the questions, and the stage, but keeping his answers focused, smart, witty and dynamic. Going back to Santorum, I have said that he is a VP candidate only, and I still believe it, but he is proving to his base that he is worth keeping in this race.
UPDATE #2: The Bachmann/Pawlenty back and forth went from wow to whoa. Moving on. Herman Cain was refreshingly honest, but quasi-tongue tied. Rick Santorum gets a big laugh, and then ends with a big elbow on the other candidates. It’s Newt who shined. He is looking for his constituency, and he may find it with this style of answer and proposed statesmanship.
UPDATE #1: From Round One of the debate, Craig Robinson – editor of The Iowa Republican.com – stated that Rep. Michele Bachmann “…didn’t look like a front runner…” in the exchange with Gov. Tim Pawlenty. I agree. Pawlenty came out looking strong. JulesLaLaLand on Twitter disagreed, question whether we see things differently as men and women. We will see.
Newt is on FIRE… lovin’ it.. lovin’t it…
Newt is doing very well. I wonder if it will translate into results in the Straw Poll, or into campaign contributions.
– Tony
It sure seems like Paul is getting more than his fair share of time. And quite frankly I’m a little tired of his unrealistic rants….
Yeah, I am very tired of Ron Paul. What is this, his 3rd or 4th run? He’s the Libertarian voice at the Republican debates, so he gets an inordinate amount of time for someone who can never get elected President. (Hope I do not have to eat those words….)
Marc–
Agreed that he got some time. Doesn’t bother me, since he was the only one making an across the board coherent argument for limited government, personal choice, etc. Ya know– the sorts of things PJM readers champion.
Except for that whole thing about believing that Iran should get nukes, and believing that they’re not going to use them, and that a nuclear Iran doesn’t pose a direct threat to our national security…
You know, nutty rants like that…
You are right about that. His is the impassioned Libertarian position. I lean a little Libertarian myself, and still I am tired of hearing him. Why? Because he is a fanatic. A fanatic is someone cannot be convinced otherwise and cannot change the subject. Fanatics (like Obama) also make lousy Presidents.
Yeah, I’m sick of him too. He’s been running for president since 1988. And he’s never once won the nomination. Hmmm…I wonder why…
His supporters are fanatical because they are liberal fanatics who somehow stumbled across Ron Paul’s pseudo pro-free-market libertarianism. There seems to be a lot of crossover between Ron Paul supporters, truthers, and liberal anti-semites. Just an observation.
I thought Cain was strong, and I think Newt will climb from obscurity with his impressive performance. Bachmann might be damaged a little because of her exchange with Pawlenty. Speaking of Pawlenty, he’s done. Toast. And good riddance.
Huntsman who?
Yeah. Paul and Kucinich should be given a small country somewhere where they take turns running it, just to see who is more wrong.
Heh!
Newt is in his element. He has a PhD in history, and he is a very experienced politician. As long as he does not descend into lecture mode, or spout something crazy, as is his wont, he does fine. Do not read too much into his performance. We know what we are getting with Newt.
Newt comes off as the only adult there- and the only one treating the rest of us as adults. He knows the issues, and gives a coherent exposition of the conservative position.
Really unhappy that there is no DrunkBlogging from VodkaPundit for this debate. Really unhappy. Need some snark with my politics. :’(
Newt has a big mountain to climb from his past intemperate statements. He isn’t going to make it.
And yet, consider McCain’s horrific start in 2008. This is really early. Fifteen months to the election.
Gingrich was the smartest, Romney the smoothest, the rest were also rans.
Pawlenty and Cain are done, Santorum probably so.
Bachman and Gingrich will be kingmakers if they play it well.
Paul will be a spoiler. Some sound ideas, many unsound as well.
The winners: Romney and Perry.
That will be an interesting fight.
Yes, barring a huge surprise Saturday from one of the others, the race is going to come down to Romney and Perry. They can raise the money, and are head and shoulders above the rest as candidates. Pawlenty is the disappointment of the cycle – IMO he must win Saturday or its over for him.
Newt Gingrich amazes me at times. Not only is he the smartest and best prepared guy in the room, but there is simply no clutch slippage between his brain and his mouth. Didn’t stumble on a single word, perfect synchronization, all while expressing complex thoughts (extemporaneously I might add, these were not canned answers) in perfect King’s English. What a rare ability, unmatched by anyone else on the stage. And he brought the fire, I saw a true leader of men tonight.
Rick Santorum was my big surprise of the night. Some of his responses flat kicked ass, and like Gingrich he brought fire. Excellent debate performance, again I saw leadership. His passionate response regarding the limit of the 10th amendment was truly inspired.
Bottom line — Newt Gingrich’s brain appears to work at least twice as fast as anybody else’s, including the debate questioners, and has a unique verbal co-processor. I honestly think nobody can beat this man in mano y mano debate. Should Barack Obama ever be so unfortunate as to stand alongside this guy on a debate stage a stretcher may be required to remove the fool from the stage.
Newt had the last word, and he hit it out of the park. Calling on Obama to cancel Martha’s Vineyard; call Congress back to work; scrap the ridiculous Super Committee; and start immediately to create a fiscal 2012 budget with real spending cuts was a smackdown of the entire Federal Government Ruling Class and their pathetic debt deal. His opening line set him apart from all the other debaters: “It is 15 months until the 2012 election, and we can’t afford to wait that long before we do something!” He put Barack and Joe, Timmy and Ben, Nancy and John, and Harry and Mitch on notice that the business as usual party is over!
P.S. Any “Super Committee” with Patty Murray, John Kerry, Jim Clyburn, Chris Van Hollen, and Xavier Becerra as members is guaranteed to be a non-starter. If Boehner and McConnell don’t kill it before it sees the light of day, the next 3 months before Thanksgiving will be a total waste of a great opportunity for real action that could begin to restore America’s political credibility in a shaky world economy.
Very glad to see Santorum getting attention. He’s a wonderful example of a Conservative who lives his values. Would love to see him as part of the 2012 ticket.
The real and only winner was Newt Gingrich. Precise, to the point without
hesitation. If he were in a debate with Obama, he would be the adult, Obama the 5 -year-old spoiled brat