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The Spectacle Blog
1. The Mitt Romney vs. Rick Perry sniping could well turn into mutually assured destruction. They are both honing attacks against each other that will surely be used against them in the general if either of them ends up the nominee.
2. Perry doesn’t have to worry quite yet, because he has a better campaign and few people who aren’t political journalists are watching. But if he keeps turning in performances like this, he will risk becoming another conservative flavor of the month like Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann. I say this not to denigrate Cain or Bachmann, but merely to point out the transient nature of their surge in the polls.
3. Romney shouldn’t get too comfortable, however, because his inadequacies are why conservatives keep looking for flavors of the month.
4. Romney’s health care answers may satisfy the Fox focus groups and his commitment to repealing Obamacare will have to be good enough for most conservatives if he is the nominee. But don’t underestimate how much his Massachusetts record will hurt the anti-Obamacare argument in the general and perhaps beyond.
5. One interesting side question: Do Gary Johnson, who had a good line (apparently borrowed from Rush Limbaugh), and Jon Huntsman, who squared off with Rick Santorum over foreign policy, stunt Ron Paul’s recent momentum at all? My guess is no, but it bears watching. Johnson may have been setting himself up for his eventual Paul endorsement by picking the Texas congressman as a hypothetical running mate, but Huntsman is competing with Paul for a top three finish in New Hampshire.
6. Santorum may improve his standing with the conservative movement, damaged by the Bush years and his 2006 loss, with his presidential candidacy even if he ultimately doesn’t win very many votes. This will be in contrast with Newt Gingrich, whose standing will be harmed by a subpar performance among actual voters.
UPDATE: The big liberal takeaway from tonight seems to be that Republican debate audiences cheer executions and people dying without health insurance but boo gay soldiers who have served in Iraq.
View all comments (10) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/09/22/parting-debate-thoughts
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Paul McGrath| 9.22.11 @ 11:53PM
"UPDATE: The big liberal takeaway from tonight seems to be that Republican debate audiences cheer executions and people dying without health insurance but boo gay soldiers who have served in Iraq."
Pphhhhhhhhhhbbbbbbtttt.*
*As best I can do using written English to approximate the sound of gas passing through my rectal cavity.
Clint.| 9.22.11 @ 11:56PM
Perry has peaked.
Paul has moved into second place in New Hampshire.
The neo-cons' global police foreign policy is sputtering with the voters.
The Tea Party has changed electoral politics.
Things are in a state of flux.
Jack in Wi.| 9.23.11 @ 1:31AM
Clint: Right again. Romney and Perry are 2 old rinos heading for the glue factory. If either would be nominated the whole country would be the losers.
The neocons are through in the Republican party. Because they have been total flops in everything they have tried.
Simon Templar| 9.23.11 @ 12:04AM
Thank you, Mr. Antle. Your article is the best and most useful commentary I have read so far. I would only add if they keep up these Jerry Springer debates and keep up these audience misfires, they can be assured that no one will be left standing and they will guarantee the posers reelection.
john dubose| 9.23.11 @ 12:54AM
Gary Johnson is the one person on the stage with the cahoneys to actually cut back the federal beast and not scare people like Ron Paul. The Republicans are probably too chicken to actually give him the chance.
PEARL GRUBER| 9.23.11 @ 5:39AM
THE COUNTRY IS CLOSE TO ENTERING A DEPRESSION- hUNTSMAN IS TOO LIMP, TOO TEPID- HE IS NOT ABLE TO TAKE ON ROMNEY OR pERRY SO HE IS GOING THE WAY OF pAWLENTY-gINGRICHIS HANGING IN TO GET THE VIP NOD WHICH WOULD BE A NIGHTMARE- CAIN IS SMOKING THE BLACK RUSH-HE CAN OUTALK ANYONE EVEN hANNITY- SANTORUM IS OUT OF IT TOTALY- pAUL IS OUT TOLUNCH ALWAYSHAS BEEN- pERRYIS THE TERMINATOR-LIKE AHNOLD ANOTHER FAKE-LUCK AMERICA KNOWS IT IS MITT rOMENY'S TOLOSE THE NOMINATION ONLY A HEDGIE CAN GOVERN AMERICAIN THESE UNCERTAIN TIMES-IF A BLACK MAN CAN BE IN THE wHITE hOUSE, I GET THE DESCENDANT OF SCAMMY jOSEPH SMITH CAN PUT IN 4 YEARS IN THE wHITE hOUSE pRISON- THE ONLY REAL HOPE ISD BILL CLINTON BUT HE WANTS NO PART OF IT-
Parky Bill | 9.23.11 @ 8:55AM
Why should this be a "Liberal Takeaway?" Aren't you, as a conservative, disgusted by it as well???
OK, so... the GOP audiences have cheered lustily for 234 executions, have shouted "CRUCIFY HIM!" (sorry, I mean) "LET HIM DIE" at a hypothetical 30-year old uninsured guy, and now they've booed a gay man serving in Iraq. Is there anything ELSE we need to know about today's Grand Old Party?
http://goo.gl/FF7W6
Stefan Stackhouse| 9.23.11 @ 9:51AM
RE: Item #1 - I very much want every bit of the opposition reasearch stuff to come out RIGHT NOW. Let's get it all out in the open now so that it can be neutralized or at least dealt with. The very last thing that any of us want is an "October surprise". This is really the whole point of having these debates now.
Dai Alanye | 9.23.11 @ 1:21PM
A superficial, stupid and snarky analysis by Antle.