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A Few Quick Debate Thoughts

By W. James Antle, III on 10.11.11 @ 9:57PM

Mitt Romney won by not losing. He has regained his frontrunner status and nobody really emerged from the pack to challenge it. But can he do what he failed to do last time: run the table in the early states? It's to his advantage to secure the nomination before the field winnows to just him and a popular candidate to his right.

Herman Cain had some problematic individual answers. Monetary conservatives will dislike his dated praise for Alan Greenspan -- someone asked on Twitter if Cain still owned Pets.com stock -- and skepticism about auditing the Fed. His answer about tax increases under his tax plan essentially assumes he will be president forever. But the fact that so much of the debate was about "9, 9, 9" definitely plays into Cain's favor. He got the top-tier treatment tonight, deserved based on recent poll numbers.

Rick Perry didn't seem like a top-tier candidate. He didn't turn in a bad performance, but he was quiet and passive. It didn't help that he didn't seem to get as many questions, but he didn't do anything to help himself.

Michele Bachmann was fine, though I don't know if she did enough. I saw she got some grief for going after Perry for supporting Al Gore in 1988 when she backed Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum always perform well. Santorum hit several rivals, including Cain, on their support for the TARP bailout. Ron Paul was steady. Jon Huntsman's exchange with Cain, complete with pizza price joke, was the first real kerfuffle of the debate.

View all comments (20) | Leave a comment

NowIsTheTime| 10.11.11 @ 10:18PM

Huntsman, Paul, Santorum and Bachmann were just taking up space for no good reason. At least Santorum and Bachmann are genuine conservatives, so arguably they have a reason to be up there on the stage. Huntsman is a Democrat without a good disguise. I'll miss Ron Paul when he's gone, for the same reasons I miss Pat Paulsen.

Rick Perry says he's only had a few weeks to come up with an economic plan, so it's unfair to expect him to provide any details. That kind of gives away the fact that he wasn't thinking about running until ... a few weeks ago. From his answers it sounds like he's planning to wait to start thinking about it some time in the future.

Cain held his place as the only real challenger for Romney. Romney did what he needed to do to remain the de facto front runner. A Romney/Cain ticket would be powerful.

John Navratil| 10.12.11 @ 9:26AM

A Romney/Cain ticket would be a shotgun wedding.

USSAlabama| 10.11.11 @ 10:20PM

Y A W N . . . Time to narrow the pack.

Red Phillips| 10.11.11 @ 10:25PM

"Time to narrow the pack."

Wrong! Why do we want debate organizers picking winners before the first vote is cast? Johnson and Roemer should also be included at the least.

NowIsTheTime| 10.11.11 @ 10:34PM

If you're going to include Johnson and Roehmer you might as well include Karger and Martin and McMillan and Miller and Wuensche. They're also officially declared candidates, and like Johnson and Roemer they have zero chance.

The candidates who aren't in the debates aren't there because they don't have popular support. The debate organizers so far have included even fringe candidates like Huntsman who hardly show up in polling numbers.

It is indeed time to narrow the pack.

Clint| 10.11.11 @ 10:55PM

Damned Straight.

The Ruling Elite & The Media Agendists Are Attempting To Orchestrate This Election.

The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

NowIsTheTime| 10.11.11 @ 11:11PM

There's no need to look for a conspiracy theory here. It's not the "ruling elite" or the "media agendists" or the illuminati or contrails for that matter.

The slate of candidates is super weak. Some are too obviously desperate. Some can't think on their feet. Some have to stuff ballot boxes in order to look competitive.

One of them doesn't even seem to be running for President. Newt seems to be running for a cabinet position by kissing up to the others.

So it comes down to the fact that Romney and Cain can speak coherently for an hour and a half, even if what they're saying and the records they're running on aren't that great.

Clint| 10.11.11 @ 11:53PM

No conspiracy theory necessary Sport. Just the usual Ruling Elite & The Media attempting, to orchestrate the elections for We, The Great Unwashed.
If you think Cain's 9-9-9 is Coherent, TARP is Coherent & RomneyCare is Coherent then You're A European Wannabe, Sport.

The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

Jack in Wi.| 10.11.11 @ 10:23PM

I see Michelle Bachman stole my turn 999 upside down and you get 666. Herman loves Alan Greenspan and high taxes on the poor and destituite. I haul food to food pantries and soup kitchens every week. The last thing the poor need is a 9% tax on things they purchase. Obama would destroy any Republican who put forth such a crackpot idea. This country is suffering and we don't need another affirmative action president who doesn't know what he is talking about. Herman can go sell his jive somewhere else.

NowIsTheTime| 10.11.11 @ 10:36PM

It's cute that you think the 999/666 thing was "yours" as if thousands of other people didn't see the same obvious joke too. Also the way you think you can misrepresent Cain's plan like that. Cute! Like those commercials with the grade school kids, except they made more sense because they were saying words written by an adult.

John Navratil| 10.12.11 @ 9:37AM

Jack in Wi.

Did you miss the part about no taxes on used goods?

The poor cannot avoid the payroll tax, but they can avoid the consumption tax.

Clint| 10.11.11 @ 10:52PM

Cain's 9-9-9 Is A Non-Starter.

No way, will Conservatives support allowing Big Government to have A National Sales Tax & The Income Tax.

Pecos Pete| 10.12.11 @ 6:34AM

Clint: Conservatives support the concept of changing the federal tax code. 999 is a beginning, not the end. The current tax code is a disaster.

Why not start seriously discussing changing the tax code? If nothing else, Cain's 999 has started the conversation. I don't believe 999 would get through the next Congress, but shining a spotlight on the current tax code sure as hell doesn't hurt.

John Navratil| 10.12.11 @ 9:34AM

Pecos Pete,

The most valid criticism of Cain's plan is the creation of a new tax. The most ignored feature is the super-majority required to raise it.

The current system is a disaster as it is the product of years of Congressional tinkering in a effort to mold the people with the result that half pay no income taxes but do pay 15% payroll taxes. Two systems and two classes of people. Not good!

moey| 10.12.11 @ 10:46AM

Get rid of that archiac Tax Code.

Clint| 10.12.11 @ 10:22AM

9-9-9 Is A Non-Starter.

Conservatives Will Not Allow Big Government To Have A National Sales Tax & An Income Tax.

"Curtis Dubay of the Heritage Foundation says many conservatives would not feel comfortable with a national sales tax unless the 16th Amendment, which established the income tax, was repealed, to totally cut off that vein of revenue.

Dubay also said he would be concerned about allowing a new stream of revenue with the current entitlement structure in place, given that officials in both parties have said that programs like Medicare and Medicaid need to be restructured. "

The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.

Stefan Stackhouse| 10.12.11 @ 11:22AM

An income tax and a payroll tax, however, is apparently perfectly OK? If you love a 15.3% payroll tax, how does 18% or 20% suit you? You do realize that congress can raise that with just as much ease as they can increase a sales tax. In fact, they already have done it, more than once, and will very likely have to do it again once we get serious about fixing social security and medicare. How "conservative" is that?