The top three all looked solid. You can argue Rudy wins because nothing happened to undermine his frontrunner status. He weaves his command of detail and his NYC experience into answers impressively. You can make a case that McCain reminded everyone of this national security credentials. Romney supporters will be pleased since he was assertive, relaxed and in command and none of his Ames challengers looked all that impressive. (I do think his abortion answer was not helpful. He sounds best when he talks about his personal conversion after his 2002 election. Why not say “I regret I didn’t see the light earlier”? Is he confessing he was hiding the ball in 2002? ) And Fred Thompson? Each of the top three was entirely credible as a potential nominee so he’ll have to show he is a better, more credible, and more electable choice. Not an easy task.

Over at the Corner, KLO seems to agree on the Romney abortion answer.