I've been watching Fox News this evening and I watched the CNN post game analysis last night. Who won the debate depended on who was speaking but the answers seemed to center around Perry, Romney and even Obama. I called it for Gingrich. It turns out Frank Luntz did a focus group and it was played on Hannity - the focus group called winner: Newt Gingrich. There's no link to the video yet but watch the Hannity replay tonight to see. But I feel confident in saying I spotted the winner and I expect to see the dial move for Gingrich a little bit. That said...
...I still have some concerns over Gingrich but he has become far more polished than he was when he insulted Paul Ryan and other conservatives. He also has many very good ideas along with the occasional silly ones. Is he the best candidate, no. Is he the best in the field? That remains to be seen but he is not the worst one.
But all that aside, he did win the debate, and he may be the next one to rise up and go toe to toe with this guy.
UPDATE: The always great Ed Morrissey also agrees;
UPDATE: The always great Ed Morrissey also agrees;
But the real winner might be Newt Gingrich, who despite having one bad moment with Romney on the health-care mandate once again came out looking positive, well-informed, and fit for battle.
I think Newt had resigned himself to being the wise seasoned veteran. In the early debates, he used his 5 minutes of speaking time to bring the focus back to Obama.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately he is the only candidate with well thought out [realistic] positions on the most important issues, taxes and entitlement reform. He now finds himself trickling up in the polls by default because no one really cares about Romney's past employees or HPV.
I'm not sure he''s resigned to that role - I think he believes he can win. But your point us well taken, he was acting like a debate shepherd. That was a positive for both him and for the debates.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile the tit-for-tat between Romney and Perry is bringing them back to the pack. Gingrich may be using a better version of Romney's last-man-standing strategy.
As long as Gingrich can successfully walk back the Pelosi couch stuff, and the anti-Ryan-budget wording he used, he can be there at the end.