Last night revealed a fundamental truth about the race, we need two more candidates in it. We need another alternative establishment candidate to deflate Romney. Huntsman is not up to the task. Romney can just attack the leading conservative and look better by comparison. There is no alternative to Romney for establishment Republicans. We need one.
The answer to that is Chris Christie. If we don’t want Romney we need to attack him from both the conservative wing of the party, and the establishment wing.
We also need a top tier conservative candidate that can be an alternative to Rick Perry for the conservative vote. None of the current candidates fit that bill. None have the resources or the organizational muscle to play effectively all the early primary states. We need Sarah Palin.
We need our best candidates in this race. The future of the country is at stake. Whether or not Palin or Christie get the nomination, they are important voices in the party and they will make the race better and our eventual nominee stronger. We need them both, and we need them now.
We need our best candidates and right now they are sitting on the sidelines.
Senator Marco Rubio is a fantastic speaker. His most recent speech at the Regan Foundation from last week is a great example of the Performance of Politics. It lasts about 20 minutes and is followed by questions. (His speech begins at about the 6:50 mark.) I do not think I have heard a better advocate for the principles of Conservatism since Ronald Reagan. His speech is optimistic and inspiring and a call for the restoration of American values in our lives and in our government. If you find yourself inspired after listening to it, please make sure to share it with others, so they can hear his message as well.
RON PAUL WINS! I predict Ron Paul will win the straw poll. His Ronulan followers are legion and known for massing at straw polls. I believe that is one reason that Romney is not playing in Iowa. He does not want to explain a loss to Ron Paul in the Iowa Straw Poll.
2nd Place Michelle Bachmann. She is from Iowa and will play well here.
3rd Place Rick Santorum. A solid social conservative that has been spending time in the state, a must for a good showing.
4th Place Mitt Romney. The frontrunner status will get him 4th place here where he has spent too little time.
5th Place Newt Gingrich. His good debate showing will help a little but not enough to put him in the top half here…yet.
6th Place Herman Cain. The sleeper. He has little money, but is very impressive in person, he could do well if his message resonates.
7th Place Tim Pawlenty. Its OVER for him. He needs to beat Bachmann to stay in the race. That is a tall order.
The latest from the White House Insider. If you are not following this underground narrative of the political machinations within the Democrat Party and the White House, you should be.
After watching the debate last night it occurs to me how important it is to have a panel of questioners that is interested in more than catching candidates in double speak.
The questions seemed focused more on knocking people out of the field, than allowing the audience to determine where they stood on issues that mattered to the country. This of course was precisely Newt’s point last night in this exchange with Chris Wallace:
Wallace’s retort is absolutely wrong by the way, the question he ask Newt had nothing to do with his record. It was meant to diminish him as a candidate and push him out of the debate and the race. He has clearly learned his lesson from his appearance on Meet the Press where he simply accepted the terms of the questioner. He pushed back against the Washington Press establishment last night. Hard. And provided real answers to what he thought should be done in the process.
He reminded me of Chris Christie last night. Winner.
Chris Wallace last night also intentionally pitted Pawlenty against Bachmann in a blatant attempt to cause a brawl on stage that would take two candidates down in one fell swoop. Pawlenty is clearly done (stick a fork in him), but Bachmann diminished herself by constantly having to defend rather than discuss what she would do for America. It was only a marginally successful night for her. Her best line was of course the retort to Byron York’s incredibly offensive question. Once again, shame on FOXNews
They also gave much to much time to Ron Paul and his dangerous foreign policy regarding Iran and Nuclear weapons. They allowed him to monopolize much of the foreign policy section. If I didn’t know any better I would say the entire goal of that section was to eliminate him as a viable candidate.
I really liked Rick Santorum last night. He spoke powerfully against Ron Paul and like Newt called out the debate panel on their idiotic mode of questioning. He has always been a strong social conservative, but now I see him successfully linking that to founding principles. I thought his answer on the 10th Amendment was excellent. Natural Law trumps the Constitution. Well done. I also admired his defense of the tea party as a flat and locally led movement. This was an oblique reference to Bachmann’s assertion that SHE brought tens of thousands of people to DC to fight Obamacare. She did herself no favors with the tea party last night with that comment. She is NOT a leader of the tea party movement. Her assertion that she is, shows a disrespect to its true leaders, the American people.
Romney had a good line about dog food.
Cain didn’t get enough time to stand out, but he did not hurt himself either.
Huntsman’s favorite word is “record.”
Recap:
Establishment Stuffed Shirt Front Runner: Romney
Conservatives On the Rise: Newt, Santorum, Bachmann
Conservative On the Decline: Cain
Conservative Crashing and Burning: Pawlenty
Crickets: Hunstsman
Bat Shit Crazy: Paul
The real winner may have been the one that wasn’t there: Rick Perry
