Great debate tonight. It started off with Newt bashing, went into Obama bashing, came back to Newt bashing, then Obama took a standing eight count, then Paul was voted most likely to succeed as Iran’s next president…

After about 20 minutes of the debate I got a little fed up and changed the channel to watch the NFL game, Jacksonville Jaguars vs Atlanta Falcons.. The debate was more competitive so I switched back..

I’ll start with Newt Gingrich since he was in the center spot:

Newt: He took a lot of shots from many of the candidates. His biggest problem seems to be the “Lobbying” or “Not Lobbying” of Fannie and Freddie. Kind of a Clintonesque explanation of the definition of “Lobbying”…. I think Newt would be better off saying yep I did and I was good at it that’s why I got so much to do it. Newt made up for that issue with the pipeline issue, the foreign policy issue and his stance on abortion. Bachmann tried to hit him over it but he handled it perfectly. Newt took the entire ambush, turned it around positively without any outright attacks on any of them. IF Obama’s machine can only muster that much of an attack against Newt, Obama will be knocked out of the race before it begins.

Bachmann: She delivered a pretty good performance although she had her facts wrong. She attacked Paul with one of the best lines of the debate calling his stance on Iran Dangerous. She went after Newt with false accusations and stretched talking points that have been discounted over and over again. She’s coming across as deranged and unhinged. I guess that’s why Beck likes her.

Santorum: He did get his point across about his record. I didn’t know he did what he said he did. He’s a great conservative candidate for congress or Senate but I don’t think he’d get any love in the general election. He’s a bit rigid in some of the social issues that Obama can exploit in several key states. I like the guy, I’d vote for him in a heartbeat and be damn happy about it. But as of right now I don’t think he’s got a chance.

Huntsman: He had a good debate, he gets on my nerves a bit because of the way he speaks. He’s also a bit left for my liking. I really don’t remember many of his answers except that he noted again that China got the rights to some Afghanistan land to exploit minerals…

Romney: Well, Romney.. Um. Okay this was probably his best debate to date. He was steady, he didn’t overtly attack anyone, he answered questions directly and did very little self promoting which was a nice change. He was gracious in accepting Newt’s compliment and reciprocated by not piling on when he was urged to do so. He may have had the best debate of his career tonight and it pains me to say that.

Perry: This WAS Perry’s best debate to date. He was measured in his responses and he was also direct. He had a few memorable lines and he also stayed away from negativity for the most part. Perry if he can keep this style up may climb back up in the polls. Another candidate I would gladly vote for.

Paul: This was his worst debate to date. I know the “Paulbots” will discount this as a “Rightwing Set up” or something but Paul didn’t help his case at all. Paul needs to expand his fan base to outside of the anti-war crowd. The throngs of Paul supporters had to be cringing at his Iran answer. Paul also went negative in some of his answers and that will not gain him any cross candidate support. Paul showed his weakness in this debate and anyone who says he didn’t is too far gone to see truth. Bachmann abused him and it sent him reeling. When you are called “Dangerous” on a national stage by someone who is considered “Dangerous” by many it can’t help.

As it stands right now I’d say Romney, Newt, Perry all came out winners. Santorum and Huntsman held firm and the losers were Bachmann and Paul.