Gov. Mitt Romney had his night in Orlando, and possibly stole Gov. Rick Perry’s energy from him in the middle of the debate in the manner of an X-Men character. As always, we asked a few of our regular contributors to weigh in on the winners and losers. Hate or love what they have to say? Hit us up in the comments.
Matt Berry, Tulane College Republicans
Rick Perry is not a good debater. He’s right on a lot of issues, to be sure. But after three presidential debates, the frontrunner has been unimpressive week after week. He is inconsistent. He contradicts himself. He freezes, he demurs, he stumbles, he stammers.
Perry didn’t have an answer to the only jobs question of the night. I understand that he’s a late entrant to the race, but not having a plan on the number one issue in the minds of the American people is a fatal flaw.
My worry is that you put GOP Nominee Rick Perry on a stage next to President Obama, and the American people forget how disappointed they are in the President. I worry that undecided voters will watch the debates and forget how underwhelming Obama has been in office, and focus only about how underwhelming Perry is on stage.
Romney, on the other hand, had his strongest performance yet. He was agile. He was well-prepared. He was charming and funny. He looked strong and poised. He looked like he could be President of the United States tomorrow. That’s very good for his chances.
Oh, and I’m glad Gary Johnson was included. The dog joke made me laugh.
Winner: Romney
Aaron Marcus, Columnist Rutgers Daily Targum
Both Mitt Romney and Herman Cain excelled above and beyond the other candidates tonight. In addition to his regular debate enthusiasm, Cain seemed to hit a popular tone tonight when suggesting the federal government eliminate the environmental protection agency and start over. He also gave a moving answer on his experience with stage four cancer and the effect it has had on his health care perspectives.
Having said that, Romney stole this debate tonight by creating a stark contrast between himself and the indistinct Rick Perry. Romney has remarkably been able to shift the other Republican presidential candidates from focusing on Romneycare and onto Perry, regardless of policy. While Bachmann’s candidacy has become largely irrelevant, both she and Santorum took Perry to task on his in-state tuition law for illegal immigrants and failure to accept a protective fence along the American border with Mexico.
I assume that Romney and Perry will remain at the top of the pack for a little while longer, but if Perry performs similarly in other debates as he did tonight it won’t be long until Romney jumps out with a strong lead. Romney won tonight with his strongest performance yet, but more importantly he delivered a heavy blow to the Perry campaign.
Winner: Romney and Cain
Cameron Parker, UNC-Chapel Hill
Going into tonight as a libertarian, I was excited about two things: Prospective discussion of the death penalty (following the state-sanctioned murder of Troy Davis) and Gary Johnson.
No real death penalty talk, sadly.
Gary Johnson tied dogs’ fecal matter (Santorum?) to Obama’s stimulus package.
Tonight raised many of the same themes raised in the numerous preceding debates. Herman Cain kept talking about Chilean models (who are these models?), Michele Bachmann continues to be marginalized as she finally fades, and the other candidates continue to nip at each others’ heels.
Most importantly for the path to the nomination: Rick Perry and Mitt Romney continue to be at the top of the pack. They field the most questions, and their arguments suck all the air out of the room for the other candidates.
If Rick Perry was truly the new frontrunner, he would be the one deflecting questions rather than vociferously attacking Mitt Romney. Perry tried to strike at Romney about striking lines in his book. He hit him on Race to the Top (a rather solid blow), and again and again. But Romney remained ready, stayed cool-headed, and affirmed his front-runner status.
Perry continues to look less like a human and more like a personification of Texas. His laudable public policy achievements (immigrant education and vaccination) continue to kill him with the audience.
Lastly, what was up with booing the gay solider? And why did Santorum alone get the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Question? Missed opportunity of the night.
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