GOP Debate: Mitt, McCain Winners; Rudy Lost

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Dry Fly Politics has a summary of the debate tonight.

The CNN/YouTube debate was among the most heated debates yet. The defining moment of the debate occurred at the beginning with a lively exchange between Mitt and Rudy. Rudy claimed that Mitt hired an illegal to work on his house and Mitt called him out and essentially said, “So you are saying that when an American hires a company to do it’s yard work and you happen to hear an individual with an hispanic accent, then you should go and make sure he is here legally?” It was a perfect response. It made Rudy look foolish and really baffled him and threw him off his game early.

Mitt was masterful in this interchange. Rudy even got booed by the crowd.

Romney also had a solid answer to his change on Abortion. He came out and admitted that he had changed and would not apologize for it.

Mitt’s worst moment was regarding the Gay’s in the military; Mitt was basically caught in a flip-flop.

I don't agree. But, at this point Anderson Cooper (the moderator) followed-up several times suggesting a flip-flop on the subject.

As for Rudy, he really stumbled a lot and never got back on track. That is really all there is to say about that.

McCain also had a strong night because half of the evening was on Iraq and foreign policy. He knows the issue and is an authority thereon. The thing that annoys me is that he always brings up his Vietnam POW experience and mentioned his trip to Iraq over Thanksgiving a few times. Enough already.

McCain was painful to listen to. He's an ornery guy.

My rankings:

1. Mitt

2. John

3. Fred

4. Mike

5. Rudy

It will be interesting to see what effect this has on the race. After Mitt had a bad debate a few months ago, his poll number dipped, will the same be true for Rudy?

Final points:

1. I was really disappointed in the crowd at the debate, they were very disrespectful.

2. Anderson Cooper couldn’t get control of the debate early, it was funny to watch.

3. Rumor has it that the General that asked the Gay’s in the Military question is a member of the Clinton campaign. If true, this is potentially a big issue.

I'll add a final point: the questions were not very good. Some were very far out.

Nice work, Mitt.