During the first Republican debate, you could say “They’re off” — because several were off of their game.
But in the second Republican primary debate for the 2008 GOP Presidential nomination you could say “They’re off!” — meaning off and running, scoring points against each other and tossing out snappy soundbite zingers (most likely prepared in advance).
And, in the end, in a debate marked by Fox News moderators quizzing candidates on whether they were REAL conservatives, plus questions to probe whether they had their positions prepared on gun control, abortion and tax cuts, it was clear that the GOP battle for the Presidential nomination is now out of its pro-forma orientation stage. Let the battle — and the negative ads, op research and defining of political opponents — begin.
And the result? Here are some thoughts on the debate from this independent voter (who has voted for candidates from both parties over the years):
OTHER STORIES AND RESOURCES:
Glenn Reynolds has a roundup and thinks Giuliani won.
Hotline On Call feels McCain won, Giuliani did very well and looked Presidential, and Romney stumbled. Also has comments on some others.
Live blogging by Vodka Pundit
Andrew Sullivan was impressed by Paul’s “cojones” on the war and was impressed by McCain on torture. In a post that needs to be read in full, Sullivan writes: “It’s also clear that compassionate conservatism is dead. Every single candidate favors reduced taxes and big spending cuts. None, however, is prepared to say that Medicare and Social Security must be on the chopping block. The grand experiment in big-government Republicanism is therefore rhetorically over.”
See our earlier post on the debate HERE.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.