Who won the debate?

[greenforest32]

?

[Yelnoc]

Gingrich, easily.

[Lief 🗽]

I mean, Ron Paul was clearly the only one on that stage making any sense. But as far as winning the Republican primary, Newt was the winner.

[Thomas D]

Romney. But the last bit about flip floping didn't look good.

[© tweed]

I thought Mitt did a very good job...?

[Simfan34]

I don't know. Both Romney and Gingrich were pretty hurt. Ron Paul was perhaps fatally wounded.

Anyone who says Paul wins is a hack, but for what it's worth I'm saying Huntsman. But he can lose but because he speaks so little.

[Politico]

Clearly Romney. Anybody who believes Gingrich won is engaging in wishful thinking. Sorry Obama supporters, but Gingrich is not going to be Obama's opponent.

Huntsman was the only other person on that stage who looked and sounded like a president.

[Eraserhead]

I really didn't see a clear winner in this one.

[Lief 🗽]

Clearly Romney. Anybody who thinks Gingrich won is engaging in wishful thinking. Sorry Obama supporters, but Gingrich is not going to be Obama's opponent.

Why would we want Gingrich to be Obama's opponent? He's a stronger candidate than Moneybag Mittens...

[Bacon King]

The moderators won, because they were able to get away with the horribly blatant bias in the questions they asked.

[Pyro]

Romney and Gingrich both did well in terms of debating.
Paul did well as usual, though I think the Iran question was intentionally done to hurt him.
Perry did better than usual and Huntsman did alright.
Santorum and Bachmann need to stop getting air-time.

[NHI]

Mitt Romney.

[Dereich]

I give Mitt and Gingrich a tie. Both had good nights with maybe one stumble apiece. Huntsman needs to stop being such a windbag, Santorum was average, Bachmann was whining about being a serious candidate and attacking everyone, Paul was Paul, Perry was uneventful.

[redcommander]

Mitt Romney. He handled attacks well, and left Bachmann as the attack dog against Gingrich.

[Politico]

Clearly Romney. Anybody who thinks Gingrich won is engaging in wishful thinking. Sorry Obama supporters, but Gingrich is not going to be Obama's opponent.

Why would we want Gingrich to be Obama's opponent? He's a stronger candidate than Moneybag Mittens...

Who do you think you're kidding? Obama would not have to do any work other than air variants of this ad a million times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRdqGKA782A

[GLPman]

This debate marked a huge improvement for Romney after last week's miserable performance. I'd say Romney ended up coming out on top, with Gingrich in second. Gingrich performed well in the second half of the debate, but really struggled in the first half. Paul's performance was the most surprising -- he didn't come off nearly as smoothly as he did in the other debates.

Romney: A-
Gingrich: B+
Paul: B-
Huntsman: B-
Perry: C+
Santorum: C
Bachmann: F

[Lief 🗽]

Clearly Romney. Anybody who thinks Gingrich won is engaging in wishful thinking. Sorry Obama supporters, but Gingrich is not going to be Obama's opponent.

Why would we want Gingrich to be Obama's opponent? He's a stronger candidate than Moneybag Mittens...

Who do you think you're kidding? Obama would not have to do any work other than air variants of this ad a million times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRdqGKA782A

Obama just has to air the Mitt Romney flip-flopping ad a million times and he wins. Maybe sprinkle in a few "Mitt Romney is a Wall Street-loving 1%er" ads with some choice "Corporations are people" and "Let Detroit go bankrupt" clips if you really want to twist the knife.

[FloridaRepublican]

Romney. As a pleasant surprise.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

1st half- Romney
2nd half- Newt
Debate- Newt narrowly, he showed why he is the frontrunner with his answer he prefaced by saying "don't want to appear zany"

[King]

In terms of sense, Paul followed by Romney.

However, the crowd ate Gingrich up.  He'll be up big in IA again because of this.

[Politico]

Clearly Romney. Anybody who thinks Gingrich won is engaging in wishful thinking. Sorry Obama supporters, but Gingrich is not going to be Obama's opponent.

Why would we want Gingrich to be Obama's opponent? He's a stronger candidate than Moneybag Mittens...

Who do you think you're kidding? Obama would not have to do any work other than air variants of this ad a million times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRdqGKA782A

Obama just has to air the Mitt Romney flip-flopping ad a million times and he wins. Maybe sprinkle in a few "Mitt Romney is a Wall Street-loving 1%er" ads with some choice "Corporations are people" and "Let Detroit go bankrupt" clips if you really want to twist the knife.

None of that stuff will work. Mitt is too good-looking, articulate, and his personal history, the fact his parents made him earn his own way (lived in $75/month apartments in college, had to work summer jobs as a security guard, etc.) and the fact Mitt spent at least one day a week working for charities before running for president, does not bode well for your narrative.

[tmthforu94]

Don't think Gingrich handled his attacks well - he certainly diverted from the originaly topic.

Bachmann certainly became the "anti-Gingrich conservative" tonight. Perry also had a strong night, but the winner was Romney. I think he came across as very likeable and answered his questions very well.

[RogueBeaver]

I thought Mitt did a very good job...?

This. Gingrich was ranting about 'judicial dictatorship" and essentially saying "lobbying and court-packing are OK when I do it" at one point. He bled, Paul reminded us that he's still Ron Paul, otherwise no clear winner/loser.

[Bacon King]

Clearly Romney. Anybody who thinks Gingrich won is engaging in wishful thinking. Sorry Obama supporters, but Gingrich is not going to be Obama's opponent.

Why would we want Gingrich to be Obama's opponent? He's a stronger candidate than Moneybag Mittens...

Who do you think you're kidding? Obama would not have to do any work other than air variants of this ad a million times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRdqGKA782A

Obama just has to air the Mitt Romney flip-flopping ad a million times and he wins. Maybe sprinkle in a few "Mitt Romney is a Wall Street-loving 1%er" ads with some choice "Corporations are people" and "Let Detroit go bankrupt" clips if you really want to twist the knife.

None of that stuff will work. Mitt is too good-looking, articulate, and his personal history, the fact his parents made him earn his own way (lived in $75/month apartments in college, had to work summer jobs as a security guard, etc.) and the fact Mitt spent at least one day a week working for charities before running for president, does not bode well for your narrative.

Romney can certainly be defined as an out-of-touch flip-flopping megarich Massachusetts elitist, just like the Republicans did to Kerry. It helps that he was personally responsible for outsourcing jobs when he led Baines Capital, and you can bet Obama will be bringing that up a lot.

The thing is, though, that unlike Kerry (or anyone else in the Republican field right now, for that matter), Romney actually surrounds himself with a campaign staff that knows what they're doing, and he actually listens to them. That fact alone will make Romney a tougher general election opponent than anyone besides maybe Huntsman.

[Lief 🗽]

Fox news people grades

WASPy douche guy
Gingrich: A-
Romney: B+
Bachmann: B
Paul: A (based on a his supporters curve)
Santorum: incomplete
Perry: C-
Huntsman: F-

Creepy bearded man
G: B+
R: B/B+
B: B-
Pa: First half = A-, Second half = F
S: C+
Pe: Gentleman's C
H: D

And the boring third one
G: B+
R: B/B+
B: no grade
Pa: C/C+
S: no grade
Pe: B/B+ style, C/C+ substance
H: no grade