Republican Debate: Grading Each Candidate
In case you missed the Republican debate last night, don’t read the news reports about it, and about “blah blah Hillary.” here are my thoughts on how each candidate did:
Rudy Giuliani: C-
Rudy’s a little too sharp to ever tank a debate, but he did little last night to appeal to the core conservatives who are worried that he’s a social liberal. Faced with attacks from Thompson that Rudy has supported federal funding for abortion and supported sanctuary cities, Rudy didn’t address the issue and side-swiped it, talking about lowering crime in New York instead.
Mike Huckabee: A-
In his first response, he go to mention “sanctity of life” and came across as someone the conservative Christians who swung the ‘04 election could rely on. He came out big with some memorable lines (like, “there’s nothing funny about Hillary Clinton in the White House”) and even seemed to be on top of his foreign policy.
Duncan Hunter: D+
He’s so memorable that I first typed “Lindsay Hunter” there because I thought of the NBA player instead. He might be an okay conservative, but he does nothing to differentiate himself and give voters a reason to latch on to him, the way Mike Huckabee does even though he’s not posting Rudy’s numbers. He’s like Tommy Thompson in that voters might like what he has to say, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to vote for him.
John McCain: B
He had the most memorable line of the night (talking about Woodstock, he said he was “tied up at the time,” in the context of making fun of a Hillary spending project), and constantly referred to himself a conservative. He also emphasized his experience, which is vast.
Ron Paul: D
The world’s most predictable Republican drew the most boos from the conservative crowd on issues like Iraq, but the Fox News post-debate polls had him rating the highest - possibly because of liberals who didn’t like the other Republicans. You don’t have to watch Ron Paul debate to know what it’s like: every position he has is “why is it the government’s responsibility?”
Mitt Romney: B+
I really want to like Mitt Romney, but he took a few shots for being the governor of Massachusetts and some of the compromises he might have had to make. He was also in favor of some big-government enforcements; at least he likes the free market.
Tom Tancredo: INC
Not enough airtime. Come on, he’s Tom Tancredo.
Fred Thompson: B+
The guy from Die Hard 2 listed all of his accomplishments to show he’s not lazy and blasted some of the other top candidates - like Rudy - for not being liberal. When Rudy side-stepped, he was basically exposed; he’s not going to change his mind, so that’s all he can do.
The candidate who helped himself the most is Mike Huckabee, who’s looking like a solid VP candidate down the road if he doesn’t do early damage in Iowa or one of those states. They should eliminate Duncan Hunter, Tancredo, and possibly Ron Paul from these things.
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