Mitt Romney and Rick Perry clearly don’t like each other

CNN’s Las Vegas GOP Presidential debate was the best one so far!

Of course the candidates repeated their usual talking points but so many punches were thrown at Mitt Romney and Herman Cain that it’s a wonder either candidate came out alive but the most revealing aspect of the debate wasn’t the fact that punches were thrown at the two top contenders Cain and Romney but it was how each candidate responded.

Romney got down and dirty while Cain just laughed off his attacks and attackers-for the most part.

However, the most telling exchange of night occurred between Texas Governor Rick Perry and Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney over Romney’s alleged hiring of illegal immigrants to do some landscaping at his home. It was the best exchange I’ve seen at any of the debates this year! Not only were you able to visually witness the well documented disdain Perry and Romney have for each other  spill over into the public arena, but you were able to see how each candidate responds when being attacked Romney was appealing to Anderson for help and Perry was seemingly saying, as he glared Romney down, “No Mitt don’t bring anybody into this. This is between you and me.” I thought the two men would stop trading verbal blows and start physically assaulting each-but alas they didn’t.

I’ve heard a few commentators say that Romney’s response, lowers him in the eyes of perspective voters but I disagree as someone who has often said that Mitt Romney acts like a robot who doesn’t like to get dirty, this exchange proves that he has some life in him and that he’s not afraid to get down in the mud with someone, he doesn’t like/who doesn’t like him and fight. And at the very least, the VERY least it shows he’s human and if someone throws a punch at him, he CAN punch back.

Perry needed at the very least a mediocre performance tonight. And he performed. He threw punches at Romney all night and their exchange over immigration will be headline news tomorrow.  Perry will certainly get GOP voters that clearly have a problem with Romney and those that are undecided about Romney as the GOP Presidential candidate, to take a second look at his campaign and Perry desperately needs that. After the last debate I thought he was done, now I’m not so sure maybe he does have something left in him.

Cain, the other contender spent the first half of the debate fending off attacks on his 9-9-9 plan that was to be expected. I don’t think that he has adequately explained his plan so far and he didn’t do it again tonight. He has to be able to explain his plan in enough detail to convince an average voter who goes to H&R Block to get their taxes done that this will plan will not only simplify the process but it also be more beneficial to

Rick Santorum, I want him to get more questions in every debate. Dude was on fire! He went after Romney, Perry and Cain was cordial to Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich but he needs more questions so that he can accuse other candidates of not having ‘a track record’ as he did with Mitt Romney emphatically stating,” You just don’t have credibility on Obamacare Mitt…you have no track record  that we can trust you that you’re gonna do that (and repeal it).” It was just electrifying television. I couldn’t get enough.

Overall CNN’s Western Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas was the best one so far I hope it gets better!

Herman Cain new GOP frontrunner

 

Ok, maybe that headline may a bit of a stretch but it’s not that far fetched.

At Tuesday night’s GOP Presidential debate, held at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, almost everybody had something to say to Cain. From moderator Charlie Rose fielding the first question of the night to Herman Cain to the other presidential candidate’s seeming obsession with Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan.

Most of the debate was centered around Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan, with many of the candidates expressing their doubts about whether or not it could be successful and outright attacking it from all sides. Cain’s plan would dismantle the current tax system and establish a 9 percent corporate tax, 9 percent income tax and a new 9 percent national sales tax.

Cain, defended his plan consistently and  even after a statement by Governor Jon Huntsman who said he thought Cain’s plan referred to a ‘price of pizza’, Cain said his plan, ” Will pass and it is not the price of pizza, because it has been well-studied and well-developed. It starts with, unlike your proposals, throwing out the current tax code.”

Herman Cain did nothing but bolster his campaign tonight.

Governor Rick Perry is done. He did not perform. He looked lost and confused on several occasions and at one time he even appeared to be rolling his eyes at a statement made by Governor Jon Huntsman. Perry’s campaign has gone from white hot to code blue in a matter of weeks and I attribute it all to his debate performances. He just can’t seemingly articulate his ideas or attack his opponents in a coherent and articulate fashion for any audience and this does not inspire confidence in the GOP base and from donors.

Governor Romney was solid. He was prepared as usual, showed up did his job and made sure to look everybody in the eye (even though I have yet to figure out anything about this guy other than the fact that he wants to president, really, really, really badly)  when they spoke and he didn’t make and critical mistakes. As they say slow and steady wins the race.

And all the other candidates, they showed up, were asked a couple of questions by the moderators because the moderators had too, just to be politie, but again if you walk away with anything from this debate it’s this-Rick Perry’s campaign is over. Herman Cain’s campaign and status is on the rise and Mitt Romney is still solid and appears to know what he’s talking about.

Bring on the next one!

Texas Gov Rick Perry wins GOP debate by default

There’s not much to really write about after the GOP Presidential Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California a few hours ago. I give the overall debate a 3 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being off the hook and 1 an absolute bore.

Current GOP front-runner and Texas Governor Rick Perry won. Well, he won by default. He won because none of the other candidates could actually land a political punch that didn’t seem contrived and insincere. When Romney and Perry attacked each other’s job record, early in the evening, the entire exchange between them with each pointing out that previous Governors Michael Dukakis in Massachusetts and George W. Bush in Texas were the real job creators in their states it seemed almost childish.

In addition, when Representative Ron Paul attacked Perry for not being nearly as conservative as he says he is, Perry accused Paul of betraying Ronald Reagan’s GOP. If you’ve seen Ron Paul’s latest ad TRUST which completely disses Rick Perry you may have thought Paul would’ve hit Perry a lot harder than that but he didn’t. I guess Paul decided he had more important things to tell the American people for example how he would eliminate airport security, dismantle FEMA and get us a gallon of gas for a silver dime!

And Former Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman, oh man, the guy just seemed out-of-place up there.

Yes, really that’s the best they could do. And Tea Party favorite, Representative Michele Bachmann, wasn’t really given the chance to say much she was thrown a couple of questions here and there but nothing that could really get her going. And the other three candidates, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum received the same treatment as Bachmann.

So with just a few sparks here and there from the other candidates Romney and Perry were allowed to pretty much go after each other and we expected that since the two have been declared the ones to beat with Rick Perry now leading most of the national polls.

But what was surprising, to me, was how easily the six other candidates were marginalized and dismissed. When either moderator, NBC’s Brian Williams or Politico’s John Harris decided to ask any of the other candidates a question I’m sure I’m not the only one who was thinking “Why are you guys even bothering?” since most of the debate was centered on either Romney or Perry.

To be honest,  if I had been one of the other candidates on stage tonight I wouldn’t be hard press to consider the entire evening a waste of my time.