New Hampshire Republican Debate

CNN hosted the New Hampshire Republican Debate with only one flaw, the 30 second format.  The moderator John King was excellent in his role; I can't believe I'm saying something good about CNN.  This was more along the line of something Fox News should've done, whereas I could see a Democratic Debate on CNN.  Anyway I not only watched it and "Anderson Cooper 360" right after but I also DVR'd it for review.  What I present is a run-down of each of the Candidates and what I took from their appearance.  Just in case you don't want to read on, I must agree with the masses that Romney WON and actually looked Presidential with Bachmann a distant second but I'll expound on each below.  Though King gave Pawlenty every opportunity to throw Romney under the bus he didn't bite and the group went after O'Bama and his policies rather than each other which I liked.

Santorum:  He was informed (as they all were) but very charismatic and young. I found him looking like a teenager trying to talk about adult topics.

Paul: Though he wanted to talk about his topics he showed his knowledge of the Constitution. The biggest problem with Mr. Paul was his age; he looked like he was a walking corpse.

Gingrich:  Wow, he needed to step up and stand out and he did.  If I was going to pick a 3rd place winner it was him.  He stuck his neck out on Immigration and Muslims and that takes...ah. I didn't see a down side to him except he could've been more passionate.

Pawlenty:  I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch him or wash my hair; I'm folically challenged. He wasn't excited or exciting to watch or the least bit Presidential. Boring is an understatement, how did he get elected Gov...were the voters that desperate?

Cain:  Everyone else could've taken a page from him on issues except for hiring a Muslim.  I would've like to hear more from him as he did push the fact that he's NOT a politician.  NewsMax called him "the GOP's version of Harry Truman." and I must agree.

Bachmann: So this is what a former Beauty Pagent contestant does years later, sarcasm.  How many times did she say she has 23 Foster Kids? Why do we care?  So she announced she was running for President during the debate, well it's about time.  She did educate us about her and her resume' wonderful.  She showed she was informed and passionate but she's NOT Presidential; VP, YES!  Watching her the next morning on one of the morning shows didn't help her and though she's now out of Palin's shadow she doesn't have the self confidence like Palin does.

Romney:   I'm not a big Romney supporter though I liked him better than McCain and last night he   looked Presidential last night.  Informed, Charismatic, Broad-shouldered and seasoned.  He was the ONLY one who and I haven't heard ANY media hack commenting on it..."I can't wait to debate him." referring to a debate with President O'Bama.

So there you have it, each did well but some did better.  I'm still not wild about the group as a whole but some were better than others.  There are 2 potential Presidents standing on the stage...Romney and Cain with Pawlenty the long shot.  One has NO SHOT...Paul.  Cain, Santorum, Backmann and Gingrich would all make good VP's on a ticket but that depends on demographics.  A nominee normally picks someone from a different region of the country to help unify or bring in a state that they may need so don't discount Rubio being on the short list.

After last night here's some combinations that may work, notice Backmann and Santorum are NOT listed as the Nominee...I just don't see it happening and I don't see women's group coming out to support Backmann which is a shame.

        Romney / Backmann             Cain / Santorum                
        Romney / Cain                       Cain / Bachmann
        Romney / Rubio                     Cain / Gingrich

Just my opinion...go ahead and quote me on it.

Doc