I hate Fox News’ debates. I absolutely detest their questioning, their timing, and I really can’t stand Chris Wallace. I think all the candidates showed up and performed well.
Tonight, for now, I think I’ll let the pundits have their say:
Tonight, Fred Reminded Me of Roy Hobbs.
Winner: Thompson. This performance was so commanding, I wanted his last answer to echo back to the lights in the back of the auditorium, blow out all the lamps and spotlights, for the theme to “the Natural” to play, and for him to trot around the stage in slow motion while sparks showered down in the background.
Silver Medal: Actually, Giuliani, McCain and Romney all had “pretty good” nights – although I wonder if Romney missed a golden opportunity to make a point when Paul suggested that Iran was not much of a threat. McCain seemed a little softer-edged tonight. For a guy who’s arguably now the frontrunner, he didn’t seem to catch a lot of flak tonight.
Peter Robinson, Former Reagan Aide and NRO contributor:
…in my judgment, Thompson need only sustain this performance for a couple of days before votes, and money, start moving in his direction. But tonight the one consistent and authentic conservative in this race made himself the man to watch. When Fred roars, he roars.
I agree about Fred
He was funny, pointed, substantive, and conservative. Who knew-he’s even better standing up than sitting down!
Mark Levin- Former aide to Reagan, talk show host, and NR contributor:
The Winner
Fred … win, place and show.
Fred won, hands down.
Mitt was steady.
Jonah Goldberg of NRO:
From a reader in Kentucky:
Jonah,
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Fred, but they all support someone else because they don’t think he can win. If he gets a small bounce in the polls after tonight’s performance, it could very well translate into a large bounce once it looks like he has a chance. As evidence, my recent May-December romance with McCain came to an abrupt end tonight with a Fred ’08 donation.
Andy McCarthy of National Review:
Fred & Immigration
Compelling.
Another Terrific Answer by Fred on Immigration
President Thompson
Brother Rich, Sister KLo, I’m a weak man. All evening I’ve tried to resist the temptation to say it. Honest I have. But I’m just a poor, lowly, miserable sinner, and I can’t wrestle off the temptation one single moment longer. Tomorrow I’ll surely repent, but tonight?
Told ya
“Fred Thompson is giving the most commanding debate performance we’ve seen from any candidate in either party since the beginning of this endless primary process.”
When they’re going after Ron Paul (for gosh sake) they’re leaving each other alone. Seems Fred is keeping his eye on the ball
I don’t know, am I crazy for thinking that Fred’s poised for at least a bounce in the polls? He’s doing great. I think if he’d been this guy from the beginning, he’d be at the top of the pack.
Okay, where has this Fred Thompson been for the last year? This is the man who published commentaries with us last year. This is the man who people wanted to draft. This is the conservative guy conservatives are attracted to.
This is why he wears well with conservatives even after what seems like a lackluster campaign – he sounds like one of us. He spontaneously sounds conservative. Because it’s a natural element for him.
Fred Thompson must have a role in the next administration. He is a great American.
I’m enthused about Romney-Thompson 2008. Any order.
Unlike Huckabee, he showed that he was informed on the incident and his jihadist-specific hereafter was terrific – and wholly spontaneous.
Go, Fred Go!
Not just for taking on Huckabee’s problematic record, but for stating with clarity not just what the “Reagan coalition” was but what it should be.
More to come from me later…
January 10th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I agree Fred did well, but I think it may be too late. He’s in 3rd/4th place in SC, and McCain could well get a bounce coming out of MI. His campaign is low on $. He’s fighting with Romney and McCain to split the anti-Huck conservative vote.
Huck has the evangelical and religious base that will stick with him.
One debate is nice debate but it was late at night on cable. How many people really saw it? I recall all the Rombots crowing about how he woon the sunday debate on FOX and how the Luntz group loved him and he still lost. I think Fred may get a few pts bump, but when you’re down by 20, that’s not enough. Unless, after Romney loses MI, his people break en masse for Fred, then he might have a chance.
But it was a good night for him and even if he gets out after SC, which he probably will, he gave a good showing tonight.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Hello, all (McCain-site) publisher-
My two cents:
Judging from who was attacking whom, it seemed that Huck and Fred each view each other as more of a threat than they do anyone else. Of course, I also noticed that in contrast to the NH debate, Mitt was pretty much left alone.
Also, I think that Fred had a great performance. Worst performance: Ron Paul. Rudy: Respectable – he needs some free-media right now, before Michigan/SC come around and he loses coverage…
January 10th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Tommy, you post something like this every debate!
Fred did very much give himself a shot in the arm though. The conspiracy theorists were talking about Rudy helping McCain, FDT & Mitt could team up also. That would leave two blocs to take down Huck, instead of the current 4.
I sometimes wonder why at this stage the people running with little hope don’t formally announce a coalition/joint ticket. Think how much better a Mitt/Fred ticket would do in SC & Michigan than the two running separately?
January 10th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Wow, somebody woke Fred up and he took Huckleberry behind the shed and put the beat down on him. Can I donate to Fred if I’m a Rombot?
January 10th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
What can Ron Paul do now? New Hampshire was his big state, but he did worse there than in Iowa.
Is he suited to SC or MI? I would have thought his best shot from here to super tuesday is Florida. Does he use his campaign funds to flood the airwaves in Florida? That would complicate things for Rudy…
January 10th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
So Luntz’s group thought Fred won, but he is too late. Only 5 people said that they will vote for him.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Fred, but they all support someone else because they don’t think he can win. ”
What? Fred was practically handed the nomination last summer! He was the white knight. He was the only one who can win. He could leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Trouble is, Fred has never lead anything. He is good at taking pot shots, but he never lead in the senate.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
A lot of good Luntz’s group did Romney in New Hampshire…..
January 10th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Fred needs to hit McCain. Just going after Huck isn’t gonna be enought to win. No way.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
MWS, that doesn’t stop McCain being seen as a leader…
I think the whole premise for Thompson’s bid was that McCain was damaged goods & basically dead. They’re both old Senators with a generally conservative record (although not as conservative as they make out).
Once McCain came back, FDT supporters drifted back to him.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
I got in on the debate after 25 minutes, but Mitt wasn’t given a chance to speak but maybe 4 times in the next 70 minutes for all of about 60-90 seconds each. I will be interested in a breakdown on candidate minutes in the near future. Mitt got a chance to speak more when there were 10 people on the stage. There was too much time spent on breaking down how Ron Paul was different than the others.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Fred did rip the Huckster a new one tonight, and I thought that Rudy came in second by the others failing. McCain seemed solemn and boring (plus he went on about climate change), Romney seemed to be a non-factor, Huckabee was being shredded by Thompson, and Ron Paul belongs in the loony bin. I say
1.) Thompson (far exceeded expectations)
2.) Rudy (substantive, good line about “change”)
3.) Romney (didn’t screw up)
4.) McCain (lots of airtime)
5.) Huckabee (good religion answer)
6.) Paul (cookoo)
January 10th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Yep, Fred won hands down. Good for him. Too bad for him it’s way too late in the game to be “hitting his stride.”
Maybe he shouldn’t have waited so long to get in. If he could have been hitting this stride a few months ago this could be a very different race (though his vetting would have been fuller and he would have garnered more negative MSM coverage than he has thus far).
January 10th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
It’s important for Fred to bring down Huckabee some, particularly in South Carolina. McCain isn’t a good fit in South Carolina, and while he obviously got a bounce coming out of South Carolina, as time goes on there, voters will gravitate to more conservative candidates.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Actually, I wonder if Huckabee is the new Ron Paul. In the sense that Ron Paul did very well as a GOP protest vote against the establishment.
Now Huckabee is the anti-establishment candidate, but because he’s a governor he’s given a greater chance of actually winning.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Why is it too late for Fred? The general election is 9 months away, the primary season has just begun. I
dont understand why one needs to jump into an election almost 2 years before it takes place. I changed
from Mitt to Fred tonight. I came to the realization that Fred can attack hilary and come off as arrogant
and mean as Mitt would.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Another problem for Fred is that there won’t be any more debates coming up. With this happening late on a friday, a weekend with playoff football coming up, Fred being a non-factor in MI on Tuesday and a possible day or two of coverage for whoever wins that, I think this is just too little, too late.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
As for the general, Fred is a far weaker candidate than McCain.
Fred will absolutely not win any blue state. He talks a good game about the Reagan Coalition but Reagan won CA, NY, IL, PA, MI and NJ both times he ran. Fred has zero chance at any of them. As do most Republicans. The Reagan Coalition is dead, at least as it was in the 80s.
Republicans constantly harping on Reagan are starting to sound like the dems in 80s would hark back to JFK and LBJ.
Reagan hasn’t been President for 20 years, he hasn’t run for 24 years.
It’s time to adapt, to get with the times instead of looking to 1984 to save us.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
My ranking.
Thompson
Huckabee
McCain
Romney
Ron Paul
Rudy
January 10th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
TreeMan,
The great thing about Mitt and Fred, besides the fact they agree with each other about almost everything, is that neither of them is mean or arrogant…..they are both mild-mannered and self-effacing. But they can also be assertive. Neither of them lack backbone or confidence.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Well I think it is unanimous. Everyone is going to put Fred first with their guy second.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Except for Tommy
January 10th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Michael…Rudy in last???
Were you watching the same debate? Try to be objective for once. huck clearly had AT LEAST a mediocre night. Fred AND Rudy had solid perfomances.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Luntz said the most positive response of the night was Huck’s response to Irans people seeing the gates of Hell and Fred’s response about them meeting virgins.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
jim,
I’ll let you in on a little secret that only a few of us, with super-powered perceptivity are aware of: McCain is too OLD to be president!! He couldn’t run for re-election, and if truth be known, he’d be lucky to still be alive by 2012 in any event. You can’t “get with the times” by running somebody who is ossified from the neck up. Look to support someone with a pulse.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
#23, I have Fred on top. Rudy rambled and no-one will remember his performance tonight at all. Paul gets a bounce for sympathy.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
The only sympathy that relates to Ron Paul is his apparent sympathy to Iran
January 10th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Huckabee is up for three responses that people will remember. Mitt said nothing that anyone will remember except a slight against Ron Paul, which I think was a negative. He did answer the rest of the questions though.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Here’s Huckabee’s GOTV effort for MI
http://www.politico.com/static/PPM43_080110_mich_huckabee.html
January 11th, 2008 at 12:00 am
#27, I don’t agree with all of what he says, but he is bullied around pretty badly by everyone, including Fox.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Just saw the video that Hannity was talking about. Huck’s toast.
http://www.victimsvoice527.com
January 11th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Dave,
McCain is 72, Reagan was 69, not a huge difference.
I agree with you against Obama. McCain will come off as very old, but then again so would Fred(64), Mitt(61) or Rudy(63). Huckabee not as much.
Against Hillary I don’t think it matters as much. I don’t think it would be a decisive factor. He’s old, but not in a crothety out of touch Dole manner.
Again, as for the debate, I don’t think it caused any Huckabee or McCain supporters to bail on their guy. It probably energized Fred’s guys and maybe made some Romney people have 2nd thoughts, but the fact is Fred is polling in 4th place(5th in one poll), and it’s hard to see why enough of the supporters of the guys in front of him would bail on their guy to see him winning.
Unless…the Conservative movement puts up the bat signal and mounts an all hands on deck effort to win it for him. Possible, but is there enough time?
January 11th, 2008 at 12:10 am
I can’t wait until the FL election on Jan 29, and Super Tuesday when Rudy wins most of the delegates.
I’ll be laughing at the Rudy haters eating their hearts out, LOL.
January 11th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I don’t want this to sound troll-like, but I have been sharing my thoughts here all along, so take them for what they are – sincere reactions from a liberal dem.
I honestly got the impression tonite that your candidates are were all inmates fighting in the playground during their daily break at the asylum. Seriously, it was a revolting performance.
Reagan fetishing, sad little attempts to puff oneself up as the real tough guy, almost total insensitivity to the issues that really affect the lives of real people. What planet are you guys on?
Maybe I shouldnt be surprised, a Republican audience in South Carolina….but geez. Do any of you guys really think that you could break 40% in November with these types of approaches?
“Luntz said the most positive response of the night was Huck’s response to Irans people seeing the gates of Hell and Fred’s response about them meeting virgins.”
Wow. My eyes are rolling right out of my head. This is what gets the juices flowing in the GOP?
I can’t believe that I am actually typing these words, but Ron Paul seemed like the only sane person on the stage when the issue was the naval encounter – well McCain was sane for awhile, but he had to go tough guy before long. Is there some massive insecurity problem in the GOP regarding manhood?
I gotta say – I’m starting to think, for really the first time, that there might really be a landslide in Nov.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:24 am
this must be exciting for a fred supporter. finally.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:37 am
[...] Evangelicals For Mitt Roundup Fred Videos A Fred Roundup And another one Post Debate Reaction An Appeal KAG Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites [...]