Grading the Debate

Here is the New Right's debate review. I will grade each of the candidates. First of all, 10 candidates makes for an unwieldy debate. At least five of these guys are absolutely delusional. If they are trying to fill a conservative void, they may as well all drop out when they see someone who isn't even running yet (Thompson) have anywhere between 10 and 15 times as much support in the polls. It must be either ego or derangement. The one place where this can be rational, however, is when you have a pet issue (like Tancredo and immigration) that you are looking to bring attention to. Be sure to share your thoughts.

Tom Tancredo- Grade: B, Tancredo seems fairly comfortable in these debates. His answers are fine, but of course he has no shot. His presence in the race does force more attention on the

Ron Paul- Grade: F, Paul comes across as angry and old, which he is. This doesn't win elections though. He is so out of his league it isn't funny. That said, I think it was a bit unfair to jump on him the way they did for his Iraq comment. I am not so sure he actually blamed America for the attacks, and I think it is a rational to think that if the United States was not involved so heavily in the affairs of the Middle East, we may not be such a target. That said, Giuliani saw an opportunity to distinguish himself and he took it.

Jim Gilmore- Grade: D, Gilmore is also out of his league, and delusional to think that he has something to offer to this race. He looked bad when he was given an opportunity to "attack" Rudy McRomney. He has absolutely no chance. He is such a non-factor this is really a waste of web-space.

John McCain- Grade: B-, McCain was OK. He fielded criticisms well. I just have a hard time getting over how old and crippled he looks. That said, being willing to be the last man standing in Iraq is very attractive to me. I can live with McCain.

Tommy Thompson- Grade: D, Other than being from Wisconsin, Tommy brings little to the table. Though his record as governor has some bright spots, he is so bad on TV that he has no chance of being elected to a higher office. If you want a Midwesterner on the ticket, you help yourself much more by taking Pawlenty.

Mike Huckabee- Grade: B+, Huckabee is a likable guy. The jokes went over well, but to me he was trying to be a bit too funny. He responded quite well to criticisms of raising taxes in Arkansas. Basically, he said Arkansas sucks and needed any help it could get. Huckabee could plausibly fill the "conservative void."

Sam Brownback- Grade: C, Nothing stands out about Brownback. It is time for him to pack it in.

Rudy Giuliani- Grade: B+, Giuliani was his typical feisty self. Showed appropriate humor at times, and manages to sound acceptable to social conservatives, though holding drastically different views. At one point, he basically said that if you want to beat Hilary, I am the man to do it, even if I am not you favorite. Overall, a good night for Rudy.

Mitt Romney- Grade: A-, As you know, I am a Romney man, so perhaps I am biased. Romney looks great on camera and is by far the most eloquent candidate. In this regard, he is kind of an anti-Bush. These things are vain, but they do matter. There was no hesitation in answering any question, and he tends to go into greater detail than other candidates. I read one criticism that Romney seems too programmed. This is part of a line of "too perfect" criticisms of Romney. I of course, think this criticism is dumb. Certainly Romney didn't hurt himself last night, and he again came across to as impressive to a large TV audience (important as he is the least well known of the Big Three).

Duncan Hunter- Grade: A-, Duncan Hunter is the sleeper of the group. He is more comfortable than many of the debaters. It doesn't appear that he is gaining any steam however. This is unfortunate. He has great security credentials, has children in the marines (as does McCain) and he also has great immigration credentials. Hunter is a little different than the other candidates in that he is what I would term a populist conservative. For instance, he is skeptical of free trade. You could compare him to Pat Buchanan (in my estimation the best political analyst out there), but less eccentric.

So that is my round-up. Good nights for Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani, McCain, and Hunter. Everyone else needs to step aside.