TJ Walker breaks down the Republican debate from the Reagan Library. He names Rick Perry the winner for his style and clarity, while Romney played it safe, Bachmann gave canned answers, and Huntsman appealed to mainstream media but not GOP voters.
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So who won the Republican debate tonight at the Ronald Reagan library? First up, Rick Perry. More people were focused on him, more questions were focused on him, and he was the fresh faced kid. He's the one candidate that people haven't seen before in the debate. He's also the candidate that had the highest poll numbers. Many people were really looking at him. He had the most to gain or to lose. I think he came out on top of. He had no major flops. He did not embarrass himself and the potentially tough issues surrounding his candidacy. He handled himself quite well. The whole issue of, is this a guy who wants to eliminate Social Security? He said, well, not really. If you're a senior citizen, of course we'll continue to pay Social Security for you. It's only for these young kids where they have to worry about it because this could be a Ponzi scheme. All in all, he came across as gracious, he came across as reasonable. There have been a lot of articles out on the Internet in the last couple of weeks that is Rick Perry too dumb to be president. I don't think anyone watching him tonight really came away with the conclusion that he's dumb at all. They might not agree with him. I don't agree with him on everything, but you certainly couldn't conclude that this is someone who's dumb. He marshaled his facts, he cited his record. He was able to get some zingers in there. When he is attacked by Ron Paul for supporting Al Gore, he could fight right back and say, hey, Ron Paul, you're the guy who wrote a letter to Reagan quitting the Republican Party. So he showed he could punch back. There were some good zings and zangs with Mitt Romney, but he gave as well as he could get. Overall, stylistically, he came across presidential. He has the presidential look. People talk about his hair a lot. Every hair was in place, perfect dimple in the tie. You can accuse me of being superficial, but this is in part about superficial aspects. He came across not just at the spokesperson level, but as the symbolic leader of a party. Remember, this was at the Ronald Reagan library. Reagan was loved in part for always having the presidential style, always having his jacket buttoned in the Oval Office. So you cannot dismiss style. And Rick Perry had it. He also, when talking about the death penalty, came across very solemn. He did not seem like some blood thirsty, reckless cowboy. He was a little bit shaky on the whole global warming stuff, but no major stumbles. What he did quite well is he spoke in very clear cut, dark blight Black, white. That's the hallmark of a strong political communicator. It might not win him debate points at a graduate school seminar, but it does win him political points. So I see him as the big winner. Mitt Romney did very well. I mean, Mitt Romney came across as intelligent, smooth, articulate, gracious, likable, had some good lines, had some good zingers. Anyone who went into this debate liking Mitt Romney still likes Mitt Romney. I'm just not sure how he changed attitudes again. The beauty Perry had was he was able to change attitudes. A lot of people had this perception of him of too rough, too dumb, too much like a cowboy. He did change some perceptions tonight, and that's really why I give him the award for winning for the evening. Michelle Bachmann came across as intelligent, but too many of her answers just seemed canned, as if she didn't really want to listen to the reporter asking the questions. She didn't say anything bad. Yeah, she had a few zingers, but no zingers that would really dominate tomorrow's newscast. I don't think she changed any opinions of her. The people who love her are still going to love her, but her poll numbers have been just going down, down, down, in part because people who want a strong, attractive, conservative, Tea Party sort now feel that Perry is a viable option. So Bachmann didn't hurt herself, but she certainly didn't help her cause. Governor Huntsman, how did he do? Well, he went into this with 1%. I think he's going to have difficulty holding onto that. Between his position on his wanting to take a pledge on never taking pledges, saying it's essentially irresponsible to take a no tax pledge, saying that, hey, he's for science and we're going to kind of look crazy to people if we're anti science. That wins him a lot of points with the mainstream media. It wins him points with pundits, it wins him points with Democrats, with moderates, with independents. All completely irrelevant in a Republican primary. Newt Gingrich, now, this was the best debate Newt Gingrich has had so far. He was looser. He was funnier. His usual zings to the media, his sort of professorial attitude of you, Mr. Reporter, are so stupid for even asking that question. A lot of people like that in the Republican Party. It worked out quite well. He was quick on his feet when asked, are you going to write another foreword for Rick Perry's book? Well, if I'm asked to write more, I'll write more. He was a bit flippant but still funny. Did put out some interesting ideas and, and was not afraid to actually praise Obama from time to time. So Newt Gingrich, I think, raised his stature a little. The problem is his campaign has been such a joke for so long now. It doesn't really matter how well he does in these primary debates. Rick Santorum, who cares? His problem is nobody really likes Rick Santorum. He got run out of office by 18 points. It's hard to lose a reelection by 18 points. And when he talks, he still sounds bureaucratic. He talks about, well, this committee and this legislation. He doesn't really sound presidential. He sounds like an insider party hack. Herman Cain didn't hurt himself. The problem Herman Cain has is nobody really thinks he's going to be president. Nobody really is excited about his campaign. Yeah, he has 4 or 5%. People like to stay there for him. The problem with Herman Cain is he sounds like. Remember back in middle school where a motivational speaker came in, but he wasn't a very good motivational speaker because your middle school only has $500? That's what Herman Cain sounds like. Ron Paul. Now, Ron Paul has the strongest, most fervent base of supporters anywhere. And I can tell some of you Ron Paul supporters are getting ready to write nasty things about me right now just because I don't proclaim him the winner. Ron Paul did exactly the same as he does in all debates, and that is the people who like him. The 10% of the libertarians out there who like him, really like him. They're going to like him 10 times more after watching this debate. They're also going to think anyone who doesn't fall in love with him is a complete idiot and imbecile. And that's the problem. Ron Paul has his general attitude, his demeanor, and his supporters, they're so nasty and vicious. Part of Ron Paul's problem, he's scowling the whole time. He does not come across as likable. He thinks basically anyone's an idiot who thinks we should have FEMA or Social Security or anything in the government. And this is highly appealing to 10% of the Republican Party. It does not get you a nomination, doesn't get you more votes. But hey, he's got a strong following. He's not dropping out anytime soon. But he's not going to win the nomination. And this debate didn't help him at all. I'm TJ Walker for the Daily National.
