Who won the CNN debate?

[All life is a blur of Republicans and meat.]

So was this worth watching or no?

Based on what I'm reading it sounds like everything is in place for Santorum to flop next Tuesday and for Gingrich to carry the ABR battle flag into Super Tuesday.

[Bacon King]

Gingrich
Paul
Romney



Santorum

^^^^^^

This. Newt did great since he's not the center of attention anymore. Paul had a solid debate as well; he had several good applause lines. Romney was mediocre but fairly solid throughout. Santorum faced a lot of harsh attacks and, while I admire the way he attempted to explain how the earmark process actually works, that doesn't win with the voter's against Mitt's vague platitudes.

The best exchange of the debate was the earmark bit; I was laughing out loud when Santorum and Romney were both trying to stutter over each other and OUT OF KNOWHERE Newt just explains everything, and then Santorum brings Ron Paul in too just to get a four-way debate going on.

I loved the chairs, too, that was amusing. A great finale to this debate season; I only wish we still had another few coming (hosted by CNN, of course, theirs har been the best by far.)

[TheGlobalizer]

"It is my purely objective belief that the candidate I am supporting won the debate, and the other candidates did terribly."

-- Any Republican

[useful idiot]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

[BigSkyBob]

Gingrich won the debate handily.

Moderates Republicans ought to be nominated for idiots of the year. Their candidate decided to make their fellow moderates in tough races radioactive to anyone whom is even remotely considering running for President someday. Probably for the better.

[True Federalist]

Santorum gained and lost from the debate.  He gained from the fact that the tenor of the debate made it clear that he was (as of the start of the debate) the frontrunner, and there is always a degree of herd mentality in the electorate.  That confirmed frontrunner status will gain him ABR votes that previously had been leaning towards Gingrich and Paul.  However, he didn't respond as well as I would have liked in his first debate as the target, not that many politicians could have.  It's a shame the March 1st debate was canceled.  It would have been nice to have a definite event at which we could judge whether Rick can rebound from that barrage instead of determining that from how the campaign trail goes.

Romney gained from having only one person gunning for him instead of three.  Either Newt has delusions that he can regain the leading ABR spot, or he thinks Romney will be the nominee, so it's time to get inside the wagon circle before he gets left alone on the prairie.

[Korwinist]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

[useful idiot]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

His attacks could have been against Gingrich and it would have been no different. The fact that he's a lapdog for a spineless piece of filth like Romney speaks volumes about him. Paul is supporting-by-proxy a man who has even less in common with him on the issues than the other two candidates in the race. It doesn't matter if it's for his son's possible political gain or because he likes Romney, both reasons are despicable.

[Gustaf]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

His attacks could have been against Gingrich and it would have been no different. The fact that he's a lapdog for a spineless piece of filth like Romney speaks volumes about him. Paul is supporting-by-proxy a man who has even less in common with him on the issues than the other two candidates in the race. It doesn't matter if it's for his son's possible political gain or because he likes Romney, both reasons are despicable.

How so? I don't see why Paul would be closer to Santorum or Gingrich compared to Romney.

[Zach Vega]

Ron Paul did.

[useful idiot]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

His attacks could have been against Gingrich and it would have been no different. The fact that he's a lapdog for a spineless piece of filth like Romney speaks volumes about him. Paul is supporting-by-proxy a man who has even less in common with him on the issues than the other two candidates in the race. It doesn't matter if it's for his son's possible political gain or because he likes Romney, both reasons are despicable.

How so? I don't see why Paul would be closer to Santorum or Gingrich compared to Romney.

Romneycare, previous support for gun control, support for federal involvement in education on a greater level than Santorum certainly, Chinese trade issues, Wall Street bailout, cap and trade, minimum wage tied to inflation....

These should all be killers for a supposedly principled leader like Paul. However Paul rips the other candidates for more minor issues...

[argentarius]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

His attacks could have been against Gingrich and it would have been no different. The fact that he's a lapdog for a spineless piece of filth like Romney speaks volumes about him. Paul is supporting-by-proxy a man who has even less in common with him on the issues than the other two candidates in the race. It doesn't matter if it's for his son's possible political gain or because he likes Romney, both reasons are despicable.

How so? I don't see why Paul would be closer to Santorum or Gingrich compared to Romney.

Romneycare, previous support for gun control, support for federal involvement in education on a greater level than Santorum certainly, Chinese trade issues, Wall Street bailout, cap and trade, minimum wage tied to inflation....

These should all be killers for a supposedly principled leader like Paul. However Paul rips the other candidates for more minor issues...

Maybe if Rick didn't act like such a dick to him Ron Paul wouldn't attack him so much. While Rick was a footnote, he dedicated his debates to having spats with Ron Paul.

[useful idiot]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

His attacks could have been against Gingrich and it would have been no different. The fact that he's a lapdog for a spineless piece of filth like Romney speaks volumes about him. Paul is supporting-by-proxy a man who has even less in common with him on the issues than the other two candidates in the race. It doesn't matter if it's for his son's possible political gain or because he likes Romney, both reasons are despicable.

How so? I don't see why Paul would be closer to Santorum or Gingrich compared to Romney.

Romneycare, previous support for gun control, support for federal involvement in education on a greater level than Santorum certainly, Chinese trade issues, Wall Street bailout, cap and trade, minimum wage tied to inflation....

These should all be killers for a supposedly principled leader like Paul. However Paul rips the other candidates for more minor issues...

Maybe if Rick didn't act like such a dick to him Ron Paul wouldn't attack him so much. While Rick was a footnote, he dedicated his debates to having spats with Ron Paul.

Maybe he had spats with Paul because, you know, they disagree about stuff. I know that's a foreign concept, but maybe, just maybe, Santorum was focused on the issues and actually wanted to discuss them, rather than getting pissy over personality differences like the rest of the field.

[argentarius]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

His attacks could have been against Gingrich and it would have been no different. The fact that he's a lapdog for a spineless piece of filth like Romney speaks volumes about him. Paul is supporting-by-proxy a man who has even less in common with him on the issues than the other two candidates in the race. It doesn't matter if it's for his son's possible political gain or because he likes Romney, both reasons are despicable.

How so? I don't see why Paul would be closer to Santorum or Gingrich compared to Romney.

Romneycare, previous support for gun control, support for federal involvement in education on a greater level than Santorum certainly, Chinese trade issues, Wall Street bailout, cap and trade, minimum wage tied to inflation....

These should all be killers for a supposedly principled leader like Paul. However Paul rips the other candidates for more minor issues...

Maybe if Rick didn't act like such a dick to him Ron Paul wouldn't attack him so much. While Rick was a footnote, he dedicated his debates to having spats with Ron Paul.

Maybe he had spats with Paul because, you know, they disagree about stuff. I know that's a foreign concept, but maybe, just maybe, Santorum was focused on the issues and actually wanted to discuss them, rather than getting pissy over personality differences like the rest of the field.

And maybe Paul also likes discussing the issues too. I think if we had 90 minutes of candidates agressively engaging eachother it would make for a good debate. Paul just gets along with Romney, and doesn't with Santorum. Maybe they have the same sort of personality.

[useful idiot]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

His attacks could have been against Gingrich and it would have been no different. The fact that he's a lapdog for a spineless piece of filth like Romney speaks volumes about him. Paul is supporting-by-proxy a man who has even less in common with him on the issues than the other two candidates in the race. It doesn't matter if it's for his son's possible political gain or because he likes Romney, both reasons are despicable.

How so? I don't see why Paul would be closer to Santorum or Gingrich compared to Romney.

Romneycare, previous support for gun control, support for federal involvement in education on a greater level than Santorum certainly, Chinese trade issues, Wall Street bailout, cap and trade, minimum wage tied to inflation....

These should all be killers for a supposedly principled leader like Paul. However Paul rips the other candidates for more minor issues...

Maybe if Rick didn't act like such a dick to him Ron Paul wouldn't attack him so much. While Rick was a footnote, he dedicated his debates to having spats with Ron Paul.

Maybe he had spats with Paul because, you know, they disagree about stuff. I know that's a foreign concept, but maybe, just maybe, Santorum was focused on the issues and actually wanted to discuss them, rather than getting pissy over personality differences like the rest of the field.

And maybe Paul also likes discussing the issues too. I think if we had 90 minutes of candidates agressively engaging eachother it would make for a good debate. Paul just gets along with Romney, and doesn't with Santorum. Maybe they have the same sort of personality.

Except that Paul's attacks on Santorum last night, and a lot of his attacks on Gingrich previously, weren't about issues. They weren't over foreign policy, where I'd like to see Gingrich and Santorum attacked, and they weren't even over social issues. They were character attacks. To call Santorum a "fake" and criticize him for being establishment while tacitly supporting Romney is akin to being in a debate with David Duke and Shirley Sherrod and spending all your time calling Sherrod a racist without making a peep about Duke...

[Senator Napoleon]

Romney won and Rick lost.

[crypto-fascist superhero]

It's not like Romney being a member of the establishment is news to anyone.  Anyone who is voting for Romney realizes he is part of the establishment and is okay with that.

[Korwinist]

Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul

Mitt continues to reveal himself as a whiny spoiled bitch. Paul's fellatio of Romney distracted from whatever point he wanted to get across and debunked the myth of Paul having any sort of integrity.

"PAUL ATTACKED MY CANDIDATE, WHAT A MONSTER"

His attacks could have been against Gingrich and it would have been no different. The fact that he's a lapdog for a spineless piece of filth like Romney speaks volumes about him. Paul is supporting-by-proxy a man who has even less in common with him on the issues than the other two candidates in the race. It doesn't matter if it's for his son's possible political gain or because he likes Romney, both reasons are despicable.

How so? I don't see why Paul would be closer to Santorum or Gingrich compared to Romney.

Romneycare, previous support for gun control, support for federal involvement in education on a greater level than Santorum certainly, Chinese trade issues, Wall Street bailout, cap and trade, minimum wage tied to inflation....

These should all be killers for a supposedly principled leader like Paul. However Paul rips the other candidates for more minor issues...

Maybe if Rick didn't act like such a dick to him Ron Paul wouldn't attack him so much. While Rick was a footnote, he dedicated his debates to having spats with Ron Paul.

Maybe he had spats with Paul because, you know, they disagree about stuff. I know that's a foreign concept, but maybe, just maybe, Santorum was focused on the issues and actually wanted to discuss them, rather than getting pissy over personality differences like the rest of the field.

And maybe Paul also likes discussing the issues too. I think if we had 90 minutes of candidates agressively engaging eachother it would make for a good debate. Paul just gets along with Romney, and doesn't with Santorum. Maybe they have the same sort of personality.

Except that Paul's attacks on Santorum last night, and a lot of his attacks on Gingrich previously, weren't about issues. They weren't over foreign policy, where I'd like to see Gingrich and Santorum attacked, and they weren't even over social issues. They were character attacks. To call Santorum a "fake" and criticize him for being establishment while tacitly supporting Romney is akin to being in a debate with David Duke and Shirley Sherrod and spending all your time calling Sherrod a racist without making a peep about Duke...

Everyone and his cousin's dog knows that Romney is an establishment fake, and has known that ever since South Carolina Newt at least. Santorum being an establishment fake, on the other hand, is new to the majority of the electorate.

Ragging on Romney for that at this point would be entirely redundant and pointless since we've already heard just about everything on him already.