In the final Jolt of the week, a roundup of reactions to the final debate . . . until the next one.
Super Debate XVI!
Thursday night’s debate — the 16th of the year, and the final one before the Iowa caucuses — felt like one of those “clip episodes” that a lot of television shows tend to run around this time of year, to save time and money. Hey, Ron Paul doesn’t think that the Iranian regime represents much of a threat! Hey, Rick Santorum thinks that viewpoint is naïve and bonkers! Hey, haven’t we seen this plenty of times before?
Two solid hours, my friends. With 16 debates and one and a half to two hours each, we’ve probably seen nearly 30 hours of debates so far. This has turned these events into something of an ordeal; Nancy Wright declared at the conclusion, “I feel like I just had a root canal.”
Tonight was grand finale for some candidates, Jake Tapper observes: “Doubt there will be 7 candidates on stage for the next debate.”
Robert George assessed, “Winners: Romney steadied himself after last ‘bet’ debate; Newt solid, except for Fannie/Freddie; Bachmann sharp vs. Newt.”
Jazz Shaw: “For once I won’t wait until tomorrow. There was only one winner tonight. Bachmann. Biggest loser? Fox.” Neil Cavuto, Charles Krauthammer, Chris Wallace and Megan Kelly all said that Michele Bachmann proved to be an effective attacker, particularly against Gingrich, but everyone seemed to think that Gingrich held his own — a good night if you’re a frontrunner.
When she tore into Gingrich, accusing him of campaigning for Republicans who supported partial-birth abortion, John McCormick quipped, “Bachmann just pulled out Gingrich’s beating heart. How pro-life is that?”
For what it’s worth, Frank Luntz suggested that his focus groups didn’t like to see attacks, so it is possible that Bachmann will generate a backlash. “It helps solidify her vote, but it doesn’t help her gain more of the vote.”
One rare voice who saw trouble for Gingrich was Alex Castellanos: “Newt had to win tonight. Romney only needed a tie. Newt did not get what he needed. The negative ad barrage will wear him down.”
Ken Spain, formerly of the NRCC, also believes that the race is now a spending competition: “Debates are over. Question is who is spending how much and where? Watch candidate surges and free falls parallel to their ad spending.”
Rick Perry got to enjoy the much-anticipated question about Fast and Furious, and if it was a softball, he still hit the cover off it by denouncing Eric Holder’s mismanagement so thoroughly.
The delightful Tabitha Hale admits, “Not gonna lie, I applauded in my living room.” Katie Pavlich — the person you should be watching for the latest on Fast and Furious — declared Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly the debate winners for finally putting Fast and Furious front and center.
S. E. Cupp: “Perry had the best debate of his life. If he could repeat tonight over and over, he’d be the candidate people wanted him to be.” Derek Hunter is unconvinced: “Question to people saying Perry did much better tonight: Is that really an accomplishment if there was nowhere to go but up?”
Studying the candidate’s hand gestures, Mike Murphy observes, “Huntsman is always shaking an invisible watermelon when he speaks.”