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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2008-01-10

South Carolina Debate Reaction 

Ho Hum.

The big news tonight was that somebody upped the dosage for Fred Thompson and he became the gravitas-laden force that we've all been waiting for. If he had done this act six weeks ago, we would be talking about a completely different race than we are right now.

Consider this contest: two older, blunt, gruff, men battling for the AARP vote; one with a deep, resonant basso, the other a thin, nasal tenor; one's wanted this job for ten years, the other may STILL not really want this job; one famous for playing serious roles, the other famous for playing political roles. At some point, a McCain-Thompson head-to-head would be useful . . . in discarding McCain's aspirations.

Romney was pretty quiet tonight--I think that was more from the directions of the questions than anything he did or didn't say. I'm beginning to think that his wonkishness is a detriment, but a limited one. If he can begin to articulate a VISION, paint a picture, he could back it up with his expertise and make it believable. Sometimes, being the smartest kid in the room is just the most annoying; but when the smartest kid seems to care about everybody else and is able to convince them that he/she is working for them, they earn a lot of credibility and respect.

Ron Paul is just about the nuttiest person I've ever seen in politics, and that's saying something. Just for grins, next June let's have an open forum/debate--Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, and Ross Perot. And Professor Dumbledore.

Huckabee just still seems to be out of his depth. I'm not sure why I feel that way, though it's true I disagree with him on many points. He just gives the impression that he doesn't quite belong--like somebody's younger brother who got dragged along to the pickup game with the big kids because mommy said so.

McCain was adequate--I think he did everything he needed to do to hold his position.

Three final points:

:McCain's Waterloo was South Carolina eight years ago; if the 527s get involved again in the next week, it could still be his undoing.

:the Luntz focus group annointed Fred Thompson the winner tonight--we all saw how much good that did Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire.

:I wrote a couple nights ago that I thought this was a stroke-play match; this site (courtesy HH)
projects how all eighteen holes may play out to leave Republicans a brokered convention with a narrow Romney win. In a brokered convention, does an outsider have a role? (calling Newt)
Posted by: Michael / 1/10/2008 11:24:00 PM

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