SC CNN GOP Debate 8pm ET

Zyphlin said:

Why? I just tuned in

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Gingrich said Santorum did not have "grandiose" ideas. Santorum went off, claiming that he knew Gingrich had known about the house check kiting scandal for 5 years, and he knew that because Gingrich told him, but that Gingrich did not do anything about it because it would have hurt some republican congressmen. If you can, watch the video of the exchange. Santorum was clearly pissed and he went off hard.

I actually think Santorum did a good job tonight. I think Gingrich does his usual pandering with hyperbolistic garbage using extreme words to describe everything. "Disaster, worst, greatest, most"... blah blah blah. Same divisive ****, different divisive day.

I'll say this about Romney. I think if the GOP front Romney and he were to get elected, the Republican public will be as happy with him as we lefty's are with Obama... wondering why he's half-stepping on all the policies he promised if acting on them at all.

Ask Newt if he'd like to respond to his ex-wife's accusations... and he attacks the moderator. So ****ing predictable. He's going to be such a massive fail. Jump on his coat-tails all you wish but man is he going down in massive flames, like it or not.

I know he fires up the right wing base with all that fiery talk and attacking and in-your-face bull****. That's not going to fly in a general. His divide and conquer style will never work in a general where you need to go out and GET votes rather than having a base to pander to by attacking everyone else. Everyone else has the votes he'd need to get to and he burns all those bridges all the time.

I was really surprised by one impression.

Romney: looked like a politician, for better or worse
Paul: Still nutty, though he tried to restrain it, still boring, still playing the victim to the media
Gingrich: looked like an arrogant asshole...bigtime
Santorum: looked like a pretty cool guy with all the wrong ideas about government. I came away kinda liking the guy, even while be opposed to everything he said.

Redress said:

I was really surprised by one impression.

Romney: looked like a politician, for better or worse
Paul: Still nutty, though he tried to restrain it, still boring, still playing the victim to the media
Gingrich: looked like an arrogant asshole...bigtime
Santorum: looked like a pretty cool guy with all the wrong ideas about government. I came away kinda liking the guy, even while be opposed to everything he said.

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I think Romney and Gingrich looked like children spatting, while Gingrich went on the attack of everyone in site (sans the audience he was pandering to) because it's key to him to never be on defense... and when put in a position he has to defend, GET MORE OFFENSIVE!!!!1111!!!!!

I also thought it was funny that when he was doing a back and forth with other candidates, he never really addressed the topic. He instead would just do a recital of his resume.

AND... as I predicted, in another thread yesterday, the 2nd wife's interview, instead of the details being abhorrent to them, they instead galvanize behind him just as they always do. Just like they did with Cain. And he took the exact tactic I said would come to the front... "Oh I'm a victim of the evil liberal media." The man is so damn predictable. lol

I thought Santorum, even though he was on the attack against some of the other candidates, looked much more like an adult as compared to Romney and Gingrich. Those two looked like petty children tonight IMO, making Santorum look more clean.

Ron Paul, I'll say this... South Carolina is not his venue. They are dead set on their candidate throwing bombs and hail mary's and anger to the height of pissedivity and all this emotion. That's not Paul. That's Gingrich's purview.

A few thoughts ...

Romney - I don't like the guy, but this was one of his better debates. His response on the Baine issue was very good, turning it around on his attackers as being anti-capitalist and being the sort of thing he'd expect from Obama and the Dems. Also took the high road on the opening question regarding Gingrich's ex-wife's allegations. I don't know if his super PACs will do the same though.

Gingrich - I actually thought his response to the opening question about his ex-wife's allegations was strong. Saying it's tabloid trash, its not true, and its not a substantive issue. He went a little over the top when he complained about CNN running the story, but overall it was an effective response to a potentially embarassing issue. For the rest of the debate, Gingrich easily had the most applause lines, but he does sometimes go too far with scolding the moderators and come across like an arrogant prick. That said, that's who Newt is. I think he's wise to embrace who and what he is and let the chips fall where they may. Overall he wasn't as good as he was at the last debate.

Santorum - I really do loath this man. I think his biggest mistake is how often he mixed it up with Paul. Santorum has nothing to gain by attacking Paul. Paul supporters are never going to defect to a guy like Santorum and anyone even on the fence about Santorum is not going to be considering Paul. He should've focused more on Gingrich and Romeny.

Paul - I think Paul had a valid point that on the issues of abortion and healthcare the moderator ignored the only OBGYN doctor on the stage. If anyone would have the background to something to say about those issues, it would be Paul. Overall he did OK. He won't win any new supporters, but continues to pound home his message and hopefully Republicans will start taking notice that he is able to excite people who would probably never otherwise consider voting Republican.

I really don't like Santorum either, but for the audience I suspect he came out on top on this debate.

Ron Paul is gaining an air of likeability. That doesn't equate to votes, but it does equate to lessening fever in opposition.