Mediaite’s Republican Debate Report Card
Tuesday’s Republican debate had a little something for everyone: heated arguments, Twitter questions, and an Anderson Cooper moderation style that simultaneously reeled in candidates while letting them run wild over each other. The staff at Mediaite closely scrutinized the action in Las Vegas, and this is how we saw it all shake out:
Mitt Romney: A-
Romney was the clear winner of the debate, but showed moments of real weakness during the melee. When he tried to shush Rick Santorum, the Jedi mind trick didn’t work. Rick Perry had him reeling a bit on the immigration thing, but he got his Jedi mojo back, and forced Perry back to the kiddie table, which was, optically, a turning point in the debate. He was the only candidate who managed to look remotely presidential. –Tommy Christopher
Rick Perry: D+
Perry needed a flawless performance, and he tried to make a game of it. Emboldened by Rick Santorum, Perry tried to press his attack with Romney on his use of undocumented landscapers, but he couldn’t hang in there. He also weirdly, repeatedly called Herman Cain “brother,” which got lots of reaction in the Twitterverse. Behind the scenes, though, the Perry campaign did a great job of blasting oppo memos to reporters in near real-time, far outpacing the competition. — TC
Newt Gingrich: A-
Gingrich will probably see his poll numbers rise based solely on the fact that he seemed to be the voice of reason in all of this. He seemed to have a nice mix of Dick Cheney one-liners from the Vice Presidential debate in 2004 and Admiral Stockdale’s “I want no part of this” rising above the squabbles from 1992. And there was a touch of some Richard Dawson laid back humor in there, too. — NDF
Michele Bachmann: D-
She gets the “F” for Geography. Libya is ALSO in Africa — Jon Nicosia
…But you have to give her points for throwing in a quick “MicheleBachman.com” totally out of context on an answer when her time was running out. — NDF
Ron Paul: B+
If this debate was any indication, I’m going to invest heavily in Orville Redenbacher before the next one. As Iowa approaches like the end of an unopened parachute ride, the Republican field is beginning to resemble a junkyard dog convention in a butcher shop. — TC
Herman Cain: C-
Cain was the candidate with the most to lose last night, and he lost badly. His 9-9-9 plan was the opening pinata at the debate, and his insistence that people check his own campaign’s figures lost effectiveness with repetition. He also fumbled badly by saying he might negotiate with terrorists. For a guy who knew his vulnerabilities going in, Cain was woefully unprepared. — TC
Rick Santorum: B-
He was mostly a non-factor — getting into it a little bit early — but his passionate answer at the end about being the only person on the stage to win a swing state election, while mentioning that he defeated TV analysts Paul Begala and James Carville, gave Santorum a surprisingly strong finish. — NDF
Anderson Cooper: A-
Proved himself fairly capable as debate moderator. Earned his high letter grade from the following exchange with Michele Bachmann:
MB: “The President of Iran Is a Genocidal Maniac.”
AC: “The question was about budgets actually.”
Cooper’s one downside was that he played a little loose with the facts.
— JC
Wayne Newton: A+
The legendary Las Vegas crooner has still got it. — James Crugnale
…but will Marcus Bachmann be upset about wife canoodling with Newton for all the wrong reasons? — JN
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
