Gingrich Clearly Wins South Carolina Debate

Newt Gingrich clearly dominated the South Carolina GOP debate last night. He received two standing ovations and his statements were often followed by loud, lengthy applause. The former US House Speaker needed to do well after he allowed the negative ads run against him in Iowa to affect him and his campaign, and he did so.

Former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich
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Gingrich won the debate by dealing in specifics. Other candidates, President Barack Obama comes to mind, do better when they are allowed to make broad, gilded generalities that have less substance than a cotton candy hologram. Gingrich revels in applying the lessons of the past to the present and it's one of the reasons most people believe that Gingrich would destroy the sitting President in a debate.

Gingrich started slowly, having an uneasy time defending his attacks on former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's stint at Bain Capital. He muddled through eventually, though.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum cleaned Romney's clock in an exchange about the attack ads run by the superPAC that supports Romney. Santorum forced Romney to admit that his state of Massachusetts had a more liberal law than the one Santorum voted for and that the representation in the ads did not fairly depict Santorum's position. Santorum failed; however, to look at Romney and add the killer line that I expected: "In fact, Governor Romney, the position your superPAC accuses me of having is identical to the one you tolerated as Massachusetts Governor, isn't it?"

A Part-Time Congress Is Not the Answer

- A Well-Regulated and Restrained Federal Government -

Texas Governor and Presidential candidate Rick Perry has suggested a part-time Congress as a way to reduce the power of the federal government. Governor Perry is still one of the candidates that I would prefer to both President Obama and to leading GOP candidate Mitt Romney but, in this instance, Governor Perry is wrong.

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I am certainly in favor of the reduction of federal power, but this is the wrong place to start. I understand that people are disappointed with Congress, but the US Representatives and the US Senators are directly elected by the people. If we citizens do our jobs properly, then we should want them to be full-time agents of the American people. We have certainly made mistakes in whom we have chosen, but we can also correct those poor choices.

Far more importantly, the power in Washington will not go away simply because Congress is in session a lesser amount of time. All of the power that the federal government has purposefully accumulated over the past 150 years or so will not disappear. Those powers will be wielded by others that we do not elect. The usage of those powers will be publicly justified as the necessary means of conducting the people's business.

Why Rick Perry Won and Michele Bachmann Lost the Iowa Debate

 - Review of the Fox News Sioux City GOP Debate - 

I watched most of last night's Fox News Sioux City GOP debates twice. Once to analyze the statements and positions and the second time to observe the ebb and flow of the debate itself. In the beginning it was a relative picnic, but it became the knife fight I had predicted as the debate progressed. Unfortunately for Michele Bachmann, she got careless with her blade and a lot of the blood on the floor was her own - or it will be in tomorrow's news cycle, anyway. Bachmann's analysis is the longest by far, so if you make it through there, you're home free.

Prior Fox News Debate
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My take on the debates by candidate:

Michele Bachmann: Minnesota Congressman Bachmann made three key strategic errors last night. First, her credibility is not an established fact and attacking more than one candidate last night stretched it beyond the breaking point. Bachmann weighed in on both Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, but her biggest error was different; one that could have easily been avoided.

People without heavyweight credentials of their own cannot challenge Newt Gingrich's conservative credentials, which is why Mitt Romney surrogates such as Bill Bennett and George F. Will do so but Romney seldom does personally. Bachmann is a conservative, but compared to Gingrich her political resume is both thin and short.

Iowa Debate Poll and Old Poll Results

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New Poll: Who won the Sioux City Iowa debate?

Michele Bachmann
Newt Gingrich
Jon Huntsman
Ron Paul
Rick Perry
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum

Please vote in the poll which is in the right column near the top of the page. You may vote once, and in this poll you may vote for only one answer. The poll will close at Midnight, the morning of December the 22nd.

Old Poll Results:Why is President Obama blocking the Keystone XL Pipeline?

 69.8% - He fears angering the left-leaning Green movement.
 25.5% - He is using it as political leverage.
   7.5% - He hates Canadians.
 33.0%  - He wants no new oil-related jobs.
 16.0% - Someone in Texas might benefit.
   5.7% - He is confusing oil pipelines with surfing pipelines.


Please note that this is not a scientific poll and is used for entertainment and to generate discussion. Poll results will add up to more than 100% because each voter was allowed to choose multiple answers in this particular poll.


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Sioux City Me, Sioux City You Blues

 - Preview of the Fox News Sioux City GOP Debate - 

I'll be blogging tonight's Fox News GOP debate; watching for political blood and gore. Sioux City, Iowa, is hosting the event which will likely need ring girls, a referee, a ring and a house doctor. I will be surprised if it does not get ugly. I've made a few notes on what I will be watching for during the debate and thought I would share them with you.

After the debate, I'll open up the online poll on who you believe won the debate with civil comments welcome. Then, I'll add my after-debate opinions to the mix.

Things to watch:

Historic downtown Sioux City, Iowa
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Michele Bachmann: Bachmann is one of two candidates who must do well here to be taken seriously for the remainder of the campaign. Her campaign has trumpeted her Iowa ties and organization too loudly and too broadly for her to fail and mount a comeback later. Whether she realizes it or not, this is make or break for her. She does not have to win, but anything less than third in the Iowa caucuses is a major problem and less than fourth is a death knell for her campaign. She is likely to be very aggressive and should self-monitor to ensure she does not sound shrill.

Herman Cain: Most regular debate watchers may be surprised at how much they miss Cain's presence.

Newt Gingrich: As the current poll leader, Newt will again be the focal point of his fellow candidates. Look to see if he handles attacks with calm, rational ripostes or if he looks mean. The manner, rather than the substance of his remarks will be more important. Look for attacks on Gingrich's past moves to the left. Critics want you to see them as revelatory; Newt wants you to see them as anomalies. If he is smart, Gingrich will point out how he differs from President Obama rather than his fellow Republicans.

Governor Perry and the Great Economics Debate

Last night’s debate on Bloomberg TV focused on the US economy. This was a good choice by debate sponsors, because the American people are focused on the economy out of self-defense. The abject failure of President Obama and his gaggle of academic charlatans and Wall Street Wonderboys to grasp even the basics of business, is no surprise to economic conservatives. If one is overly kind, one could call the state of our current economy “iffy”. For that reason alone, people are ready to hear Republican ideas to repair the economy.

The debate was an opportunity for Republican presidential candidates to discuss their thoughts on the economy in more detail than other formats have allowed. Many of them, including Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney made good use of the format. Others did not do as well.

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Texas Governor Rick Perry didn’t lose the economics debate last night, but it may eventually cost him the nomination anyway. Perry needed a reversal in direction for his campaign and his lackluster performance did not do that. He will continue to slide in the polls because he gave no reason for the slide to stop.

Perry is right, of course, on his statements about the necessity to utilize our natural resources to save the economy. He mentioned it several times but never ventured beyond the painfully obvious. Simply put, Perry never connected the dots. There was no analysis; no linking of job production outside of the energy sector; and most importantly to his campaign, no burning reason why voters should stick with the Perry bandwagon.

Perry could have easily pointed out that we need relatively inexpensive energy to increase production of both goods and jobs. Less expensive goods - and lower transportation costs - means more exports in all sectors, which means more jobs. Less expensive products are more affordable to America’s middle class. Common