I watched the first part of last night's CNN debate, if only out of curiosity to see if Newt was going to reveal some tidbit about the latest campaign scandal. He did not disappoint with his biting comment back to John King re: his ex-wife's allegations that he wanted an open marriage.Of course, he was going to snark back at the media. Of course, he was going to deny the allegation. And of course, he was going to look good. And while we didn't watch long, I was impressed with Romney's response of "let's get back to the real issues." I was also impressed with Newt's strong grasp of local issues. Of course, he's going to look professorial and prepared. By many accounts, Santorum had a good debate, because he was able to focus on the issues and remove himself from the sniping exchanges.
But really...how would that stage have looked if Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, maybe Tim Pawlenty, and maybe Mitch Daniels were up on that stage? What a different field, and vibe. I'm not excited about anyone, though I guess I could vote for Santorum, and even Romney. But the enthusiasm gap on the GOP side is formidable.
It's still a long 9.5 months until the election, but it's too short, maybe, to fall in love with the present field. It'll be interesting to see if Newt can pull out SC tomorrow. I think keeping this campaign going for a while (with Santorum as the Iowa victor) is the best way to make this field appear to be a little less underwhelming. Just "whelming" would be good.
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