Posted by Parker V on November 13, 2011 under Elections | 
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Aired on Saturday, November 12, 2011 on CBS
Participants: Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Huntsman, Paul, Perry, Romney, Santorum
Posted by Parker V on November 12, 2011 under President | Be the First to Comment
As the Perry campaign continues a downward fall, buzz over Newt Gingrich is rising in its place. Could a surprise still happen? Around here we are starting to make predictions…
CandidatesBlog contributor, Ryan Larsen says:
I predict Newt Gingrich will win Iowa and after that the field will narrow to Newt and Mitt. Of course, I want Mitt to win Iowa, but with the other candidates tanking I think the right-wing media is coalescing around Newt, and the people will follow.
This can work out very well for Mitt, because Newt’s intellect is unimpeachable. Romney and Newt need to have one-on-one substantive debates – the type Gingrich wants anyway – and this will finally offer Romney a chance to showcase his own intellect. When he runs circles around Newt, the way he did in the back-and-forth on mandates in a recent debate, everyone watching will finally see how intelligent Romney is. They will see that it’s not just “skills” and being “slick” but it’s sheer brilliance. Romney ONLY gets flustered when others are denying him a chance to talk. Gingrich won’t do that, and Romney will correspondingly shine.
I’m skeptical about Newt winning Iowa but agree about everything else. Iowa is a mystery to me. It seems like its natural Santorum territory but he’s practically moved there and is still at 1 percentiness. There’s definitely a surprise lurking in the weeds, im just not sure what or where. but I think Mitt has the best shot since no matter what 2 people he’s down to, he comes out on top:
Romney vs Perry = Romney on communication & economics
Romney vs Gingrich = Romney on clean record
Romney vs Cain = Romney on experience & clean record
The only threat I can see being credible against Romney on communication, squeaky clean record, economics and private and public experience is Huntsman and theres no evidence that he’s gonna make it down to the 2-man stretch.
Posted by Parker V on November 10, 2011 under President | Be the First to Comment
Gingrich gave marvelously detailed answers, reflecting the deep study he has made on American public policy during his years in politics, and demonstrated that he has the best command of both facts and philosophy on stage.
Gingrich was on his game from the beginning when he let loose a ringing anti-Bernake, anti-food stamps, anti-Alinsky answer. … The narrative about his rise will continue.
Hillsdale Professor Burton Folsom, National Review:
The big winners in the debate tonight were probably Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. …
Newt Gingrich was cerebral and wide-ranging. When CNBC tried to trip him up, he fired back with specifics that delighted the crowd. His breadth of learning was refreshing and dominating.
Gingrich got off the best line of the night when he faulted the media for not asking the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators if they have a clue how the new economy works. … Gingrich wants to challenge President Obama to a series of Lincoln-Douglas–style debates that would last for three hours and get into great detail about everything that matters. I have no doubt Gingrich would win such a debate.
Professor William Jacobson, Legal Insurrection:
Newt was the star, combative in a good way and very knowledgeable.
Who won tonight? Newt Gingrich showed once again that his policy knowledge and ability to connect that knowledge to the here and now is unmatched.
Matt Margolis, Blogs for Victory:
[Newt's] performance in tonight’s debate was another impressive performance by a man who not only has a wealth of knowledge on all the issues, but he’s smart enough to not to be played by the media.
Kevin Hall, The Iowa Republican:
Newt Gingrich: Once again, the former House Speaker owned the stage. He did not completely dominate, but it is hard to argue that anyone other than Gingrich won the debate. He battled with the moderators again and might have come off as too angry at times. However, on style and substance, Newt delivered. Again.
…
Overall Winner: Newt Gingrich. This is getting redundant. He did not dominate, but Gingrich was the most in command of anyone on the stage.
Newt has hit his stride, and was consistently the most impressive and forceful person on the stage—and forceful without saying a negative word about any of the other candidates.
Monica Crowley, Fox News Contributor:
As usual, [Newt] was dynamite: brilliant, deliberative and right about everything. Now that we all realized that we’re less than a year from the presidential election, we’re trying to visualize the presidential debates. Which of the GOP candidates could thrust and parry with Obama most effectively? All of them would do a great job. Only Newt would truly make mincemeat out of him. That’s the main reason he’s rising in the polls. He’s a serious conservative intellectual who is fearless.
Alexander Marlow, Big Government:
But the winner of the debate was Newt. I mentioned last time that he’s my sleeper pick to challenge Romney, and he did a lot to improve his chances tonight.
Daniel
…what is increasingly clear is that the former House Speaker is the most learned candidate running for president. Drawing on his wealth of knowledge and years of experience in Congress, Gingrich adeptly understands the most trying issues of our time. His ability to answer complex questions, as he did Wednesday night, with specific and innovative solutions is emboldening his candidacy.
John McCormack, Weekly Standard:
As he has done in the other debates, Mitt Romney turned in a solid performance, but Newt Gingrich was the one who really seemed to impress.
