Analysis Of The Myrtle Beach Debate

by John Hawkins | January 17, 2012 12:02 am

Fox ran the debate last night and aside from Juan Williams’ race-baiting, the questions were fairly good although it’s disappointing that we can’t ever seem to get any questions about Fast and Furious or the TSA. Additionally, because there were only 5 candidates, the people on the stage had a lot more time to respond. That made for a much better debate.

Here’s the breakdown.

5) Ron Paul: Between his weird laughs, his rambling answers, and how awful he sounded on foreign policy, it was another terrible debate for Ron Paul.

[1] Paul photo via Shutterstock[2]

4) Mitt Romney: Romney’s usually a good debater, but he was really off tonight. He sounded nervous, dodged the questions relentlessly, and sounded even more insincere than usual. Santorum also splattered him, surprisingly, on the issue of giving felons the right to vote. It was a really bad debate for him, probably the worst performance he’s had this year.

[3] Romney photo via Shutterstock[2]

3) Rick Santorum: Santorum had a decent debate, but didn’t stand out quite as much as Perry. Unlike every other candidate, the more I see of Rick Santorum, the better I like him.

[4] Santorum photo via Shutterstock[2]

2) Rick Perry: This may have been Perry’s best debate. He had his funniest line of the year on gonging Ron Paul, he fiercely defended the troops, and generally sounded strong and energetic.

“Our President has a foreign policy that makes our allies nervous & emboldens our enemies.” — Rick Perry

[5] Perry photo via Shutterstock[2]

1) Newt Gingrich: Newt wins every debate and this one was no different, except that perhaps he brought even more of his A-game than usual. This beatdown that he laid on Juan Williams over the questions of letting poor kids work as janitors was extraordinary. It produced — and deserved — a standing ovation.

“Now, I know amongst the politically correct, you’re not supposed to use facts that make people uncomfortable.” — Newt Gingrich

“Only the elites despise making money.” — Newt Gingrich

(Andrew Jackson) knew how to deal with America’s enemies: you kill them. — Newt Gingrich

[6] Newt photo via Shutterstock[7].