The debate tonight is critical because it is the last debate before Floridians head to the polls on Tuesday [Jan 31] - though a good junk of the voting population already cast their ballots. The questions dealt with the "direct" attack ads between the candidates, then moved on to the housing and others issues, then mostly went completely off track. Whether it was by design or not, the overall tone of the debate was not quite what I anticipated.
This is a night that Newt Gingrich needed to perform well to hold on to any shade of hope left from his faded South Carolina victory. He went after the media like he did before hoping to ignite the enthusiasm that he ignited in South Carolina Conservative voters, but he didn't find it. The voters in Florida know that the questions asked by the moderators were legitimate and warranted personal answers. He failed to defend some of his prior comments about Gov.Mitt Romney and also did badly when Ron Paul challenged his claim that under him he balanced the budget in the House 4 times. Paul challenged Gingrich by pointing out the huge deficit they had as a result of his leadership and he agreed instead of offering an effective rebuttal. He failed miserably to attract the kinds of support he had in South Carolina.
Paul on the other hand did very well in the issue of the economy and government overreach, but - again - his foreign policy and idea of trading with Cuba when that regime had just let a political activist died after weeks of hunger-strike, is quite off the Conservative ideals. Besides, Paul seems to stretch the responsibility of the president and I believe that his promises to deal with the economy are just bound to fail. For instance, all candidates want to cut spending, but he proposes an ambitious one that aims at cutting a trillion dollar in his first year. Everyone knows that the Congress will have to give him that or else they'll vote to over-ride his executive power. It is near impossible in my view! In all, Paul's views are far from the responsibility of the presidency. The president is the "commander in chief" whose primary responsibility is to "defend" United States from foreign enemies. Congress - Senate and the House - is responsibility for the most part in shaping and reshaping the economic growth and president as the guiding voice in implementing the president's policies. He has a huge influence in putting forward legislation that are important to his and the country's course. For instance, he can veto any bills he see unreasonable while signing bills that are important to his administration.
Rick Santorum did exceptionally well except that he is no way near the top and even finding it hard at times to beat Paul. He needs to appeal to the broadbase of the Conservative and also to independents who want to hear more about the economy than mere political rhetoric. He went after the two front runners in his closing remarks, which was quite impressive, but maybe too late. The two front runners have already established themselves as front runners and are protected by donors and supporters.
Finally, Gov. Romney had a decent night though his answer on his "personal ads" made the audience stun. To have his voice approved a message on an ad that attacked Gingrich on on comments he made about "Spanish as a language of the Ghetto" then said he didn't know the content, was quite interesting. However, his overall presentation was better than his performance in the previous debate. His defense of "Free Enterprise" was received well because Florida is one of the states that was hit hard by the recession and Gov. Romney's business background appeals to the people more than the "smooth-talking" Gingrich. I also believe Gov. Romney's attack on Gingrich's ambitious plans for space and colonization of the moon was extremely effective because - as he pointed out - the GOP wants to cut spending and Gingrich's proposals are way over the top and may drive US deeper into debts and plunge this superpower into the abyss of an economic depression.
If Gingrich fell and Gov. Romney won Florida, there is no reason for Senatorum to move on to other states. He basically underfunded and no big money donors out there who is willing to risk it all on him so I will not be surprised if he dropped out after the Florida primary. It is more likely, than not, that only three candidates will appear on the stage in the next debate.
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