The Republican Debate

Briefly, here are my reactions on the Republican debate tonight at Iowa State University.

The big loser was Fox's Chris Wallace, who tried to follow in the footsteps of his father (Mike Wallace). Newt Gingrich spanked him when he told Wallace to put down the "gotcha questions". That came after the candidates had been told at the outset to put down the talking points.

Gingrich, as I expected, expressed the conservative point of view and his concrete ideas better than anyone. That isn't surprising. He articulates the issues better than the other candidates. That doesn't mean I think he's electable. He simply has too many negatives.

Romney wasn't especially impressive, but considering he's the front-runner, nobody else hurt him. He will still be the front-runner.

Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann clearly don't like each other and attracted most of the attention with their spat. The winner? Bachmann. She also handled that absurd question from Bret Baier about whether   she would be submissive to her husband in the White House quite effectively with that pregnant "are you kidding me" pause and smile.

Rick Santorum I think did quite well. Apparently, a few in the university audience (probably students and professors) didn't care for his strong words against Iran. Ron Paul, the audience favorite, on the other hand, came across as an apologist for Iran and the other enemies we are fighting. To me, he doesn't have half the sense of his son, Rand.

I hope Sarah Palin and Rick Perry join the campaign for no other reason than the more voices the better. More than anything, however, I still wish Allen West were in this race.