Republican Presidential debate in Iowa tonight

Posted by Mike Sylvester - 8/11/11 @ 11:47 pm - Filed Under Featured, National Politics

I watched the debate tonight and it was quite interesting.

Prior to the debate I liked Ron Paul and Herman Cain; I was neutral to Bachman; I did not care much for Romney, Pawlenty, or Huntsman; and I really did not care for Santorum or Gingrich.

The clear winner of the debate was former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.  He won by a large margin.

My favorite two candidates before the debate are still my favorite candidates.  I thought Ron Paul had a mediocre debate performance and I thought Mr. Cain fared pretty well; especially as the debate progressed.

I am still unsure about Bachman.  She portrayed herself as a fighter and likely appealed to many members of the Tea Party.

I thought Romney did fairly well.  I thought Pawlenty lost the debate and I think his Presidential ambitions are over unless he does well in the Saturday Straw poll.  I was pretty impressed with Huntsman.  I like the fact that he does not hide from his record and does not try to conform with the rest of the Republicans.

Santorum is a candidate I really do not care for.  This debate did not change that.  I also do not care for Gingrich; however, he won the debate and really was impressive.

Rick Perry will join the race on Saturday.  That will bring the field to nine.  I hope that Santorum and Pawlenty both drop out of the race in the next week or two.  Neither has ANY chance of winning and they should get out of the way of the stronger candidates.

Here is a ranking of the nine potential candidates and I have listed them in the order I like them.  Note that it is early and I expect this list to change often as I learn more about them.  I really need to learn more about Perry.

  1. Ron Paul
  2. Herman Cain
  3. Perry
  4. Huntsman (Which kind of scares me)
  5. Bachman
  6. Romney
  7. Gingrich
  8. Pawlenty
  9. Santorum
It is still early in the process; however, I want to handicap the field.
Romney is likely to win the nomination.  I think Perry has a pretty strong chance and is the second most likely to win.  I think Bachman is the only other candidate with much chance of winning, and I think her chances are pretty slim.
I think Ron Paul and Herman Cain both have a MINUTE chance of winning.  I do not think any of the others can win.
Mike Sylvester

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