This is my short reactions to tonight’s GOP debate. Starting from the left:

Rick Santorum — Didn’t stand out – nearly invisible. The questioning played a part, but he did nothing to make himself visible.

Michele Bachman — She impressed me and, if the reaction I’m seeing on twitter is any indication, some others too. She should be happy tonight.

Newt Gingrich — Didn’t do anything wrong, but sure didn’t show me anything to make me think he will be in the race until the end.

Mitt Romney — He may have won the debate, but mostly by not screwing up. On the other hand, he didn’t show me anything to offset Romneycare and Globull warming pandering.

Ron Paul — He says many things I can agree with and then turns around and says something that reinforces my knowledge that I could never vote for him.

Tim Pawlenty — If he was hoping this debate would help him stand out, it didn’t. I like his positions, I like what he has to say, but it would take a bushel basket of habaneros to spice him up.

Herman Cain — Did very well when he wasn’t being ignored by CNN. He hit a solid single, which is fine for these early innings, but he’s going to have to swing for the fence before long.

John King — Someone give that man a Ricola. CNN — Was CNN. The Guy from the newspaper — Looked like he was about to blow chunks having to question Republicans.

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The remaining GOP contenders will be meeting for a debate in Florida in just about 10 minutes. The Heading Right crew will be liveblogging followed by our always fun follow-up/wrap-up at Debate Central. Head on over.

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The Republican debate in Iowa this past week is being universally awarded the Worst Debate Ever by most, if not all pundits. Jonathan Martin at The Politico wrote on Friday:

Dissatisfied with the debate here Wednesday that drew widespread scorn, Iowa Republicans will discuss on Friday the possibility of holding another forum before the January 3rd caucuses.

The debate this week, sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television, was to have been the final gathering of the GOP contenders, but one well-placed Iowa Republican said tonight that they were interested in getting the candidates back together

“We’d prefer if the Register debate did not leave a bad taste,” said this source, who requested anonymity. “Iowa deserves a little better than that.”

The most likely possibility would be the week after Christmas, when many of the contenders are expected back in the state to make a final push before the voting.

I do agree with Allahpundit who wrote, “Do it well or don’t do it.”

The biggest obstacle will be the logistics of the short time left between the Christmas holidays and the Caucuses. Leaving that aside, what would make this debate worth doing?

I have a few suggestions:

• Limit the debate to Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney. While I like both Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo, eliminating them along with Ron Paul and Alan Keyes (why was he included anyhow?) would allow for a much more substantive debate.
• Limit the number of questions. Allow more substance over quantity.
• Related to the above, allow the candidates time to answer, allow rebuttal, and encourage discussion.
• Find a moderator who can control all of the above, and ask relevant follow up questions. I have seen Rush suggested.

Add your suggestions in the comments. How many and what questions should be asked? Who should moderate? Format? Anything else?

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I want to take you on a quick ride around the blogosphere to sample the reaction to yesterday’s Republican debate. The opinions are varied, but there is one point of consensus — the debate format and moderator were absolutely awful. 30 second answers and show of hand questions are no way to run a debate. Having nine candidates in a 90 minute debate this late in the game is a recipe for, well, what we got yesterday.

Let’s start with the two blogs I watched live blog the speed fest.

Liberty Pundit Brian calls it a win for Romney and a loss for Fred Thompson.

No Runny Eggs Steve graded the candidates who in his opinion ranged from D- for Alan Keyes up to B minuses for Thompson and Giuliani and a B for Romney.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News ranked the players from bottom (Alan Keyes) to top (Fred Thompson) saying, “Winner: Fred Thompson. Good substance, good personality, and his I won’t raise my hand for an answer question reminded me of Reagan say “I paid for this microphone.” Fred definitely won.”

I will be adding to this through the day and early evening.

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Should the Republican candidates take up this offer from RedState and Human Events for a do-over?

Today, allow us to make you this offer: We will organize a debate at a time and date amenable to you all. We will work with a national broadcaster to broadcast the debate as well as offer it online. We, not the liberal drive by media, will ensure the questioners are who they say they are. And we will choose them based on criteria that will be fully disclosed to you all which ensure the questioners aren’t activists for any Democratic candidate.

So, what do you think? Good Idea or not? Will the candidates respond?

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Overall, the CNN/YouTube debate questions were better than I expected. Prior to the debate I looked at 100+ of the nearly 5000 questions submitted. I was concerned. CNN did a fair (but far from good) job of selecting the ones to use. Still, I think the format is more gimmick than substance.

The candidates:

Mitt Romney did well and didn’t hurt himself. Not hurting yourself is often the best you can expect from these debates. His initial exchange with Rudy Giuliani over immigration seemed to go a little farther than necessary, but no real gaffes. GRADE: C+

Rudy Giuliani may not have hurt himself, but he sure didn’t help himself. At all. He didn’t seem to bring his ‘A’ game, at least not until after the second break. His defense that NY wasn’t a sanctuary city appeared, well, defensive. GRADE: C-

John McCain did much better than he has in past debates. He came across as less angry and more passionate than in past performances. He did well on all topics but still has not convinced me that the Amnesty Bill wasn’t amnesty. He is the one candidate that I’ve liked well in the debates, but can not support because of his past record on McCain/Feingold, amnesty, and the “Gang of 14″, etc. GRADE: B

Fred Thompson has the best answers and is closest to my views across the board. His White Papers and the details he has for his ideas are outstanding. He just doesn’t convey a real spark. If there were more passion I think he would be unbeatable. GRADE: B

Mike Huckabee probably did more to help himself than any of the others. His emergance in the polls may have caused the moderators to give him some additional focus. On a personality level he appeared to be very relaxed and comfortable with all the questions, much more than I’ve seen in past debates. GRADE: B+

Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo didn’t help or hurt themselves, but for the most part were non-factors. GRADES: C

Ron Paul was not received well by the members of the live audience other than those who already support Ron Paul. He tried (again) to say that he isn’t an isolationist. Saying it doesn’t make it so. He is wrong on the war and forign policy. He will not be the nominee no matter how much money he raises or how loudly his supporters can shout. GRADE: F

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I have been looking through the pool of YouTube debate questions, and haven’t found a well done one yet. Of course there are nearly 5000 videos that were submitted.

I hope I’ve missed the good ones.

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The Republican presidential candidates will be on the stage in St. Petersburg tonight for the CNN/YouTube debate. I will be liveblogging once again, and will try to update here and at Heading Right.

Following the debate, we will jump on over to Debate Central at BlogTalkRadio for our analysis of what transpired.

I will try to get a list here on this post of those who will also be liveblogging.

I know the Brian at Liberty Pundit will be trying out his new liveblogging tool, and has the link to the YouTube pool of questions.

Steveegg will be on the job as well, but is bemoaning the fact that, “Michelle and Bryan will be live-vlogging the YouTube debate.”

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The Republican debate in Iowa on December 4th will not (as of now) include candidates Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, or Ron Paul. The Iowa Republican Party, who is sponsoring the debate along with Fox News, issued standards for participation on Tuesday.

The Ronulans are not amused.

That’s because the sponsors said participants need to average 5% support among Republicans in recent national or Iowa polls — and so far, Texas Rep. Ron Paul is one of the candidates not making the cut.

News of the party’s decision and how to protest it was spread quickly over the Internet by supporters of the anti-war, anti-tax, anti-abortion libertarian. “We are getting bombarded” with calls and e-mails from Paul’s supporters, said GOP spokeswoman Mary Tiffany. She said there were 25 voice mails from angry Paul supporters before the start of business Thursday.

The answer Tiffany gives is exactly right:

“I’m all about the First Amendment, but at the same time, how is this productive?” she asked. “They need to start calling voters and start door-knocking instead of calling the Republican Party of Iowa.”

The deluded supports really think that they are doing much, much, much better than they are. Any suggestion to the contrary is treated as a) delusion, or b) a conspiracy.

Expect them to be in a foul mood for the next four weeks.

(h/t Flopping Aces)

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Debate Reactions:

Iowa Voice (Brian) New Hampshire Debate: Detailed Analysis And Who Won

I still stand by my initial impression, that the format was awful and the questions asked were even worse. Nothing new was really learned from these guys, and if people are watching these to help them make up their minds, it’s not helping them do that. I’m one of those people who still haven’t decided who to support, and watching this debate didn’t move me any closer to making a decision.

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Post Debate Analysis: Giuliani Keeps The Crown For Now

The third GOP debate is over, although there may be some who haven’t realized it yet. What it lacked in firepower, it more than made up in pointlessness. And while CNN may not have been anywhere near as bad as MS-NBC, they should still be embarassed that their audience asked better questions than CNN’s journalists.

Michelle Malkin Another GOP game-show debate on CNN Fred Thompson on Fox: “They did alright.”

Bottom line: No knock-out punches, no fireworks. None of the candidates have changed their mind on anything since the last debate. And they probably didn’t change any viewers’ minds about them tonight.
I remain totally….uninspired.

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