The Spectrum - By Ty Carr

The GOP Debate:  Round 4

About last night...  The Bloomberg/Washington Post debate last night tells us a number of critical things about the state of the GOP race.  Surprisingly enough, the candidates managed to stay on topic at the forum which was designed to explicitly center on economics.  What's also even more surprising was the level of civility.  In previous debates we've seen the contenders often try their hardest to rip each other apart in hopes of stealing the spotlight, but not last night.  The mood was, overall, serious and everyone pretty much across the board played it safe, aside from a few quips by several members of the bottom tier hoping to break away.

Mitt Romney is ready to be your nominee
One notable thing about Mitt Romney last night's debate shows us is that he is beginning to believe he will be the nominee and he wants everyone to know it and prepare to accept it.  The very fact that he questioned Michelle Bachmann during the candidate to candidate questioning, perhaps the one person one the stage that barely registers as competition goes to show that he is not intimidated by any of his rivals.  After publicly receiving the coveted endorsement of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Mitt Romney wants the republican party to prepare for the inevitable.  The Romney-Obama showdown.  Mitt was able, as usual, to cleanly deflect any and all criticism directed at him during the 90-minute spread.  Perhaps that's helping the Former Governor.  After 5 debates and taking the same shots every time, usually from the same rivals, they are just getting old to the voters.  Romney has given his answer to all of his criticisms and they haven't changed.  So to keep hammering at him over the same old news is simply looking like a waste of time.  Especially since we're less than 3 months away from the first votes, it's time the other candidates reconcile and prepare for the real battle:  Barack Obama.

Wherefore Art Thou, Rick Perry?

Rick Perry's performance last night was effectively mute.  I don't believe he did much damage to himself or his message but he also didn't do any good.  In some way, I feel he might as well have stayed home for the night.  The Texas Governor at one point went more than 30 minutes without saying a word and when presented with the chance to question Governor Romney it was a pretty flat and expected question that Romney easily deflected; back on Mr. Perry I might add.  If it was Rick Perry's goal to just fly under the radar, this man succeeded.  The only memorable Perry moment was when he was asked at least twice about his jobs plan and how he responded (again) with "it's coming, I'm not going to lay it all out tonight [at this economic debate, which, an economic plan would be a great fit to have ready for]."  Rick Perry, thy light fades.

Herman Cain is Fair Game

Herman Cain and his 999 tax plan was all the rage last night amongst nearly all his rivals.  Bachmann even took a shot at its unsettling connection with a certain demonic notation.  Santorum used the forum to annihilate Cain's plan saying it wouldn't pass in Congress and even asking the audience if they wanted his proposed sales tax.  Some other candidates hammered away at the possibility of it simply being another avenue for the government to raise taxes.  What was my favorite and most memorable part of the debate came when Cain suggested Alan Greenspan as his favorite chairman.  I remember when the camera cut-away to Ron Paul just shaking his head in disbelief and all I could say to myself was "oh boy...here it comes."  And of course, Dr. Paul stole Cain's thunder and credibility by pointing out just how awful Greenspan was for the country.  Ron Paul also delivered a resounding blow to Cain and Cain's connection to the Fed.  Paul called out Mr. Cain on his opposition to auditing the Fed and how Cain called those in favor "ignorant."  Cain denied the attacks but as of this morning, the audio clip was discovered where Cain's sentiments are clear and were accurately conveyed by Paul.

So now that Herman Cain is "top-tier," he's taking serious heat and his true colors are showing.  It's abundantly clear to me and many others that yes, Cain is novel, bold, and energetic but he simply is too naive, unstructured and lacks thorough understanding of major issues such as foreign policy, social issues, energy, and perhaps, even economics.  The fact that many are going after Cain over Romney can be for a couple reasons.  One, they believe Cain is not a solid second-place candidate and they can easily replace him.  Two, they're realizing Romney is pulling ahead and is their best chance to beat Obama, therefore, Cain is the alternative target.  But perhaps the biggest reason is Cain is simply easy to attack for many of the reasons I've listed.  The coming days and weeks will tell us just how strong a candidate he is.

Huntsman-Huntsman-Huntsman

I believe Huntsman is in many ways the "perfect" candidate.  Just not in this decade with this Republican party.  This man can speak to being a hugely successful Governor who has done great things in the state of Utah, he is a man of Science & Religion (something most republicans don't believe can even work together) and he can speak eloquently on foreign policy, considering his impressive resume.  But Jon Huntsman just can't break away from coming in near dead-last in the polls.  Huntsman had a solid performance last night, he's got great ideas, a virtually spotless record (does anyone ever take shots at Jon?) but the Republican Party is just too slow to catch up with him.  So unfortunately, no matter how well he does in debates and on the trail, this is not his time but it will be soon. 

The Road Ahead
Last night's debate gives us a preview of debates to come over the next few months with a field that is now settled.  Mitt Romney will likely remain strong, with his new-found endorsement of Christie, we can all assume many more to come as well as great financial contributions to his campaign.  I would suspect some of his rivals to begin to accept the inevitable and even start subtly jockeying for VP.  The rest of the field is pretty fluid, however.  That is something unpredictable.