Chris Matthews hosted the Republican Presidential Debates. Gaggle recaps the highlights.
I’m looking forward to debates with fewer debaters. There wasn’t enough time for this many. I’d also entertain the idea of having a different moderator, but it’s not necessary. All the candidates had to deal with the same inane questions.
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I watched the Republican Presidential Candidates Debate broadcast live from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., and was left thinking Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson came away clear winners.
That’s right! Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, and Thompson, the Law and Order star and former U.S. senator from Tennessee, can declare victory simply because both were smart enough to skip the event for two likely reasons:
First, because it’s taking place far too early to be remembered by voters 9 or more months from now; and
Second, because video clips and sound bites from the event will serve Democrat candidates’ needs more than Republicans, a result of the fact that many of the questions were “loaded” with liberal bias in a variety of ways.
Speaking of liberal bias, I must share my feelings about MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and his colleagues at the alphabet networks: In short, I’ve never been comfortable with the hiring of former Democrat speech writers and operatives like Matthews, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and NBC’s Tim Russert as news anchors and, in this case, debate moderators.
Hat’s off to all of the Republican candidates for their self-control in not reaching out to ring the necks of Matthews and his Politico.com pals for conducting themselves the way they did.
Wrapping up, I want to share my gut-instinct feelings about the “performances” of all the GOP candidates — all of whom must secretly wish they were Reagan — tonight:
Sam Brownback: Good guy. Would make a great neighbor.
Jim Gilmore: Straight-shooter who backs promises.
Rudy Giuliani: Democrat in a Republican suit that didn’t fit.
Mike Huckabee: Honest and sincere.
Duncan Hunter: Tough on border security.
John McCain: Striving to produce sound bites, appear tough. Didn’t do either well.
Ron Paul: Most common sense and, at same time, darkest horse running.
Mitt Romney: Too plastic. Too polished. Looks like Lyle Waggoner of The Carol Burnett Show from the ’70s.
Tom Tancredo: Independent-minded but flustered by Chris Matthews repeatedly cutting him off.
Tommy Thompson: Trying hard to appear tough.
More later. We have miles to go before we vote.