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Last Pre-Caucus Debate

Rich Galen

Friday December 16, 2011

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The final debate prior to the January 3 Iowa Caucuses was held in Sioux City last night.

The race is no less fluid with 19 days to go than it was last summer. Newt Gingrich had jumped out to a huge lead a week ago, but that lead has (depending upon which poll you look at) has either diminished, or evaporated altogether.

After the first 20 minutes of Kumbaya, the questions turned to Gingrich. The second tier candidates were unabashed about piling on.

Here's how I think the seven candidates did last night.

Newt Gingrich: (26.0% in the RealClearPolitics.com summary of Iowa Polls) Last week we were waiting to see how Newt handled being the front-runner and he handled it pretty darned well. Last night we were waiting to see how he handled watching his support erode in the face of a determined opposition.

Gingrich did not lose his temper and didn't attack the moderators. However, on the question about limiting the power of the judiciary he all but came around from his lectern and gave Megan a Leroy Jethro Gibbs slap to the back of the head. He's still very, very good at this. SCORE: A

Mitt Romney: (17.6%) If the goal for the Romney team was to have him look Presidential, they should give themselves a Christmas bonus. Romney knew what he wanted to say, said it well, and for those who have been looking for a Non-Newt candidates, he might have actually moved votes in his direction. SCORE: A

Ron Paul: (16.6%) Congressman Paul has his rap down cold:

"How are you feeling?"
"Government is too big."

"How's the weather?"
"No more foreign wars."

Paul was on his game and for those who have warmed to him, he gave them good reason to talk to their neighbors and urge them to join the Paul crusade. If you buy the Ron Paul act, his star shone bright last night. SCORE: B

Rick Perry: (10.2%) Whatever the new campaign team is doing in preparing him for debates is working. Perry might have taken up the equivalent of Herman Cain's 9-9-9 with his call for a part-time Congress, but he did it with vigor. SCORE: C+

Michele Bachmann: (9.6%) Bachmann is creeping toward double digits in Iowa and will find that useful if she wants to re-start her campaign for Congress from the 6th District of Minnesota. She went after Gingrich with both barrels on Freddie Mac and scored some points. Once again she showed a strong understanding of foreign policy. SCORE: B-

Rick Santorum: (6.0%) Santorum had gained some traction during the Des Moines debate, but appeared to drop back into his more standard peeking out from behind the curtain mode last night. He has spent more time here than anyone, but as an attempt to get Iowans to sing his name next month, last night's performance didn't make it. SCORE: C-

Jon Huntsman: (3.4%) I'm not certain why Huntsman blew off the last debate in Des Moines, but he showed up in Sioux City. He did what he could, but he has been trailing the field since he got into the race; he is trailing today, and couldn't do much to improve his position in this debate. SCORE: C

On the Secret Decoder Ring today: A link to the RealClearPolitics.com summary of Iowa Polls; a Mullfoto and a Catchy Caption of the Day.

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