Unpublished - O'Reilly: Winner in SC GOP Debate by Alan Helvig
If nothing else, last night's so-called GOP Presidential Candidate Debate showed the country why there are first tier candidates and second tier candidates in the race for the White House. Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani clearly came out on top, while Jim Gilmore and Tommy Thompson left everyone wondering why they were even there.
Even though the event was predominantly a sound bite contest, there were still winners and losers. The FNC Poll results would have you believe that the biggest winner was Ron Paul, as he raked in 25% of the text votes after last night's show. In this case, looks are definitely deceiving. The majority of his votes were obviously not from the GOP's conservative base. He undoubtedly struck a cord with the liberal viewers and Bush haters who appreciated his anti-war position. Rep. Paul has had his 15 minutes of fame and will now fade off into the land of VH1's one hit wonders.
The biggest loser had to be John McCain. His star seems to shine much brighter when he is on his own than it does when he is in the ring with contenders. Although he delivered a couple of good jabs here and there, he still looked like Rocky after Apollo Creed got done with him in their first fight. McCain appears to be following a version of the Howard Dean path to self destruction. It should not be long before he is replaced in the top tier by Fred Thompson. The true winner last night was Bill O'Reilly. He must have been proud as both Chris Wallace and Wendell Goler made it clear that the debate stage was a "No Spin Zone". When the question asked was not answered, they went back to the candidate and gave him a second chance to respond. This proved fatal for the likes of Tommy Thompson, who floundered when asked what programs he would cut from the federal budget.
While it is certain that some will take advantage of the poll results, it is clear that this scale was not calibrated. For starters, most seniors, who make up the majority of primary voters, don't send text messages. To be fair, this probably hurt McCain the most, as he received less than 5% of the votes. Next, Dems were allowed to text in their votes, essentially taking weight away from the candidates they fear the most and giving it to the candidate they fear the least. The smart candidates will simply walk away from this poll and stay focused on the challenges they face in key states.
After last night, it would seem the second tier candidates are going to stay in the second tier. In fact, Tancredo, Gilmore, Brownback and Tommy T are probably already finished. Although last night's sound bite contest was fun to watch, I can't wait for the toilet to flush and for all of the second tier candidates to go down. Then and only then will we be able to enjoy a real debate. Unfortunately, I think we'll have to wait until after the Iowa Straw Poll to hear that swishing sound.
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