It's pretty amusing to watch Sean Hannity get angry about the text-poll results from the FOX News Republican debate in Florida.
After relentlessly plugging the text-poll before the debate, Hannity slammed the results that showed Ron Paul "winning" the debate among texters with an initial 38%.
Of course, Paul didn't "win" the debate among Republican voters. But to watch Hannity get all bent out of shape about it on live TV is fun. Gotta love Fox. By the way, at the time of this post, Mike Huckabee was in 2nd on the text-polling. That, on the other hand, may be telling.
Speaking of the former Governor of Arkansas . . . Mike Huckabee won over at least 3 "undecided voters" in Frank Luntz's FOX "focus group." Honestly, I think focus groups are kinda lame, and especially when they are live on TV. But a few Republican voters who said to be leaning towards Fred Thompson, claimed they now were taking a fresh look at Huckabee.
Overall, this was quite the lively debate. Fred Thompson went after Rudy Giuliani on a host of conservative issues. Rudy hit back on Thompson's tort-reform record. John McCain went after Mitt Romney on "flip-flops." Romney was on the defensive regarding his Massachusetts healthcare plan. Ron Paul was booed about the war. And everybody piled on Hillary, over and over and over. It's gotta make her feel pretty good. It's like getting booed on the road in the Majors -- or getting a parody of yourself on Saturday Night Live. When that happens, you know you've made it.
How'd the media see it?
*The Associated Press leads with frontrunners Giuliani and Romney in the lead, and takes the angles of the second-tier candidates questioning their conservative credentials. McCain challenging Romney; Thompson taking on Rudy. It's clear right now the GOP betting odds are on either Giuliani or Romney as the nominee. Still, extremely fluid.
*FOX's headline: "CAT FIGHT HISSES IN REPUBLICAN PRIMARY DEBATE" Meow.
*Chuck Todd at NBC called all the candidates "red-hot" and has trouble picking a clear winner.
*Conservative blog RedState has nice things to say about McCain and Huckabee.
*Ana Marie Cox at TIME says McCain had the best line, and likes Rudy and Huckabee as well. But she says Fred needs to take a nap!
*The N.Y. Times blog says this G.O.P. debate was about "Everybody vs. Clinton."
*Mark Ambinder, who's blog over at The Atlantic is definitely in my top 3 favorites, thinks Mitt and Rudy stood out.
The reviews continue to pour in . . . What say you?
3 comments:
I had not had the chance to watch Thompson in a debate before. Beyond politics, he is very boring. I continue to think that Huckabee impresses, Guiliani holds his ground, while Romney sounds just too good to be true.
This debate's biggest flaw was that Romney, Thompson, and Guiliani were given way too much of the time. I thought this station was "Fair and Balanced". Oh, how I digress!
I thought Rudy won hands down. As for Hannity getting irritated over the text poll it is extremely irritating to see Paul dominate the internet with his conspiracy theorist cult following when he doesn't have a prayer of getting the nomination.
OK, I got to it late because of church, and I flipped back and forth between the debate and game 7 of the ALCS. With those two caveats, my thoughts:
-Thompson won't let Rudy march to the nomination. Comparing Giuliani to Hillary was the moment of the night.
-Thompson looked more comfortable than in the first debate in Michigan.
-Rudy holds Hillary up as a straw man to make himself appear more conservative.
-Huckabee scores another solid performance. This guy wins converts where ever he goes.
-McCain calls out Romney. Mitt is fading- it was bound to happen. But where does McCain fit in the calculus with Rudy, Thompson, and Romney?
-Hunter, Tancredo, and Paul need to go back to the House.
Overall, Huckabee helped his cause, Thompson joined the battle, and Rudy wants us to focus on Hillary's flaws so his don't appear so obvious.
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