Take my prediction post from yesterday and toss it in the trash. Let me try again…
My prediction for this mornings debate is… I got nothing. You see, I actually believed “the not-Romney” candidates when they were threatening attack on “the Romney.” I believed it because it made sense to go after the front runner. It’s flippin’ Politics 101, for crying out loud.
And if they weren’t going to follow through with all their trash-talking why did they even bother to show up? I swear, I truly expected every one of them to end last night’s debate conceding to Romney, because, hey, that’s what they did.
Here are some of my random thoughts from last night:
1. Romney was the invisible man. He barely participated and didn’t have to defend himself. Great for winning the primary, but dangerous when approaching a general. IMO, a primary should season the eventual nominee; it should bring to light all potential pitfalls so they can be aired and dealt with, and hopefully be considered “old” news by the time the general election rolls around. Romney isn’t being seasoned.
2. ABC seemed determined to take out Rick Santorum with the contraception issue. Not that he doesn’t deserve it, but the amount of time devoted to this topic was ridiculous.
3. How do you have a debate without discussing jobs, heath care or immigration? ABC was horrible.
4. Perry wants to send troops back to Iraq, and seems to think that Iran is going to invade Iraq again?
5. Huntsman sounds sane, and, still, nobody cares.
6. Is Paul running for VP? He did Romney’s dirty work last night.
7. Gingrich was, also, largely missing from last night’s debate, but did manage to appeal to South Carolina with the “Christians are persecuted” applause line.
You know who was persecuted last night? Me. And, fool that I am, I’ll be doing it all over again this morning.
Consider this an open thread fro the debate.