I watched the Republican debate tonight hosted by Fox News.  First of all, I think the moderators (Chris Wallace, Carl Cameron, Brit Hume, and Wendel Goler) did a fine job.  The top tier Republicans looked great tonight.  Although all the candidates stumbled a little on the first question regarding the economy, I think each candidate (and I stress top tier…sorry Dr. Paul) did a fine job expressing their ideas.  After watching the Fox News focus group choosing Thompson as their clear winner, I thought that I would rank my candidates tonight.  The focus group picked Ron Paul as the loser and I would have to agree with that.

Before I name my winner, I want to mention what I am looking for in a candidate.  I am looking to be inspired by someone who is as optimistic as me about the future of the country.  I am not among those who think that the country is heading in the wrong direction.  I am among those (in recent polls) that consider themselves “very satisfied” with their lives.  And for the areas where I see problems, I am not one who thinks that the government can solve my problems.  I am looking for a president who will keep spending low, be strong on National Defense, and keep taxes low.

#1 Rudy Giuliani

I think McCain and Rudy looked great tonight.  If I had to lean in one direction, I think Rudy won this debate.  His answers were clear and uplifting and he avoided the negative attacks.  I did like his comment on change.  The democrats are talking about change, meaning pulling the change from your pocket.  He followed this with an uplifting message about change for the good, making life better for Americans.  At one point, the moderator brought up a quote from McCain which questioned Rudy’s national security experience.  Rudy handled this well and his exchange with McCain on this issue was respectful and dignified.  The volatile “sanctuary city” label came up again for Rudy and although I expected an angry rebuttal, Rudy handled this effectively, explaining his stance clearly.

#2 John McCain

McCain did a fine job as well, but he is starting to tire me a little when he speaks of the Airforce Tanker deal and Bridge to Nowhere.  He has consistently performed well on the issue of national security and the Iraq War debate, although he did stumble a bit on the immigration issue, one of the last questions.  I actually supported the Immigration Reform bill, not because I agree with everything in the bill, but I agree that fundamentally it would have helped the immigration problem.  That being said, I think McCain performed well, but fell a little short of Giuliani.

#3 Mike Huckabee

Huckabee did okay, but I don’t think he was inspiring tonight.  He was funny, like his reference to “passing the plate” to raise money for his campaign, but he did not show the leadership qualities that McCain and Rudy showed.  Also, when the Iran question was raised, he made a comment about sending those [who challenge American ships] to the gates of hell.  This answer seemed too staged or rehearsed to me.  I believe we should speak forcefully but stay away from cute phrases like this.  I believe Huckabee could have responded in a more presidential way to a question of such great importance.  I also consider his stance on a Gitmo closure confusing at best.  He says that he wants to close it because it is too nice to detainees???  He repeated this later in the evening on Fox News following the debate.

#4 Mitt Romney

I think Romney gave some good answers, but he did not hit the ball out of the park tonight.  He started off by attacking McCain, after McCain had made a comment that some jobs are gone from Detroit and will never come back.  This comment was meant to attack McCain’s “straight talk” and, although I don’t think the attack was vicious, Romney should have started off with a more upbeat message because it has been obvious that his negative campaigning has not worked.  I do think his response to Ron Paul was below the belt when he said “I think Congressman Paul should not be reading as many of Ahmadinejad’s press releases.”  I do not think this was the best way to treat a fellow candidate on the national stage even though it was the crazy Ron Paul.  We can toss around rhetoric like that in our blogs.

#5 Fred Thompson

Although the Fox News focus group chose Fred Thompson as the winner, I think he comes in last among the top tier candidates.  Maybe this focus group was so happy to see Thompson look up from his note cards, they could not help but get excited about the candidate.  I thought Thompson was too combative in nature, which I feel shows a hint of desperation.  He apparently did not learn from Romney’s negative campaigning blunders.  He attacked Huckabee on several occasions, and although he made a couple good points, it came off looking unnatural for him. Thompson talked in circles, with regards to the economy.  He started talking about speeding up depreciation schedules and recounting capital expenditures and I could feel the American people’s eyes glazing over.  No one ever inspired a nation with talk of depreciation schedules.

#6 Ron Paul

I must admit that I do like some of Ron Paul’s ideas.  But I am so against his stance on National Security, that I could never support him.  That said, he performed as expected.  I expected him to perform like my crazy drunk uncle at Thanksgiving and he came through.