Debate, or slugfest?

I expected to hear much of the same during the debate last night, but I did not expect to hear anything new. I mentioned that Fred Thompson has been making more of an impression as of late, and the last debate has proved my point. Thompson really made his presence known, but there were also other aspects that I noticed during the debate. It seemed that everyone backed off of Mitt Romney, and focused on Mike Huckabee and John McCain. Was there a clear winner? Fred Thompson stole the show. Fred is the winner.

I want to alter your focus for a minute, and study Rudy Giuliani for just a moment. Rudy padded Mitt Romney during and after the debate. Why would Rudy do this for a competitor for president? Rudy can not afford to let John McCain run away with another win, so Rudy needs to pad his closest rival, Mitt Romney. He needs a scattered field going into Super Tuesday to win the necessary electoral vote for a nomination. So what did Rudy do? Rudy pointedly stated that John McCain was not the only one who supported the surge, and tried to take Johns "surge foothold" away. Rudy is correct, John is not the only one who supported the surge, but Rudy's comments AFTER the debate were absolutely key to my argument. In his statement to Sean Hannity, Rudy said "Mitt was for the surge…" when he said Republicans were ALL for the surge on day one. Rudy is running for Mitt because Rudy can not win South Carolina.

Let's go back to Fred Thompson again. Fred took on John McCain and Mike Huckabee, but like Rudy, he did not go after Mitt Romney, even when Romney left himself open to attack (and Mitt left himself WIDE open).Thompson also seems to be putting Mitt Romney out as the front man. I have a feeling, and I have had this feeling for a while, but I won't make the prediction yet, but I think Thompson has a different motive. I don't think he is running for President, or rather he is keeping himself open for the one he thinks is going to win the nomination. I will not say any more than this for now, but I do think Fred is picking his fights for a different reason. Fred is correct when he told Hanity that he has to win big. To be a true contender, he needs to place or win in South Carolina. Thompson hit all the right points last night, and made a strong showing, but I wonder if he is really trying to win.