James Fallows wasn’t nearly as kind to Romney’s debate opponents as I was. On further consideration, Fallows is more right than I was. Here’s an excerpt:
This is the first debate among the Republicans that I’ve seen at full length and in real time.* So factoring in all the expectations I’d gathered from coverage (Romney too weaselly, McCain really the strongest one, Huckabee a charmer, etc), how did it look?
Romney by a mile. More precisely, the only candidate you could imagine putting up a plausible general-election fight. Again, I’m not handicapping the GOP race, which I know nothing about. I’m not saying how each candidate did relative to previous appearances. I am telling you how this one debate looked if you had never seen these guys on the same stage before. . . .
More at The Atlantic.
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freida 01.25.08 at 7:20 pm
Speaking of seeing the candidates for the first time: if you happened to catch the expression on Chris Mathews’ face –including his eyes, as he savored Mitt Romney’s crack about Bill Clinton roaming the White House with nothing to do, you may have sensed, like I did, that Mathews was really seeing Romney for the first time. And sensing at last what a powerful debater he is, and what a run he will give Hillary.