The Brody File Reacts to the GOP Debate
June 5, 2007
Who were the winners and losers tonight? The list of losers does not exist. The top tier candidates all did well. There were no testy moments between Romney, McCain and Giuliani. But the way I see it, they should have company in the top tier after tonight...and I'm not talking about Fred Thompson.
It’s appropriate that Tuesday night’s Republican debate took place in the Granite state because tonight Mike Huckabee was solid as a rock. This is now the third debate where he has done well but tonight he cranked I up to another level. There was a passion in his voice tonight. He made an incredible eloquent case when he talked about God, creation, fighting radical Islam and the life issue. If social conservatives are looking for a presidential candidate to fight for their issues across the board, they can look no further than Mike Huckabee. But the magic of Huckabee tonight was that he took the pro-life issue and besides calling it the greatest moral issue of the day, he broadened it out and talked about respect for life outside the womb. Great answer and a great way to bring more moderates and others into the fold. A winning night all around, Memo to mainstream media: when does Mike Huckabee start getting mentioned as part of the top tier?
If Mitt Romney doesn’t become President, he should seriously consider being CEO of debate school. He could teach every candidate a thing or two. He is so polished, a great speaker and doesn’t come across as robotic. His answers tonight on Iraq and immigration were very clear. He comes across as very knowledgeable. I thought it was the right move tonight to NOT attack John McCain on immigration. This way he comes across as the nice guy, not the attack dog. Romney had been criticized before the debate because McCain said he didn’t have a plan on immigration but Romney said very clearly that he does: enforce the current law. That answer was a crowd pleaser.
John McCain looked a little distracted at first. It looked like he was pre-occupied with something else. He seemed calm, a little too calm. During the first debate, he seemed pretty wired. He was like that a little less in the second debate. Maybe his handlers told him to tone it down a little and not look like you drank 4 cans of Pepsi before you went on stage. McCain did improve as the night went on. When he got up from his chair to address a mother who lost a loved one Iraq, it was a great body language move. It showed that he cared. He looked her straight in the eye and gave her a straight answer.
Rudy Giuliani seems to just get better and better with each debate. He had plenty of opportunities tonight to talk about Iraq, national security and 9/11. Right up his alley. He comes across as a straight shooter and genuine when talking about defending this country. He told Americans tonight that it was the right decision to go into Iraq. He didn’t beat around the bush. (Excuse the pun) He was able to weave the JFK terror plot into one of his answers. On immigration, it’s a very complicated issue but Giuliani was able to boil it down to basically say “throw the bad people out” and then was able to weave his idea for national ID cards into the answer. Also, when Giuliani was asked about what the greatest moral issue of our time is, he mentioned God and that America’s ideals come from God. Good move. It was another solid night.
Some other thoughts:
Did you notice that Romney kept agreeing with Giuliani tonight? I think it was done on purpose. Let Americans see that this is a two horse race between Giuliani the front runner and Romney.
Also, many of us in the media were expecting a big argument on immigration tonight between McCain and Romney. It never happened. It surprised me because both had been critical of each other. Maybe they'll live to fight another day.
Now, off to the spin room. Check back for video interviews with campaign staffers.
THE BRODY FILE Main Page >>
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
