CNN/YouTube Republican Debate: The Winners, the Losers

The first ever CNN-YouTube Republican debate started in a heated fashion, as America's Mayor and the Mormon Governor came to blows over the immigration issue. In what many have perceived as something of a cheap shot, Rudy Giuliani accused Mitt Romney of not taking illegal immigration seriously, citing his home life as proof of this point, accusing him of using illegal immigrants without regard there. Mitt Romney was successful in defending himself and warding off the attack, that appeared to have done more harm to both candidates than good, but the initial, spark-filled hurdle was quickly overcome, and the debate reverted to a more conventional tone.

Not much was changed with this debate, few of the candidates' positions were changed or clarified beyond their current point, though perhaps the biggest surprise was the way Mike Huckabee really shown above all the other presidential candidates. Although still a far flung candidate with little hope of receiving the nomination, and presenting little in the way of appeal as a president, the clarity of his arguments and the absence of bickering caused him to stand out in a way that made him appear to be among the winners of tonight's debate.

Naturally, because of the lack of decorum that comes with free form internet question submissions, many of the YouTube questions demonstrated a contributor that thought that their own particular video was a bit more hard-hitting than it really was, such as the gentleman who attempted to make a point to ask if any of the candidates felt that "every word in this book was true" while holding a copy of the King James Version of the Bible. Most candidates answered the question candidly, though the question asker's true intent appeared to be an inquiry about the King James Version specifically, and each of the presidential hopefuls instead treated it as their chance to re-affirm their Christian values.

In a surprise turn, the Mitt Romney appeared to come out towards the bottom, hovering just somewhere between Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter, the latter of which seemed unable to really interject his opinion on much. The governor from Massachusetts stood very confidently throughout the entire night, however as many have noted, his voice often broke, and he did not seem to stand fully behind any of his seemingly faltering positions. Nothing was approached with as much verbal confidence as he had physical confidence, thus creating a mismatch in his overall composure.

Leading contender Rudy Giuliani seemed tied with Mike Huckabee, denied a sweeping victory due to his unpopular gun restriction ideas and the openly bitter attacks against Mitt Romney that opened the night's events. Otherwise his positions generally met with great acceptance from the audience.

Perhaps the greatest surprise of the night, was John McCain's challenge of against Ron Paul, which seemed to come as much of a shock to the isolationist candidate as it did to the audience, who appeared visibly shaken. Despite his powerful words that rattled Dr. Paul, the remainder of the night left the Vietnam Veteran largely unmoved from his position as a middle ground between the seemingly flustered Paul and the popular Giuliani.

Ron Paul appeared to resort to the tactic accused of Rudy Giuliani, where instead of appealing to 9/11 whenever he felt threatened, he would constantly, and seemingly desperately appeal to his stern anti-war stance, which appeared to fail him several times throughout the night. Even in the midst of the challenge by John McCain, as his policies were booed by the crowd, he tried in seeming exasperation to draw on his anti-war support, which seemed all dried up at that point.

Fred Thompson, like McCain, appeared to come out lukewarm over the night. Most of the negative reaction felt towards him do not seem based around his moderate and confident responses, but derived from the fact that he does not live up to the seemingly legendary status that his long delayed candidacy announcement promised. The highlight of the night appeared to be his rather stunning YouTube based campaign video, which directly attacked several of the other candidates rather brazenly. Several moments of silence lingered over the room as the shock of the video wore off.

Ultimately, the debates seem like they will effect little in the long run, with perhaps a few already determined Republican voters switching sides in equal numbers between the already highly popular candidates such as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/28/debate.main/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/26/giuliani.romney/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313656,00.html
http://rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_politicalticker.rss
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/462810/let_us_win_troops_tell_a_trembling.html