GOP Presidential Debate: No Clear Winners, But Some High Spots

COMMENTARY | Monday night's GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire stood out from many past debates. CNN host John King explained that, although a few local reporters would be allowed to ask questions, most questions posed to the candidates would come from "regular" New Hampshire citizens in the audience and at televised locations.

The candidates on board were Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachmann (who officially declared her candidacy during the broadcast), Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Herman Cain.

While a cut-and-dry debate winner wasn't so obvious, there were some "most" moments that evolved during the two-hour event:

Most stand-out questions:

* A retired professor stated the Democrats are always saying Republicans have no plans to create jobs. He asked how the candidates would create jobs, accentuating jobs in the private sector, not government jobs.

* A young man who works in some capacity with juveniles asked what "separation of church and state" meant to each candidate and how it would affect their job performance as president.

*A naturalized citizen asked what each candidate would do to prevent illegals from taking advantage of our welfare, education and health care systems.

Most sensible response:

Herman Cain, who emphasized in his introduction that he's not a politician but a businessman with 40 years of experience, answered the professor. He said jobs can be created in the private sector by lowering taxes, reducing capital gains taxes to zero, and repatriating profits [keeping jobs and company profits in this country].

"Uncertainty is killing the economy," Cain said. "The fuel must be put in the right engine -- and the right engine is the private sector."

Most impassioned responses (not necessarily to the stand-out questions):

Former Minnesota Gov. Pawlenty defended his own economic plan passionately against previous criticism of his 5 percent growth indicator. He asked, "Why shouldn't we expect five percent growth per year? If Brazil and China can do it, so can we." He criticized President Obama for viewing America as on the same level as other countries. "We're not Portugal or Argentina." America does stand out, he said, and any other attitude is defeatist.

Although questions on the health care bill were no surprise, Minnesota Rep. Bachmann got most passionate in response to a freelance journalist's question about repealing Obamacare. The journalist, who specializes in writing about health care, felt the bill is a disaster, and inquired about the three steps each candidate would take to repeal it.

Bachmann never phrased it in three steps, but came on strong by stating she was the first one in Congress to write a bill completely repealing Obamacare; she would repeal it if elected president. In an excited but controlled pitch, she criticized the money taken out of Medicare to fund the health care plan, and stated the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said the plan will kill 800,000 jobs.

Most selfless response:

Santorum, the former 12-year senator from Pennsylvania, refused a temptation to criticize Pawlenty's plan.

Most direct answer:

On the separation of church and state question, Pawlenty gave the most succinct answer: This was designed to protect people of faith from government -- not government from people of faith. If King had not cut off the applause to save time, this could have been the biggest audience ovation of the evening.

Conclusion:

Pawlenty, Bachmann and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney all have the overall appeal for the GOP nomination. But the party should have pulled a Democratic tactic and kept Cain under cover until the last minute. He has a strong, sensible persona. And someone named Barack Obama came out of nowhere.

Sheryl Young has been freelance writing for newspapers, magazines, organizations and websites since 1997. Her specialty is American politics, education and society as they intersect with religion. Credits include Community Columnist for the Tampa Tribune Newspaper, Interview Columnist with Light & Life Magazine, and a National First Place "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award from the Amy Foundation.