Last night's GOP presidential debate had a lot of great moments. As is normally the case, Ron Paul pulled off a series of zingers and flat out hilarious comments. That's not to say that he didn't make some excellent points. Instead, it simply means that Paul's answers were both informative and entertaining.
Rick Santorum showed primary voters why he had been a rising star before his reelection defeat in 2006. Tim Pawlenty had the courage to admit that he had been wrong when he had, at first, supported cap and trade legislation. He explained how he changed his mind after studying the issue in much more detail. Gary Johnson rightly used his opportunities to discuss a number of his accomplishments as governor of New Mexico.
You might say that each candidate had his flash of excellence--that is clear. That being said, businessman and former radio host Herman Cain consistently performed at a high level. In reality, he stole the show.
Mr. Cain had two especially outstanding moments. One was when moderator Chris Wallace asked Cain about his support for the Fair Tax, noting that experts argue that such a taxing system would actually hurt the middle class. Cain quickly responded by saying, "With all due respect, your experts are dead wrong." He followed up his great one liner with an explanation of exactly how the Fair Tax would be good for all taxpayers.
Cain's second great moment was when he was asked about his having never held an elected position. Mr. Cain quickly responded that most of the folks in Washington had previously held public office. His next sentence really brought the house down. He said, "How's that working out for ya?" RedState.com's Erick Erickson discusses Cain's performance in more detail here.
Dr. Frank Luntz's focus group was near unanimous in their opinion that Cain dominated the debate. In fact, this opinion was near unanimous in a group of more than twenty-five South Carolina GOP primary voters. Luntz was visibly taken aback by the overwhelming opinion that Cain had won the debate. He proceeded to ask the group how many had come in supporting Cain--only one raised her hand. In the end, the "no-name" Cain left with at least half the room solidly backing his candidacy--and the others weren't far behind.
In case you aren't familiar with Dr. Frank Luntz, be assured that this isn't his first time around the focus group block. The man is a consummate professional and wordsmith. Trust me, if he is taken aback at the response to Cain's performance, we all should be. When you have the time, you should check out Dr. Luntz's amazing book, Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear.
Be sure to watch Dr. Luntz's focus group below, and vote in the poll to pick your favorite candidate out of the five who participated in last night's debate.
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