Not going to belabor the blow-by-blow of last night’s Republican debate on CNN. Neither Romney nor Gingrich scored knockouts, which on balance is bad for Gingrich as the negative onslaught against him from Republican establishment figures has been taking its toll on his poll numbers. Rick Santorum had one or two very good moments, but he’s effectively conceded Florida anyway and clearly his only strategy for getting anywhere in this race is hanging on until Gingrich potentially implodes and drops out. Ron Paul was, from where I was sitting, the most likeable he’s been in any debate, with marvelous one-liners. I’ll reiterate what I’ve said before: Should both Gingrich and Santorum both throw in the towel, Ron Paul will continue making the race interesting for Mitt Romney well down the road. Paul’s strategy is obviously to just suck up as many delegates as he can so that he can wield some influence and grab a platform at the convention, so there is no reason for him to ever give up (unless he decides to go third party/independent after all). Continue reading Jacksonville CNN Republican debate
