Congresswoman Michele Bachmann gave a dominating performance in tonight's GOP debate in South Carolina. She displayed a mastery of details and a willingness to go after both President Obama and her GOP opponents, especially Congressman Ron Paul. Particularly impressive was Bachmann's forthright defense of the use of force in American foreign policy. She articulated a strong defense of America's conduct of the war on terror, even defending targeted killings under this administration. And she did not waver in stating her readiness to authorize enhanced interrogations for captured enemy combatants in the field.
Bachmann's performance was on par with Speaker Newt Gingrich's, the latter evincing his usual mastery of policy details. And Bachmann's grasp of policy nuances, for example in discussion of Pakistan, far surpassed that of Governor Rick Perry, who struggled to recover from his brain freeze from earlier this week. And Bachmann performed much better on Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan than did putative frontrunner Mitt Romney.
I'll update with video as it becomes available. Herman Cain appeared to struggle and Rick Santorum appeared competent but on the periphery of the debate. Jon Huntsman sounded like the diplomat he is, and is even further to the sidelines than Santorum.
Overall, Michele Bachmann's performance stood out as the breakout display that she needed to regain some traction in the race. A positive spin among media pundits could help Bachmann's campaign, which has appeared on the ropes since her intemperate Gardasil comments back in September.
Expect updates.
7:00pm PST: Live blogging at Maggie's Notebook and The Other McCain, "Greetings From Spartanburg! REPUBLICAN DEBATE ON CBS --- UPDATE: 'No Runs, No Hits, No Errors'."
7:40pm PST: At National Journal, "Perry's Rambling Remarks on China: China Should Change Its 'Virtues' -- VIDEO."
7:50pm PST: At HotAir Pundit:The audio at the clip goes out at the end, which might be related to problems with the live feed. See Gateway Pundit, "Fail. CBS Airs Online GOP Debate – Loses Live Internet Feed."
8:30pm PST: At The Right Scoop, "Rick Perry cleverly jokes about gaffe from last debate."
And at Hot Air, "Video: Gingrich schools Pelley on “rule of law” on terrorists":
Thanks so much for the link! I agree about Bachmann, and I felt the same at the CNBC debate on the economy. She doesn't miss a beat. She's strong, articulate and speaks from experience. We will not hear that anywhere except here and at my place (and on the Bachmann sites).
ReplyDeleteNewt had the best line of the night, as he did last week. Iran? Covert ops - all of it deniable.
Maggie@MaggiesNotebook
http://maggiesnotebook.com
Bachmann would be a great president. I could vote for her with a lot of enthusiasm. We can only hope that the rest of the party will wake up in time to nominate her.
ReplyDeleteSizzle-hot she is. Ouch!
ReplyDeleteHow come almost noticed Bachmann dominating this debate? I watched it. It was Mitt and Newt's show, especially Newt's, as usual, with Perry running up a decent third.
ReplyDeleteLinked again.
ReplyDeleteMaggie@MaggiesNotebook
http://maggiesnotebook.com