Tonight was the Republican Candidates Forum on the FOX News Channel also held at St. Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire.
You know, the same forum that Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter didn't get an invite to?
That's right--the same forum that the NH GOP withdrew from because it didn't include all candidates.
Well, Chris Wallace posed the questions and the five invited candidates (Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and John McCain) all had a much more restrained tone tonight compared to last night. Perhaps it was the close quarters in the "FOX Box?"
Instead of parsing every individual comment they made, I'd like to make some general observations.
1. Rudy Giuliani didn't do anything all that impressive in this forum. Most polls show him a distant fourth here in New Hampshire and I don't think that much is going to improve that. New Hampshirites aren't going for Rudy because, honestly, they're not all that impressed with his record in the city we love to hate.
2. Fred Thompson woke up from his nap at one point and stammered through a few questions. Fred "mailed it in" to New Hampshire a while ago and pulled all his resources. I'm sure that as soon as this forum ended he was on his way to the airport. Destination: South Carolina.
3. Mike Huckabee came across as defensive and maybe even resentful in several moments. While many thought he might have gotten the best of Romney the night before, Huckabee seemed to have to defend plenty of previous statements--and he didn't do a very convincing job. He scored some of the lowest focus group approvals of the night when he was asked to clarify his statements on illegal immigration in previous debates.
4. Mitt Romney had the performance of the night. He was prepared. He was solid. He defended his record and drew specific contrast between himself and his opponents. Romney pulled off the kind of performance that should only add to his lead. One thing is sure after tonight: John McCain's camp is on damage control.
5. John McCain seemed awfully pleased with himself at several times last night--something that didn't occur tonight. Between Chris Wallace's questions and Mitt Romney's challenges, McCain looked like his confidence was forced and like he was uncomfortable.
The focus groups conducted by Frank Luntz overwhelmingly thought that Mitt Romney scored the best performance of the night as evidenced by these YouTube videos below:
If Mitt can pick up that many votes in that room, I'm sure he's picking up votes all across the Granite State tonight. It will be a Primary to remember on Tuesday, for sure.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com
