Hmm, so there was a Republican Primary debate tonight

This is probably going to sound extra small, slackerish-blogger of me, but I mostly jumped around other folks' live-blog threads to get my impressions, because watching the debate just didn't seem....fun.  The only real question of the evening seemed to me to be "How is apparent front-runner Rick Perry going to do? (Is he really as dumb as people say?)"  The answer to that question seems to be split. On one hand,  he is still pushing "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme", but on the other hand, he's really executed a lot of people down there in Texas, including at least one guy who was most probably innocent.  Now, I would say that in my world, that would make him unelectable.

The GOP debates don't take place in my world, or for my benefit, though. In Vixen-Space, Huntsman looks like the most reasonable of the lot. In TeaParty Land, this means he does not have a very good chance, at all. (This could even be the cornerstone of a campaign against him: Jon Huntsman--the favored candidate of gay-allied feminist liberal atheists who were forced to chose amongst Republicans for the least-unreasonable choice for president.)  In the actual course of the debate, the mention of Governor Perry's record regarding capital punishment merited applause.

I take this to mean that my observations in the matter are therefore to be taken with a grain of salt, a slice of lime, and a shot of tequila--I would say the debate really didn't have much effect on how anyone's mind would be made up re: the choice of a likely Republican voter, because I don't think anything new was revealed about any of the candidates. I do, however, think that the pile-on of Perry has only just begun regarding his competitors, and I think the media may catch on if things get appropriately rancorous--I note that this story regarding the slashing of Texas' firefighting budget is unfortunate given the tragic wildfires raging across the state. When held as a counterpoint to his absurd pray-for-rain stunt, the situation is just sick-making.  Also, his extreme position on Social Security gives a nice entry for any candidate who wants to look reasonable beside him.

If Perry can be pulled down, this goes from a Perry/Romney contest (as former campaign manager Ed Rollins put it) to one that Bachmann can cover lost ground in.  For Cain, Santorum and Paul though--I just don't see any of them going anywhere.