SantorumShowed Up

Rick Santorum had his best debate of the election last night, maybe because his mom was in the audience.  He seemed less whiny.  And his request that the time be used for substance, as opposed to Mitt and Newt's sniping, was welcome and overdue. I still don't see Santorum winning.  However, he should do well enough in Florida to press on.

Newt has crested, in my view. The more I see of Newt, the better everyone else looks.  It didn't help that Elliott Abrams put the lie to Newt's claim that he helped Ronald Reagan win the Cold War.  On NRO, Abrams details all the snotty things Newt said to and about Reagan, and how Newt in fact undermined Reagan. Had Newt prevailed, it is unlikely that America would have won the Cold War.  It is a devastating critique of Newt and a must-read for anyone who is seriously considering him and anyone who considers Reagan the standard by which we should judge those who seek to carry the Republican mantle.

I fear that Newt would demean the Office of the President.  As one elderly lady observed to me recently, the man has the "morals of an alley cat."  When I see Newt, I think of Bill Clinton, and then I think about how W. had to put new carpet in the Oval Office.  My mind doesn't want to go there, but this is the consequence of Newt's life choices.

Mitt Romney did well the first hour. But it is uncomfortable to watch him go negative against Newt; plainly, this is not in Mitt's character.  That raises the concern:  will he be similarly awkward attacking Obama?