Visual source: Newseum
For a well-hyped, very well-funded national contender, Rick Perry is just a terribly prepared candidate. Perry's not Phil Gramm, the epitome of money without people skills. Perry is a very good retail politician when he works a room. But he's not Presidential caliber, which is evident every time he opens his mouth—and opening your mouth is a debate requirement. As Perry fails to become the not-Romney, Romney's fortunes improve. Republicans will never love Mitt, but they will vote for him.
NY Times:
With a fresh air of confidence in his candidacy, Mr. Romney set out to diminish Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and all but ignored him, a different approach from the last three debates, where he repeatedly tangled with Mr. Perry. Given a chance to question a fellow candidate, Mr. Romney selected Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.
Jonathan Bernstein:
There’s just no getting around it: Rick Perry’s inept performances are dominating these debates...
Despite Perry’s performances, I’ll continue to believe it’s way too early to conclude he can’t win. Hey, he’s just lowering expectations for the next one! As Nate Silver wrote earlier today, Perry still has most of what made him a strong candidate six weeks ago. We still don’t know that Romney is acceptable to much of the party -- either party actors or rank-and-file voters -- and if he’s not, someone else has to be the nominee, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone else out there.
What Nate said:
But after a week or two of negative reviews of his performance from commentators across the political spectrum — this is the sort of thing that begets the term “echo chamber” — the debate’s effect on Mr. Perry was very much amplified, and he lost 10 or 15 points in the polls...
Rick Perry’s fundamentals are sound.
But he is also on the verge of being vetoed by the Republican establishment, which was never particularly enamored with his candidacy and has justifiable concerns about his electability.
This is not going to be a good week for Perry.
Jennifer Rubin:
In not getting bruised and by demonstrating his superior campaign skills, Romney came out the big winner. Perry didn’t help himself a bit, and now risks slipping behind Bachmann and others. Bachmann brought her A game, but now will have to translate that to fundraising and support in Iowa. And Santorum seems ready to move up as others fail. This was, most of all, Cain’s big moment. He didn’t maximize his opportunity, and instead likely increased doubts about his preparedness to run for and be president. Much can change between now and January, but unless other candidates change the dynamics of the race, Romney will slowly but surely move to lock up the nomination.
In the race to be not-Romney, everyone loses–except Romney.
EJ Dionne:
Mitt Romney won big in last night’s Post/Bloomberg debate. Rick Perry disappeared for long periods. Jon Huntsman didn’t make much of a dent except for a couple of jokes. Herman Cain is now big time. While he enjoyed himself immensely and looked pretty fluent, my hunch is that this debate will be remembered as the moment when people started taking apart his 9-9-9 plan. It won’t survive the scrutiny.
National Journal:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the race for the GOP nomination, a coup for Romney that could help him solidify his front-runner status and build an aura of inevitability around his campaign.
A bad week for Perry is a good week for Romney.
Margaret Carlson on strong women candidates (see Elizabeth Warren):
Women were not amused by Obama’s ['likeable enough'] crack at Clinton and, judging by the response to Brown’s comment, they still aren’t. While Warren has wisely held her tongue, women’s groups have been using the episode to raise hay -- and perhaps some money. A spokesman for Emily’s List, the pro-choice Democratic women’s group that is raising money for Warren, said its members are “fired up” over Brown’s remark.
Lost in the wrangling is a blatant double standard: Who thinks that a woman who posed naked for a magazine would be sitting in the U.S. Senate as the favorite for re-election? Look around the chamber next time you tune into C-Span: There’s not a Playboy centerfold in sight.