RON PAUL IS A BRAVE MAN. By applause alone, I'm giving this debate to Ron Paul. He is a bold man and his passion and cut-through-the-B.S. directness really is making the others look like fakers and hacks (except for Rudy G., who's a fairly blunt fellow himself). As soon as the transcripts are up I'll post the delicious exchange between Mike Huckabee and Paul about the war. Beyond Paul, I'd say that this debate is a break-out event for Huckabee (he got to represent the mainstream Republican position on the war in the exchange with Paul), and just awful for Mitt Romney. Indeed, based on the pointed questions directed at him by the Fox News moderators -- including their decision to bring up the "Fee-fee" ("Fifi") quote -- I'm starting to think Romney must be nearly as unpopular as Thompson within the Fox News newsroom.
--Garance Franke-Ruta
