So much for Ronald Reagan’s “Eleventh Commandment” that says, “Thou shall not attack another Republican.”
Tim Pawlenty was the biggest violator tonight but guess what? It worked. I thought it was pretty clear that won the night.
Let’s be clear: Pawlenty had to make a move tonight. He hasn’t shown much progress in national polls even though he’s working extremely hard and has an impressive legislative resume. He needed to do something to shake things up and by going after Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney, he showed a tenacity that had been sorely lacking.
Since Pawlenty is a hockey player, maybe he went to hockeyfights.com before the debate to get all riled up. Only time will tell if Pawlenty’s performance tonight will make a difference but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him receive a nice little bounce from tonight.
As for the other candidates, I thought Michele Bachmann had yet another strong performance. She looks very calm and self-assured up there. The key for Bachmann is to stay focused on the issues and make no mistakes. She succeeded on both accounts.
Mitt Romney continued to stroll along. As much as Pawlenty and a few others took shots at him, Romney seems to have an answer for all of it. As the saying goes, “Never let them see you sweat.” Well, Romney has been cool as a cucumber.
Rick Perry may change that situation in a hurry.