McCain, Romney trade potshots at Republican debate

The Associated Press

Which man is more irritated with the other?

Featured Topic | Posted 42 weeks 2 days ago

McCain, Romney trade potshots at Republican debate

Yes, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul were on stage for Wednesday's Republican presidential debate. No, it didn't seem to matter -- Mitt Romney and John McCain were given the most time to engage each other, over their records, their beliefs on Iraq and on taxes.

With Super Tuesday just a few days away, did Mitt Romney help himself overcome McCain's momentum? Or is the Republican campaign virtually over?

Ben likes: Romney wins

Ed Morrisey/Captain's Quarters

Mitt Romney won this debate. He looked crisp, sharp, had facts at his command, and exuded confidence.

McCain not only looked old and tired, constantly leaning on his arms and speaking in a monotone, he made a very poor showing in trying to falsely stretch a Romney quote from April into an endorsement of a withdrawal. That's not only ridiculous, it's blatantly a smear. As I pointed out earlier, John McCain in January 2007 actually did talk about ending the mission if surge milestones didn't get met by the Iraqi government, making this a pretty dumb choice for a line in the sand. And even Anderson Cooper had to talk over John McCain to tell him he got it wrong.

Joel likes: Romney's swan song?

Chuck Todd/MSNBC

The question Romney must be asking himself is what is his ultimate goal now? Should he do everything he can to stop McCain now or should he figure out how to run, but do so with dignity so he can keep his options open in the future, should McCain fail to win the general. As McCain is about to prove, the GOP regularly nominates the runners-up in previous primaries; Reagan, Bush and Dole to name a few. Romney, though, does need to play the conservative critic of McCain for a certain length of time in order to win the loyalty of the conservatives who aren't happy with McCain now. These folks could serve Romney well in '12 or '16.