2012

Romney Outshines Debate Opponents

After rivals fail to land punches.

Mitt Romney’s nomination as the GOP presidential candidate seemed a bit more inevitable after Tuesday night's debate. “Bottom line: a clear win for Romney,” Michael Kinsley wrote at Bloomberg, adding, “Pains me to say, but I think it's over.” Politico says Romney “outclassed the opposition” and “none of the other GOP contenders laid a glove on him.” E.J. Dionne at The Washington Post writes: “Romney is more in command now than he was the last time he was the frontrunner, before Rick Perry got in.” And what about Herman Cain? “Herman Cain is now big time,” Dionne writes. “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.”