Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Romney Performs Well at GOP Debate



The front runners; Mitt Romney and Herman Cain performed well enough in the round table discussion format last night to ensure their current poll standings. While, Texas Governor Rick Perry continued his free fall from his early surge in the polls after he made his announcement he was running for president.

My thoughts were Romney was very much as ease with the round table discussion format and easily won the debate last evening. Cain performed well although Michele Bachmann did get in a good one liner in regard to his 9-9-9 plan - she said "if you turned it upside down, you could see the devil was in the details". Otherwise, Bachmann continued to exhibit a lack of substance. Huntsman continued to be unable to stand out among the crowded field, Santorum was trying to fire any shot he could to be noticed, as was Gingrich.

Overall, one can see why Republican Party operatives continue to look for other candidates. With the economy continuing to haunt Obama, one would think the 2012 presidential campaign would be a slam dunk for Republicans. The reason it is not, is the overall weak field of announced Republican candidates.

Mark Halperin of ThePage.com has his take here. Politico.com has their thoughts here, TPM.com here and Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post has his thoughts here.

Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post adds her thoughts here and Jeanne Cummings of Bloomberg.com has her take here.

CNN.com has their "Truth Squad" takes on the debate here.

---

Jobs Bill Blocked in Senate - as expected the move to end discussion on the American Jobs Act failed by a vote of 50-49. The White House has indicated they will now proceed with advancing pieces of the bill. TheHill.com has more here and here.

---

Senate Passes Chinese Currency Bill - the vote was 63-35 and now moves to the House where it has little chance of passage. The bill is aimed at the alleged currency manipulation by China who has responded if the the bill passed it would likely spur trade wars. The Obama administration has not expressed support of the bill. Politico.com has more here.

---

Saudi Arabia says Iran Will Pay for Threat - adding problems to an already unstable region in the world. The statement was in response to the alleged plot by Iran to kill their U.S. Ambassador. Reuters.com has more here.

CNN.com has more here on the U.S. considering appropriate responses.

---

Daley to Leave White House after Election - Chief of Staff William Daley will be stepping down after the 2012 election. He replaced Rahm Emanuel who left to run a successful campaign for Mayor of Chicago. RollCall.com has more here.

---

To receive "Daily Updates" from Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof, click on "Subscribe to this feed" below.