Noonan on the Republican debate

Peggy Noonan gives Paul credit for scoring points on a minority stand against the war; compliments Huckabee for his forceful response to Paul and suggests he is top-tier timber; admires a McCain liberated from front-runner status; suggests Romney is too crisp and together, though she likes his sense of humor (is Romney supposed to be messy and smelly, as Michelle Obama bizarrely described her husband in her lame effort to humanize him?); dismisses Tancredo for failing to break through with “the issue that most roils the base, and on which [he was] a leader” (I don’t know what she means by this—what is Tancredo supposed to have done at this point?); and, the part I like best, nails the Peter-Principled (and not nearly as intelligent as he is thought to be) Giuliani:

Rudy Giuliani proved it is possible to bang the gong too much on leading New York City. Enough already, we heard you, move on. Then come back to it in a few months and make it new again. For now, can he be thoughtful about foreign affairs? Not forceful, not pugnacious, not rote, but thoughtful. No one knows quite what he thinks, as opposed to feels.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 07, 2007 08:21 PM | Send