Romney trató de recuperar la iniciativa

El debate republicano de anoche en Fox News no fue tan movido como el del sábado. Mike Huckabee asumió la mayoría de ataques sobre Mitt Romney en el tema de los impuestos, pero este devolvió los golpes a diferencia del día anterior. El ex Gobernador de Massachusetts dominó la retórica en un debate menos llamativo. John McCain, contenido, se mantuvo bastante al margen de los enfrentamientos del día anterior, aunque recordó a los espectadores en todas las respuestas su clara ventaja sobre el resto al tratar asuntos de Seguridad Nacional. Se espera un impacto mínimo del debate en la intención del voto. Os dejo el análisis de Rich Lowry: Romney & McCain in Fine Form

(...) Romney. Politics is a game of adjustments, and Romney adjusted to the debate from last night, realizing that he'd be under constant attack tonight and he'd better gird himself and go on offense. He spoke forcefully and put the case for himself as the reformist businessman in the best possible light. I think he basically dominated the first hour, and fell off a tad after that, but otherwise was truly excellent. His best performance yet, in very high pressure circumstances. His answers on taxes, job creation, and immigration were top notch. My quibbles: he still is going to have to have a convincing gut-level response to the insincerity/flip-flop charges at some point; he should ditch the (attempted) hair joke; and he can seem over-eager at times. But if he somehow wins NH, tonight will be a big reason why.

McCain. He toned down his scorn for Romney, which was smart, although you could still see it in his body language. He effectively rebutted Romney's charge that he's been an ineffective reformer, and highlighted his support for the surge and his foreign policy experience (and experience in general) pretty powerfully. That argument hasn't worked for Hillary in the Democratic primary, but McCain isn't running against Barack Obama. He has to be basically dishonest and/or non-responsive on immigration and taxes, but it’s hard for him to do otherwise given the politics in a GOP primary. He closed strongly with a direct appeal to New Hampshire. Overall: confident and sure-footed. (...)