Dear Commons Community,

Last night MSNBC and Politico hosted a debate among the Republican presidential hopefuls.  I thought the evening was well-organized and there was good-spirited give and take among the candidates.  In my opinion, the evening belonged to Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.    Michelle Bachman had very little to offer and seemed tied to a script regardless of what question she was asked.   The other candidates (Huntsman, Paul, Santorum, Gingrich, Cain) held their own.

Good issues were raised regarding the economy, social security (Perry called it a Ponzi scheme),  job creation, climate change, the death penalty, Libya.     I believe that Romney helped himself with this debate and Perry put a couple of dents in his image.

A good summary of the debate is available at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/politics/08debate.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2

And you can read Gail Collins take on the evening at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/opinion/debating-with-the-stars.html?src=me&ref=general

Tony