This evening, CNN sponsored a New Hampshire Republican Presidential debate.
The seven candidates present all went out of their way to attack President Obama, and avoided attacking each other.
But some really gained from this debate, and others lost by their performance.
The major winners were Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney, with Bachmann coming across impressively, more than she has ever been seen before, and Romney doing a good job at keeping his stature as the frontrunner in the race.
The losers seemed to be Tim Pawlenty, who seemed weak and defensive in his answers; Newt Gingrich, who still seemed a bit gun shy after his earlier problems with his campaign; and Rick Santorum, who just came across as not a serious, legitimate candidate.
Ron Paul was simply Ron Paul, and Herman Cain was defensive over his statements about Muslims, and neither can be seen as a serious candidate.
So, in conclusion, Michele Bachmann, seemingly, came across as more legitimate than ever before, and as a real leader among social conservatives, which might help her win in the Iowa caucuses, which come before the New Hampshire primary.
What stood out is that she did better than Sarah Palin has ever done in a public forum, and one starts to realize that, even if one does not agree with Bachmann, she comes across as intelligent, well spoken, an accomplished person even before she came to Congress, as a tax attorney and small businesswoman, far more outstanding as compared to Palin.
So Romney kept his stature as the front runner in the race, but Bachmann gained the most from tonight’s debate. The others all were weakened by their performance, or at least, did not gain by their performance in relation to the other candidates.
Of course, Jon Huntsman was not in the debate, nor Rick Perry!