The ABC/Facebook 2 Parties 1 Night debate took place tonight at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. In one word, I'd call the debate "interesting". The GOP candidates came out first, sitting in a sort of semi-circle with what I would call half-sized podiums in front of them. Charlie Gibson moderated (as much as he could), and was later joined by the political director from the news station WMUR in New Hampshire. There were two 45-minute segments for each party. The first segment was more of a crossfire-like debate, and the second was supposed to have timed answers for each candidate, but they could still interject. The candidates were spoiled with the first section and the timed answers weren't very firm.

Six candidates came from the GOP side: Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Fred Thompson, and the ever present tag-a-long, Ron Paul. The debate started out civil and cordial but quickly turned into bickering and interjecting from everyone. Ron Paul got irritating within the first twenty minutes; in the background, you can hear Rudy admonishing, "Ron, Ron, Ron!" Hardly anyone could get through to Paul, but after a minute or so of inaudible interjections from all sides, Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee, and McCain all corrected Paul in regards to his impossible isolationist ideals and his belief that terrorists attack us because we're in their country--Huckabee stated that jihadists don't attack us because we were there first--they attack us because they are told they have to by their radical beliefs. After several reprimands from the other candidates, Ron Paul finally shut up. Thank God.

Not too far into the debate, and Romney got caught in another lie that both Huckabee and McCain wouldn't let go of: Romney vehemently denied that he ever supported a time-table for withdrawl. Whoops:

The winner of the night on the GOP side? Mmm, probably Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee both. Giuliani was well-spoken and didn't get attacked, as far as I can remember. Mike Huckabee did a great job defending himself against the idea that he's Bush 2.0: "I'm not running for Bush's third term." He also defended himself well on Romney attacking him yet again on the "arrogant bunker mentality" comment.

John McCain actually has a sense a sharp sense of humor, which was refreshing to see from him. I think Fred Thompson performed much better tonight than in previous debates, and his wit also shined through, especially during the Ron Paul "the world hates us" fest.

Most annoying? Do I have to answer that one? The same one in every debate.

And the loser of the night? Hands down, Mitt Romney. The guy shot himself in the foot tonight. The pharmaceuticals comment was not too smart, but oh did he like to pronounce long names and words correctly. He looked and sounded plastic: there was definitely an obvious contrast between Romney and the other four (I'm sorry, Ron Paul doesn't count)--the other four were much more relaxed as time wore on, but Romney stuck to his supposed "presidential" demeanor, which irked me. He was also a suck-up to Bush. Apparently he doesn't realize that people don't want the status-quo, even if they liked and voted for President Bush.

As for the Democrats' turn at the "kitchen table" debate: It was a polite show-down between Obama, Edwards, Clinton, and Richardson. I honestly almost fell asleep. They all looked drained except for maybe Edwards. The only exciting part was when Hillary got really defensive and raised her monotone voice to a slightly louder monotone voice in response to a comment from Obama that implied that she wasn't about change. I think I heard the phrase "agent of change" from Clinton five too many times. The funniest moment started when Hillary responded to Gibson's comment that New Hampshire didn't like her as much as Obama: "That hurts my feelings". She continued with an "Obama is likeable, I guess" comment, to which Obama quipped: "You're likeable enough, Hillary." Eh, I guess...

Overall, the Democrats didn't get engage as much in the crossfire style that I think the debate was intended for. They politely waited their turn to my boredom. It was like going to an NHL hockey game and not a single fight broke out. Depressing.

Well, it's late, so I'll end this with a:

"Did you read my article?"

-Cydney

Cross-posted on The Celebrity.