Maryland for Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson did himself the most good in Wednesday’s debate among Republican presidential candidates in Iowa.

Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney also scored well and avoided any last-minute derailments of their candidacies in Iowa.

Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, was specific, good-humored and exuded an executive persona during the 90 minute session that was sponsored by the Des Moines Register and broadcast by Iowa Public Television.

THE WINNER was Fred Thompson. Fred came to play. He also had the obvious moment of the day when he took on the officious moderator, refusing to go along with one of those idiotic “raise your hands” questions. Given the hour that the debate took place, a lot of people will probably see only a highlight package of the debate. The unquestioned highlight was Fred slapping down the moderator. Even putting that aside, Fred had his best day of the campaign. He was serious, thoughtful, and authoritative. It was a wonderful day for him.

Winner: Fred Thompson. Good substance, good personality, and his I won’t raise my hand for an answer question reminded me of Reagan say “I paid for this microphone.” Fred definitely won.

Winner: Thompson. Don’t know if it will be enough, but he ought to get at least a little bump out of this. The moment he basically told the moderator where she could stick her “show of hands” question – well, I was inspired.

Fred Thompson was the only candidate who stood out. He was funny, charming, and peppy. Here was a guy who wasn’t afraid to speak hard truths, and who displayed knowledge of the policy issues–especially on entitlements. But the moment of the debate, the moment that will be talked about should he defy expectations and go on to win the nomination, was when he refused to raise his hand at the behest of the moderator. This demonstrated conviction, showed he was able to stand up for his principles, that he was a man who valued substance, a leader rather than a follower, and somebody who is running a different kind of campaign. In short, today Thompson was everything that conservatives had hoped they’d be getting when he announced his candidacy.

The winner: Thompson

Frankly, the candidate who had the best afternoon I think was Fred Thompson. This was easily his best debate performance and he seemed to shine in this subdued format.

Fred: Was unflappable, funny, and used his theme of “truth telling” very effectively. Standing up to the moderator was a memorable moment that will be talked about a lot. He deflated Romney a bit with his lines about being rich enough not worry about taxes and his comeback in the exchange with Mitt that Romney is becoming a good actor. This performance should help in Iowa where he is focusing now and is in third place according to the RCP average.

The only way that we are going to have serious debates, where Republicans are not made to look silly, is for the candidates, themselves, to demand it. Fred Thompson is the only one who was willing to show leadership by stepping up and demanding to be treated in a serious manner.

I thought Romney was fine — certainly better than Giuliani, McCain or Huckabee — but not as good as Fred Thompson. Giuliani was just okay.

Who won then? Mitt and Fred. Fred and Mitt. Both candidates sounded substantive, calm, analytical and thoroughly prepared. Fred’s refusal to raise his hand was perhaps the highlight of an otherwise boring debate.