Surprise, surprise. The internet thinks that Ron Paul won the debate last night. What is the deal with his supporters? Are they just a bunch of IT guys who have built little voting programs to stuff the ballot on behalf of their man? CNN has a poll right now asking about last night’s debate. Ron Paul leads the field by a wide margin in each of the following questions:
1) Who do you think won the debate?
2) Who seemed to know most about the issues?
3) Who had the best one-liner or comeback?
4) Whose performance was most surprising?
5) Whose campaign got the biggest boost from the debate?
And of course he is not leading this question: 1) Who had the most disappointing performance at the debate?
Seriously folks, what is the deal? How could anyone in their right mind think Ron Paul won last night’s debate? The guy barely got 20 words in the whole time. I think it actually diminishes Ron Paul’s message for his supporters to so obviously stuff the ballots in these polls that can be manipulated. Real polling shows Ron Paul in a dead heat with “other” and Mickey Mouse, so it’s obviously a farce for him to be leading in these online polls.
And as a funny aside, not surprisingly, Ron Paul isn’t leading the polling for this question “Who was the snappiest dresser?” Apparently suave Mitt Romney just beat out Ron Paul’s cheap suit and crooked tie.
The mainstream press seems to think that the big three (McCain, Giuliani, and Romney) all had strong performances last night. Also, Mike Huckabee was a pleasant surprise. His sharp wit and gentle demeanor seemed to please a lot of folks. That being said, he still has very little shot at winning the nomination. So let’s please narrow the field down before the next debate.