The best performance wasn't turned in by one of the candidates. No, the Oscar goes to that Thompson ad. It doesn't introduce Thompson - he doesn't even speak.The ad features Mitt Romney when he was pro-abortion rights, and Mike Huckabee when (as governor of Arkansas) he was agreeable to increasing various taxes. The ad closes by pitching Thompson as the authentic conservative in the race. It's a well-done ad, and it indicates how Thompson believes he can pull off a top-three finish in Iowa: attack Romney and Huckabee (the two are atop the Iowa polls) where they have evident vulnerabilities; get them on the defensive; force them to explain themselves. Notably, the CNN moderator, Anderson Cooper, picked up at the end of the ad by going to Romney and Huckabee to get their responses.
Unfortunately for Thompson, Romney and Huckabee both turned in generally strong performances. Romney also went after Huckabee, observing during an exchange on immigration that talking with Huckabee was like talking to a liberal in Massachusetts (ouch!). Huckabee - engaging throughout - offered a thoughtful defense of the death penalty while fending off a silly question - what would Jesus do about the death penalty - with a touch of humor: "Jesus was too smart to run for public office."
The debate leaves some questions about the Republican race - whether Thompson is cranking it up too late to break through, whether Huckabee will ever be slowed by the suggestion that he is a liberal or that he is not a true conservative (it has not happened so far), and whether Romney, his bid for the nomination predicated on winning Iowa, will realize that goal - the efforts of Huckabee and now Thompson notwithstanding - on January 3.
