First debate of the 2012 presidential campaign tonight

[wonky]

Thursday, May 5, sponsored by Fox News Channel.

It’s five Republican hopefuls, none of which I’d really call top-tier except possibly Pawlenty.
Herman Cain

Gary Johnson (I did a “who?” double take)

Ron Paul

Tim Pawlenty

Rick Santorum
No Romney, no Gingrich, no Trump. Rumor has it that Huckabee is out like Barbour. No Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, or Michele Bachmann. No Sarah Palin.

I’m going to try to catch at least part of it. The debate will be on the Fox News Channel, May 5 at 9 p.m. E.T.

[CyclopticXander]

I thought it was quite interesting actually. A lot of the big guns aren’t officially in the game yet, but this field was impressively diverse so the answers rarely got boring.

And oh yea, I was totally there so that may have colored my experience with it:) Facebook - log in or sign up

[Peremensoe]

This guy said he liked Cain, but also said,

@John Hayward

…Cain said he would trust “the experts” to advise him on a situation like Afghanistan. Of course every President will have advice from experts, but right now the public is thinking that a galaxy of “experts” got us $14 trillion in debt… and that’s usually a feeling Cain is deeply in tune with. In future debates, he should come armed with his own fully-formed opinions on all topics. That’s hard to do. So is running for President.

And this is funny…

@John Hayward

The strangest aspect of the evening was Gary Johnson’s presence. The former governor of New Mexico has a nervous, unsettling style that would be better suited to teaching a scrapbooking class at the local Jo-Anne’s craft store. His fluttering hands made him look like he spent the evening under attack from a pair of “Alien” face-huggers.

Johnson is charming when he’s funny, as when he complained about the lack of questions thrown to him from the panel, but he doesn’t seem like someone who could go toe-to-toe with Barack Obama, or possibly even Tim Pawlenty. This is a season for warrior-poets, not nerds from poli-sci class.