The holiday news-cycle freeze is coming soon and the GOP candidates are trying to lock in a good narrative going into the break.
Here is the state of things right now.
THE REPUBLICAN RACE:
Mitt Romney $10,000 Maniac When Rick Perry confronted Mitt Romney about changes in editions of his book in this past Saturday night's debate, Mitt Romney appeared to lose control and offered a $10,000 bet that his charge wasn't true. Romney might have been trying to out-Texan his rival, but it has been counted against him as a grievous gaffe. To voters it seemed Mitt had a totally cavalier attitude about what is a very large sum of money to them. To the media it seemed like a candidate who had lost his best attribute in these debates: his cool.
Romney's Republican opponents are also seizing on his "oops" moment, with Perry releasing a video standing by his charge, adding that "the truth cannot be bought." Jon Huntsman's campaign was preparing a response even before the debate was over, buying 10kbet.com almost immediately.
The problem for Romney is that the bet played into every impression and misconception that he's tried to undo for the past five years.
Romney's defense on Fox and Friend's today: "This was an outrageous number to answer an outrageous charge from him, and it's been proven wrong time and time again, and he keeps raising it...It's like saying 'Hey, I'll bet you a million bucks X, Y, or Z'."
But Romney's outrage didn't come through on stage. What people saw was someone who could throw $10,000 around like it's paper, do just that.
Ron Paul Attack Dog: This morning the Paul campaign launched another web-video that is absolutely devastating on the subject of Newt Gingrich. It was a mystery what the Paul campaign would do with an actual campaign: solid fundraising and an organization. It turns out his team is churning out some of the best ads of the season. This one speaks for itself.
This afternoon Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich engage in a two person debate at St. Anselm College. The debate will be featured on CSPAN tonight at 8 pm EST and be broadcast on Jon Huntsman's campaign website at 4 pm. The debate is bad news for the sinking Mitt Romney as two people who are beginning to steal his support in New Hampshire get a combined 90 minutes of air-time and the chance to dominate a news cycle or two.
And more debates! On Thursday the Republican candidates gather for yet another debate on Fox News. Fewer candidates has made for better television, even if Herman Cain was a show unto himself and Gary Johnson offers a new flavor of libertarian.
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