What You Really Want

My take on the CNBC debate: Fred Thompson was crisper and less laconic than many expected. He was the only candidate who could claim to be a union member (Screen Actors Guild). And he jabbed at Chris Matthews for suggesting he was long-winded (!) But Romney (who popped Rudy on taxes and got popped back), Giuliani (who kept unloading on Hillary) and McCain (who hit Bush for not asking wartime sacrifice from the country) are far more practiced at the format, and it showed.

The New York Times doesn't even lead with Thompson (imagine that):

"Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts tangled over taxes and government spending as the Republican presidential candidates debated today in Michigan, highlighting the way in which their increasingly fierce confrontation is starting to dominate the race for their party's nomination.

"The debate also marked the debut of Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee alongside his Republican rivals. Mr. Thompson often appeared unsmiling and less practiced than the eight others onstage with him, who had already met five times before today, but avoided any notable missteps and held his own on substantive exchanges over the economy and foreign policy.

"Mr. Thompson often found himself a bystander as Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Romney attacked one another -- or, just as frequently, went after Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, reflecting the eagerness of Republicans for a general election matchup against Mrs. Clinton, the New York Democrat who is leading in national polls."

The L.A. Times at least gets Fred at the top:

"Appearing in his first presidential debate, Fred D. Thompson today laid out a traditional Republican fiscal agenda as rivals Mitt Romney and Rudolph W. Giuliani sparred in one of their sharpest clashes of the campaign.

"Thompson, an actor and former Tennessee senator, appeared visibly nervous in the debate's opening moments, but displayed flashes of humor as the two-hour event, held in Dearborn, Mich., drew to a close."

Insta-reaction on the right: On National Review, E.M. Zanotti: "The general feeling around here is that Fred Thompson pulled out a narrow win over Rudy and McCain, though a few hardcore Mitt supporters are attributing that to low expectations. I have to disagree. Mitt looked scripted, and even if it was calculated, Fred looked free and easy by comparison, and stayed consistently on message. To be fair, Mitt is getting rave reviews as well."

Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti: "In fact, Thompson had a string of good lines at the end. Chris Matthews tried to get Thompson to flub the name of the Canadian prime minister, but Thompson knew who Stephen Harper is. Then, when asked his relationship with Harper, Thompson said: We get along fine -- We've never met. The audience laughed, and Thompson grinned widely. Never underestimate the power of political humor.

"One good debate doesn't make a campaign, but one bad debate can ruin a campaign. In my view, none of the top four candidates had a bad debate, though Romney came close when he said he would more or less cede command authority to his lawyers during a crisis involving the use of force."

The vice president's wife doesn't like the Romney coverage, as she tells the Washington Examiner's Bill Sammon: