The last debate has finished up before the Florida primary voting. It may be the last debate we see for almost another month.
First, I thought Wolf Blitzer did a decent job. Of course, it is all relatively speaking. There could still be much better questions, but at least he was reasonably fair in giving time to all of the candidates.
Second, I have a little factoid to present to Mitt Romney. English is not the official language of the United States. There is no official language. Obviously, English is the most widely spoken. There is no need to have an official language, unless there is just something that states that all federal legislation will be written in English, but there is really no need for that even. Just like everything else, the free market has a way of handling these things. If English is that important for someone in getting a job, then they will have motivation to learn it. It won't be because a bunch of politicians got together and declared English to be the official language.
Third, I thought Ron Paul had a great debate. He was more relaxed and had a few funny lines that the audience appreciated. He made many strong points and was quite clear that he is the candidate who believes that the role of government should be severely limited. This particularly came through when he talked about the space program and saying that government has no role except possibly for national defense reasons.
Fourth, I thought it was interesting that Newt Gingrich was echoing Paul so much. I think part of that was because Paul was making so much sense and resonating with the audience. I think another part of that is that Gingrich did not want to pick a fight with him. He is hoping that if he becomes the nominee that he can get at least a few Paul supporters to vote for him.
Fifth, I liked Rick Santorum's presence in the debate. I don't particularly like Santorum and what he stands for. In fact, he probably scares me more than anyone, including Obama. However, he did a great job of exposing Gingrich and Santorum on their support of government-run healthcare. The ironic thing in all of that though, is that Santorum supported the massive Medicare prescription drug program started under Bush. That program is the epitome of top-down government-run healthcare.
In conclusion, I thought it was a good night for Ron Paul. Gingrich and Romney beat up on each other. While they focus on Florida, Paul is focusing on Maine and other caucus states where he can win and pick up delegates. The longer he stays competitive in this whole thing, the more of a chance that people will have to see the light.