MSNBC’s Chuck Todd says Mitt Romney didn’t do what he needed to last night:
There were a few moments where it appeared McCain and Romney would really started tangling in tonight’s CNN/L.A. Times/Politico debate, but it was just that, a precious few moments.
Romney wasn’t happy about the criticism McCain leveled at him about timetables in Iraq. He said it was a dirty trick because it came days before Florida. Well, maybe so, but it should also serve as a comfort to nervous Republicans about McCain’s ability to play hardball in the general. McCain may seem like a guy who likes to reach across the aisle but he’s not afraid to get dirty. McCain will be a very clever general election candidate; it won’t all be kumbaya with Clinton or Obama.
Romney’s pushback, btw, that if this was an issue, then why didn’t he raise it earlier, wasn’t a great debate comeback moment. As I’ve noted before, Romney just doesn’t come across well when he’s angry.
Overall, Romney seemed simply ticked off. It was as if he realized the end was near and he didn’t know how to stop it. He tried to go after McCain, politely mind you, but didn’t trip the newly crowned frontrunner up.
And that, quite simply, isn’t going to be good enough.
Update: David Casse at Commentary makes the same point:
Tonight was Mitt Romney’s last stand. He blew it. The conservative antipathy towards McCain involves real issues: his indefensible support of campaign finance reform, his opposition to Bush tax cuts, his throwaway lines attacking corporations, and so on. Romney should have been on attack mode from the first moment, stirring up every conservative trepidation about McCain, stressing his unreliability as a consistent voice for the cause. “We don’t need a maverick, Senator, we need a steadfast, principled and predictable conservative leader,” was the line I was waiting for. Instead, Romney dove head-first into McCain’s alleged smear about who supported the surge — a minor kerfuffle given all the other heat McCain has taken these last few months.
(…)
Romney’s most credible claim is that he understands the real economy and can speak about it eloquently. California is Proposition 13 territory, after all. His entire campaign was premised on his free-market bona fides. Tonight, when he needed them most, he barely displayed them. In New Hampshire, McCain made Iraq the touchstone of campaign. He did it again tonight and Romney let him get away with it. This contest seems very over.
Pretty much.
