Romney, Bachmann Winners of First Debate

A year and a half out from the U.S. presidential elections, the Republican primary campaign officially opened Monday night in New Hampshire with the first debate between the seven candidates who, at the moment, have already announced their intentions of aspiring to the White House.

Since there will be many other debates before the citizens of Iowa turn out for the caucus in February, the relevance of this first debate is relative. Notwithstanding, the dialogue between the candidates did indeed offer some signs about the narrative that will dominate the pre-campaign.

To begin with, Monday solidified Mitt Romney’s front-runner status, as many consider him the big winner of the debate. The former governor of Massachusetts offered a presidential image, responded confidently to all the questions and also improved his line of defense against his major weak point — the approval of healthcare reform in Massachusetts too similar to that of Obama’s.

Due to his front-runner status, it was expected he would take the high road from the criticisms of his adversaries; however, it was a kid-glove debate, probably due to being the first. For Romney, coming out of the confrontation undamaged was already a complete victory.

The moderator served on a silver platter the opportunity for Tim Pawlenty, the other favorite of the seven contenders in the debate, to take a bite out of his greatest rival by asking Pawlenty about his definition of the healthcare reform he terms “Obamneycare.”

Pawlenty declined the offer, probably because he did not want to project an excessively aggressive image in his introduction to millions of voters. The decision appeared calculated as it has caused a resurgence of comments that Pawlenty is “too much of a good guy” to win the presidency.

Without a doubt, the other big winner was Michele Bachmann, who officially announced her candidacy on-air. The Minnesota congresswoman, considered a type of alter ego of Palin, offered some of the cleverest responses of the evening and received numerous ovations on the part of the public.

The charismatic Bachmann is a rising star in the Republican galaxy and could turn out to be the surprise of the primaries, because, among other reasons, she is well situated to win the caucuses in Iowa, her birth state, which would propel her candidacy.

Some, with certain wickedness, have defined her “a Sarah Palin with a brain.” In fact, if her popularity continues rising as Republican voters get to know her, she could end up permanently displacing Palin from the fight for the White House. The former governor of Alaska continues to keep up suspense about her future plans, but if she holds out for too long, she could discover that Bachmann has stolen her title as the icon of conservative America.

The other four candidates did not commit any glaring mistakes, but neither was their performance sufficiently good enough to escape from the pack and get into the group of front-runners in the primaries.