The results are in!

By D.C.

 The winner of the Bloomberg / Washington Post debate is.......

 Well,I'll share some of my thoughts before I tell you.

 I remember some old Greek myth about some guy with wings of wax,who flew too high,got too close to the sun,his wings melted and he fell back to Earth.Well,I admit it's not the best analogy in the world,but last night Rick Perry took a serious head dive into the dirt.

 Perry's debate performance was horrible.This was his chance to make a comeback and he sat there like he didn't want to be there.He was ill prepared,slumped,defeated and uninterested.He mumbled something about energy independence and that was about it.In the previous debates,Perry was ill prepared,but he had a swagger,a real confidence.Last night,he was corpse.

 Cain was in the spotlight and he defended himself well against the attacks that came his way.Cain did what he has already done,said the same things over and over.I really like Cain,I like bold ideas such as his 999 tax plan.But that is all he has,there is no other substance.He added nothing new to the debate.

 Cain had one bad flub,when asked who he thought was the best Federal Reserve chairman in the last 40 years,he said Allen Greenspan.Ron Paul was quick to correct Cain.I just think Cain didn't think it through or maybe Allen Greenspan was the only Fed chairman's name he knew.

 I have come to believe that Cain is not a serious candidate.I don't think Cain is taking it seriously based on the fact he is doing nothing to recruit the quality staff needed to build ground campaigns for the primaries. Cain has the idea that the grassroots will come to him.Without the boots on the ground to plant the seeds,Cain will never see the grass because there will be no roots.

 I love Michelle Bachmann.I don't always agree with her,but I love the fact she rattles the cage.I admire the fact Bachmann walks the walk.I know another prominent female conservative who talks the talk,but doesn't care to take the walk.This was by far her best debate performance and a real comeback for her.

 Romney was well versed on everything.He was totally prepared for anything,but his best move of the night was during the time when each candidate could ask the others a question.Bachmann questioned Perry.Cain,Gingrich,Huntsman and Perry all questioned Romney.All of which he dispatched with ease.Paul and Santorum went after Cain.

Then,everyone was waiting on Romney to ask Perry some tough question,or maybe even Cain,but Romney asked his question to Bachmann and he threw her a total softball.He basically asked her what she would do to get people back to work beyond just cutting taxes.I think even Bachmann was surprised that Romney came to her,but she was not caught off guard.With a huge smile on her face,she knew what to do with that softball and she hit it out of the park.Here is her answer,from the Time.com transcript;

BACHMANN: Well, I do understand that. I'm -- I'm a mother of 28 kids, 22 foster kids, 5 biological kids. I get how difficult it is for young people right now to get jobs right out of college. It's very, very tough.

And the solutions that I'm offering in my plan, which if I can give a commercial, are at michelebachmann.com. The solutions that I'm offering aren't just a silver bullet. It's not just the tax code. It's also dealing with the regulatory burden, because businesses -- my husband and I started our own successful business. I'm 55. I spent my whole life in the private sector. I get job creation, too. And the business world is looking at 1.8 trillion every year in compliance costs with government regulations.

That has to go. So I want to get rid of that, it's the mother of all repeal bills. But the number one reason that employer say that they are not hiring today is "Obama-care." And I was the leading critic for President Obama in Washington, D.C., against "Obama-care." That is why I was the first member of Congress to introduce that bill to repeal "Obama-care." I understand that is what is inhibiting job creation and job growth.

We have to repeal that. I also introduced and I fought on Barney Frank's committee against Dodd-Frank, which is the "housing and jobs destruction act." That's why I was the chief author of that bill as well. There is much more to my solutions, go to michelebachmann.com and you can find out.

 The message that Romney sent was clear.I'm ignoring Perry and Cain,they don't exist to me.Romney is not worried about Bachmann as serious competition and he knows that Bachmann is competing Perry for conservative evangelical voters.He did Bachmann a huge favor by asking her that question,it gave her some legitimacy as a top tier candidate.

 It is to Romney's advantage to keep Bachmann around.Why should he bother with Perry,when Bachmann can do the dirty work for him and he keeps his hands clean? Romney can let Bachmann and Perry fight over one slice of pie while he walks away with the whole rest of the pie.We still have a long ways to go and all sorts of things can happen,but I am getting a strong feeling that I am going to end up having to hold my nose and vote for Romney in November 2012.

 As to the debate itself,it was the best so far.(Unless your a Perry fan.)To answer the question of who won,clearly Romney won and won big.Cain tied with Bachmann for 2nd place.Everybody else,well,they are losers.

 That was so much fun,let's do it all over again next week.