US Politics Analysis: GOP Debate --- Romney Wins, Cain Survives, Perry Dies

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Before last night’s Republican debate in Michigan, there were two questions on every viewer’s mind.

Neither of them were answered satisfactorily. Instead, we got a surprise ending: the final nail in the political coffin of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s political coffin, driven home with the force of a Craftsman 12-volt Hammerhead, to borrow the phrase from Connie Schultz.

Initially, the drama was whether Herman Cain would be able to put sexual harassment allegations  behind him with the power of pizza and 9-9-9. More importantly, this may have been the final chance to damage Mitt Romney’s status as the leader of the pack before the Iowa caucus in January.

The first question was highlighted by the loud cheers for Cain, as he categorically denied all charges levelled against him by four women, with Romney telling the moderator to press Cain about the allegations. However, it receded over the next hour as each candidate tried to score individual points. There were no vicious attacks. Rick Santorum tried here and there to separate his policy from that of his rivals. Michele Bachman concentrated on her talking points. Newt Gingrich claimed history and intellectualism, while Jon Huntsman tried --- in vain --- to reason his way with the audience. Ron Paul was Ron Paul.

Then, came the moment of Rick Perry’s undoing.

Answering a question about which government agencies or departments he would abolish, Perry said there were three. He named the first one, then the second one and then… forgot the third one. He helplessly tried to remember. He looked to Ron Paul for help. He spent about 20 seconds thinking what the third department was that he wanted to abolish and he couldn’t figure it out. He finally surrendered by saying, “Oops!”

Now that would be a perfectly good answer if you broke wind on an elevator, but it's insufficient when you’re trying to be the leader of the Free World. that, by the end of the debate, Cain had mentioned his 9-9-9 tax plan so many times to a myriad of different questions that CNBC’s Jim Cramer specifically asked him to NOT answer the last question with 9-9-9.

Other than the moment that many are hailing as the end of Perry’s campaign, nothing else was distinctive. Except maybe

He did it anyway.

To summarise:                                                     

Romney: Winner
Cain: Survivor
Perry: The Joke
Everyone else: Entourage