We’ll get the ratings later this afternoon, but the reviews of last night’s Fox News’s GOP debate in Iowa are in. First some Tweets on the questions from Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace and Neil Cavuto, during the 2-hour debate.
@SusanPage
Fox has consistently done a good job in these debates; good questions and a brisk pace. #iowadebate #harderthanitlooks@benpolitico
Fox, and @BretBaier, have run some pretty good debates.Advertisement@sullydish
On #IowaDebate questioners: far, far, far better than Sawyer and Stephanopoulos. Kelly and Baier stood out.@TheFix
The best kind of debate? A rigorous one. #iowadebate@NYT_JenPreston
Many smart tough questions during #foxnews #iowadebate.
Given that some of those dastardly “mainstream media” reporters within the Beltway have been known to rib Fox News’ journalism from time to time, it’s been notable to see a clear trend emerge from the Republican debates in 2011: The faceoffs hosted by Fox have been some of the most lauded by media observers – even by some liberal commentators.
Whatever the status of the Fox primary, it took a hiatus for Thursday night’s Iowa presidential debate, which was sponsored and ably administered by Fox News. Over
two hours of substantive and fast-moving discussion, the network’s top interrogators put strong, fresh and relevant questions to all the remaining major candidates in the contest.
The seven remaining candidates didn’t get off easy in the last Republican presidential primary debate before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses. The Fox News moderators who led the debate questioned the candidates’ electability, consistency and basic conservatism.
If you’re going to stage a TV debate, it might as well be a rabble-rouser; candidates can use print interviews and their own writings to make their more subtle arguments. Sharp exchanges between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, and between Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann, clarified where they stand on issues such as foreign policy and economics. Among the Fox host/questioners, Megyn Kelly deployed her background as a lawyer to ask a few questions about the role of the judiciary that provoked some vehement answers.