Fred Thompson’s credible debate performance last night could mean bad news for Mike Huckabee. Both are vying for the jump ball in the Republican presidential race: social conservatives.
And going into the GOP debate it seemed that Huckabee, the affable former Arkansas governor, was gaining strength as Thompson, the former Tennessee senator and Hollywood actor, stumbled on the campaign trail.
But Thompson brought energy and gravitas to his first face-off against the Republican field, avoiding gaffes and showing adequate command of the issues. That could leave Huckabee with less running room to corral conservatives who had begun to lose confidence in Thompson as a possible champion to overcome social moderates in the top tier of GOP contenders.
While Thompson’s inaugural debate showing was far from a knock-out blow to the leaders of this race, he handled this challenge well enough to keep second-tier candidates well below him.
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