Last night belonged to Mitt Romney.  That’s not saying that I don’t like the other candidates or don’t think that others had a good night.  But Mitt Romney controlled that debate.  Rick Perry just didn’t bring the game he needed to stand up to Romney’s six years as a candidate.  That also seemed to be how participants in Frank Luntz’s focus group after the debate felt as well.  Overwhelmingly they believed that Mtt Romney “won” the debate. 

But what do YOU think?  That’s what I want to hear today on the show.  You know what to do … (404) 872-0750 or (877) 310-2100.  Call me up and tell me why I’m full of dogsqueeze.  Speaking of dogsqueeze … let’s talk about some of the various highlights from last night.  I wonder how long Gary Johnson has been sitting on this line about his neighbor’s dog … 

Gary Johnson: “My next door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.”

Pretty clever.  Now, perhaps the most poignant moment of the night came from our pal Herman Cain.  His answer on his experience in beating cancer is a prime example of how dangerous ObamaCare could truly be to this nation.

Chris Wallace: “Mr. Cain you are a survivor of stage 4 colon and liver cancer, and you say if ObamaCare … (long applause, standing O!) .. and we all share in your happiness about your situation, but you say if ObamaCare had been in effect when you were first being treated, you would be dead now.  Why?”

Herman: (paraphrased) The reason is because my cancer was detected in March 2006.  And through the end of 2006, I was able to get the necessary tests, chemotherapy, surgery … If we had been under ObamaCare and a bureaucrat was trying to tell me when I could get a cat scan, that would have delayed my treatment.  Because I could get treatment on my timetable and not the government’s time table, that’s what saved my life.  (Applause)  We need to get bureaucrats out of the business of trying to micro-manage healthcare in this nation.

Herman also had another great answer, which was voted by Frank Luntz’s focus group as one of the top two most powerful moments of the evening.  Here it is: 

Herman Cain: “If I were forced to eliminate a department, I would start with the EPA and start all over.  It’s out of control.  (applause)  Now I know that makes some people nervous but the EPA has gone wild.  The fact that they have a regulation that goes into effect January 2012 to regulate dust says that they’ve gone too far…”  

Then Herman went on to explain his solution for Social Security – the Chilean model.  If you aren’t familiar with it by now, Google it.  As always, Newt Gingrich had a good night and one of the biggest applause lines with this parallel between Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama ..

Newt Gingrich: “Thirty-two years ago we were in the same place.  We had a failing president; he gave a speech on malaise.  People wrote about the presidency being too big, nobody could do it.  The Soviet Union was on offense.  And a leader came along.  He said, when your brother-in-law is unemployed, it’s a recession.  When you’re unemployed it’s a depression.  When Jimmy Carter’s unemployed it’s a recovery.  (applause)  Nothing will turn America around more than election night when Barack Obama loses decisively.”

And now for the front-runners.  Rick Perry is making headlines today, but not for good reason.  The issue that stuck out the most to people was that of illegal immigration, and for some conservatives, he falls on the wrong side of the fence.  Particularly on the issue of in-state tuition for illegals in the state of Texas.  Here’s what he had to say about that …

 Rick Perry: “But if you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than because they’ve been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart.  We need to be educating these children because they will become a drag on our society.” 

Besides the issue of illegal immigration, Perry and Romney got into it again over Social Security and who wrote what in their books and who flip-flopped when … I liked this line from Mitt Romney about inhaling, did you catch it?

Mitt Romney: “I love this country.  I spent my life in the private sector, not in government.  I only spent four years as a governor.  I didn’t inhale.”

So that brings us back to Mitt Romney.  I think at this point, it is his to lose.  But what do I know?  I’ve only been observing these elections for 40+ years on the radio.