The First Republican Debate

Mark Halperin gives Mitt Romney the highest marks on a night that produced no gaffes, but also created no major shifts in the Presidential pecking order

Mike Huckabee

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

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Showed his different-kind-of-Republican chops, along with preternatural calm and homespun charm. Didn't brag much on his record in Arkansas, but offered a plain-spoken, gubernatorial confidence, and had the second best presentation after Romney. Will enjoy some morning show and cable net play with his cheeky responses to the Schwarzenegger presidential eligibility question and his unneighborly crack about the former Arkansan-dwelling Clintons.

— Mark Halperin

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