COMMENTARY | The four main Republican presidential candidates all took part in a debate in Arizona on Wednesday, Feb. 22. While Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul took part in the debate, I was mostly concerned with what Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum had to say. They are in a hotly contested race and this debate could help determine who gets the nomination. This was Santorum’s opportunity to hurt an already depleted Romney, but Santorum was not able to separate himself in this debate.
The main problem that Santorum is going to face after the Arizona debate is the several of his key arguments have been proven to be exaggerated or false. USA Today has posted a fact check of the debate on Wednesday, and they have proven the exaggerations and false statements by Santorum. The main point made by Santorum during the debate were regarding his conservatism on spending and taxes. He claimed that he was the most conservative spender of any member of the senate during his tenure. USA Today has proven in their fact checking article that Santorum was actually fifth in spending.
I do not see why Santorum would misrepresent these facts unless he was misinformed. Ranking fifth would proved his statement that he is very conservative with spending and taxes. His spending record is one of the things that Romney has chosen to attack the most, and this was a great opportunity for Santorum to prove him wrong. Now he is going to be remember for lying about his record on spending.
After watching the debate I think the only person that did a good job was Paul, but he is too far down in the polls for his performance to matter. Neither Romney or Santorum did anything to separate themselves from the other. I do not believe that this debate will help either candidate, but we have to wait a few days until the new polls come out to see for sure.