Wednesday night’s debate showcased the strengths—and weaknesses—of the top two Republican presidential candidates. Mitt Romney came across as knowledgeable and presidential but still struggled to explain his role in crafting the Massachusetts health care plan. Rick Perry gained points with his red-meat centric approach but still seemed to lack a full understanding of many serious policy issues. If you did not get a chance to watch the debate, the two best lines of the evening pretty much sum things up:

Romney: “Our nominee has to be someone who isn’t committed to abolishing Social Security…”

Perry: "Michael Dukakis created jobs three times faster than you did, Mitt."

The real loser in the debate was Michelle Bachmann, who has been rapidly losing media attention since Perry entered the campaign. In a testament to the volatility of presidential primary races, she has gone from winning the Ames Straw Poll to desperately fighting for air time in less than a month.

In spite of the overblown predictions that will invariably be made in the next few days, though, this was just the opening salvo in what is shaping up to be a protracted nominating battle. If, however, you think that either Romney or Perry has secured the nomination, please send Howard Dean my regards.

AP Photo

If you have any questions about this post, or just want to help with Mock Convention, please contact Political Chairman Zach Wilkes at wilkesz12@mail.wlu.edu.