Hotline After Dark -- Debate Minus One

FNC hosted a GOP debate last night. Some analysis:

FNC's Cameron: "Romney faced some pretty tough questioning, and at times labored through his answers. But as the front-runner in New Hampshire, he came in expecting to have a target on his back and to take some shots."

More Cameron: "Rudy Giuliani, the national front-runner, was faced with some equally tough questions. And in comparison to some of his past outings, already we are beginning to hear that he seemed to have done a better job" ("Hannity & Colmes," 9/5).

CNN's Crowley, asked if any of the' 08ers did well enough to get a bounce out of the debate: "I doubt it. ... This is the fifth debate that they've had on the Republican side. And you have to sort of look at these as part of the process. That is each debate comes, it sort of adds a little more to the impressions of these candidates. This is the first one of the fall, as they billed it. It does matter here in New Hampshire. I'm sure it had some high visibility here. So insofar as New Hampshire is concerned, perhaps it changed some minds or made up some minds. But the fact of the matter is there are many more debates to go ... and this is a process more than a single event that actually makes a big difference" ("AC 360," 9/5).

Rudy Giuliani was on "Hannity & Colmes" after the debate:

On being criticized about illegal immigration: "New York City reported every single person who was suspected of a crime, every single person who was convicted of a crime. Our problem was the immigration service would not deport any of them. ... And the reality is, I had to deal with a situation of very high crime. You remember when I came in to office. We were the crime capital of America. And I think the answer to how I dealt with it is a lot better than just about anybody else. Because I took crime from being a major problem in New York City to making New York City safer than most even some small cities in the country. And so I must have dealt with the issue of illegal immigration in a pretty intelligent way to accomplish that" (FNC, 9/5).

Mitt Romney was on "Hannity & Colmes" after the debate:

Asked if they were too rough on him: "No, I thought it was fun. This was a great night. What I liked about tonight, is we finally got to the distinction on a number of key issues. Immigration being one. Mayor Giuliani thinks that immigration is about crime. And of course we're concerned about illegal immigrants who are criminals but that is not the issue. The issue is jobs and the rule of law in this country. And 12 million illegal immigrants. He said they were welcome if they were undocumented in New York. That is something which is going to stand out" (FNC, 9/5).

John McCain was on "Hannity & Colmes" after the debate:

On Iraq: "Well, the surge is working. Those who keep track and are in constant communication with the men and women serving and fighting over there, know it is working. There is not anything apparent about it. It is working. We are succeeding. We have to stick with it" (FNC, 9/5).

He was also on "Fox & Friends" this a.m.: Cindy McCain joined him. Cindy McCain, asked how much her husband spends on haircuts: "My husband gets a haircut from the Senate barbershop from the same man who has been cutting his hair forever for, what, $8 bucks? He doesn't spend money on haircuts."

McCain: "I'm sure it's tax payer subsidized" (FNC, 9/6).

Mike Huckabee was on "Hannity & Colmes" after the debate:

Huckabee: "I do not think we have yet captured a lot of the issues we need to talk about. We had five debates now. Not one education question. Americans are concerned about education. They're concerned about jobs. They're concerned about health care."

Asked if the war isn't a big issue: "It's a big issue, but you know, we're debating an hour and a half, and I think if you look at it, there's really one candidate of all of us who is substantially different than the rest of us. That's Congressman Paul. So we can kind of clear that air and maybe give 20 minutes to it, and then we need to be talking about if you're president of the United States, what are you going to do to keep all of our jobs from going to China? What are you going to do to change our tax system and give us a tax code that we can live with?" (FNC, 9/5).

TAKING THE ARNOLD ROUTE

Fred Thompson officially announced his run on the "Tonight Show" last night:

Jay Leno: "You said then you were testing the water. You've been in the water for a while now. Are you starting to get a little wrinkly?"

Thompson: "These wrinkles don't come from the water." More: "It hasn't been that long really. We've done it a few months, where a lot of people have been working on it since they were in the choir in high school. So we're where we need to be right now, and that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I'm running for president of the United States."

Asked if he waited too long: "No, I don't think so. Of course, we'll find out, but I don't think people are going to say, you know, 'that guy would make a very good president, but he just didn't get in soon enough.' ... Most people don't start paying attention to these elections until they get a little closer. They treat politicians kind of like the dentist -- they don't have anything to do with them until they have to, until the election is near."

Asked his toughest opponent: "I don't know. I know them all to a certain extent. John McCain and I sit side by side on the Senate floor. He's a good friend and will be after this is over with unless, of course, he beats me." More: "They're all formidable, but I think I will be, too. So the nation is not going to be hurt by having one more good person step into the race."

Asked if he likes to campaign: "I like the part where you get out with the people. ... That's kind of been my history, you know, the red pick-up truck and all, you know, more than just symbolism. First of all, it got me away from the staff. They couldn't ride along in the truck. It also got me out with the people."

On not being in tonight's debate: "Well, we'll have an opportunity to debate a lot." More: "I don't think much of them." He continues: "I would do it in small groups preferably one-on-one and set aside a segment of time -- Newt Gingrich has a good idea. He talks about the Lincoln-Douglas debates. ... I'll do my share, but I don't think it's a very enlightening forum to tell you truth. And I'll tell you something else. For those who talk about that New Hampshire situation, I'm certainly not disrespecting them, but it's a lot more difficult to get on the 'Tonight Show' than it is to get into a presidential debate."

Leno: "Exactly." More Leno: "So you're off to Iowa tonight?"

Thompson: "Off to Iowa."

Leno: "It starts right now."

Thompson: "It starts right now" (NBC, 9/5).

PUNDITS ARE EXCITED ABOUT CRAIG

And there was still plenty of talk on Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID):

CNN's Johns: "To somehow survive this, Senator Craig has to clear at least three massive hurdles, the first, successfully overcoming the guilty plea he voluntarily agreed to. ... Then he gets to hurdle number two, the ethics process. ... But, even if he gets past that second hurdle, his final hurdle is more like a brick wall. It's national politics. A lot of Republicans simply want him gone" ("AC 360," 9/5).

Washington Post's Kornblut: "There's nothing they can do except try and humiliate him and shame him out of the job. That obviously hasn't worked so far. What I'm waiting to see is what the zoo is going to be like when he sets foot back on the Hill. It's bad enough and he's not even there. When he gets there, he's surrounded by his colleagues, there are going to be mobs of reporters asking questions about this. This is going to be a nightmare for them like they've never envisioned" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 9/5).

Newsweek's Fineman: "My understanding is behind closed doors Specter was quiet today having caused a lot of heartache for the leadership the other day. I think Senator Specter initially didn't like the idea that Mitch McConnell, who he's fought with over the last few years, was responding to the right wing of the party, their presumed fears and anger, by railroading Craig out" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 9/5).

Fortune's Easton: "He is determined, again, to prove the point that goes to the core of his being, that he is not gay. That is really at the end of the day what this is all about" ("Special Report," FNC, 9/5).

WH CoS Joshua Bolten: "The president called Senator Craig right after he made his announcement of his intent to resign a few days ago and called to wish him well, to compliment him on a career of distinguished public service, and to tell him that he knew that his decision to resign had been very difficult, but that he was confident that he had arrived at the right decision for himself and for Idaho, for the people of Idaho. And I think Senator Craig is going to conclude that that remains the right decision" ("NewsHour," PBS, 9/5).

BILL'S BOOK TOUR CONTINUES

Ex-Pres. Clinton was on "LKL" last night:

Asked if he's getting any "sense of satisfaction" out of Craig's troubles since Craig was a critic during impeachment: "No. Because when it was going on, I knew that, you know, a lot of them were outed for hypocrisy long before this. And ... every serious student of the Constitution knew that the whole thing was bogus and that they were just jumping on a terrible personal mistake I made. ... We all find it easy to judge somebody. You can always say, well, I may not be the best person in the world, but at least I never did that, you know, or the other thing, whatever it is. And I promised myself that I would never do that again. And I'm trying to keep that promise. And so I honestly didn't feel any great joy. I don't like to see a person suffering from a self-inflicted wound that comes the inability to resolve some conflict in his or her life. I mean, that is something everybody has to deal with. And to see it played out in public is painful to me. I didn't enjoy it at all."

Asked if his personal and political history will hurt HRC: "I don't know. First of all, I want people to judge her mostly on her own merits. ... And I hope I can help her. I think that the people that like me will be more open to her." More: "People that don't like me probably wouldn't have voted for her anyway" (CNN, 9/6). [EMILY GOODIN]