Work took me away from watching the debate so all I can gauge how it went on is other bloggers and man o’ man, does it look like Fred took it or what? The best take on it tonight comes from Jim Geraghty:

Tonight, Fred Reminded Me of Roy Hobbs.

Winner: Thompson. This performance was so commanding, I wanted his last answer to echo back to the lights in the back of the auditorium, blow out all the lamps and spotlights, for the theme to “the Natural” to play, and for him to trot around the stage in slow motion while sparks showered down in the background.

Classic!

Even Mitt Romneys biggest cheerleader, Hugh Hewitt, called it for Fred:

Fred had a great night, Mitt a good one and Rudy did fine as well.

Michelle Malkin:

The debate is finished. Fred will be declared the clear winner. There are a lot of folks on our side of the blogosphere who were pulling for him. He delivered his one-liners better than anyone else. He aggressively attacked Huckabee, showed humor, and looked comfortable on stage.

Mark Levin:

Fred … win, place and show.

Stop the ACLU:

Thompson came out of the gate swinging tonight!

Gribbit’s World:

Winner? Fred Thompson. And that isn’t based on my bias, he actually won the debate.

Blackfive:

The Fred is finally in the house, he is killing

Society for Independent Thinking:

Fox’s focus groups just called Fred Thompson the Big Winner of the Debate. I think out of the group of 40 only 4 didnt pick Fred as the winner. A great Debate for Fred tonight!

John Podhoretz:

[Fred]…is not only winning this debate, he is giving the most commanding debate performance we’ve seen from any candidate in either party since the beginning of this endless primary process.

Redstate:

Fred Thompson owned this debate. He owned it. He dominated.

Bob Owens:

The Republican debate in Myrtle Beach was a clear win for Fred Thompson, and that seems to be the building prevailing sentiment. Everyone else seemed content to play defense and just attempt to hold ground. They failed.

Captain’s Quarters:

Who put the vitamins in Fred Thompson’s oatmeal? We have waited for Thompson to show up on the campaign trail, and tonight he finally did. He had energy, focus, a command of detail, and a willingness to finally engage with the other candidates on the stage. He took almost everyone else aback, and seized momentum that he only occasionally relinquished.

~~~

UPDATE: Fred ate more Wheaties between the debate and his appearance on Hannity & Colmes. He’s smacking Alan Colmes around on Iraq and Iran. He’s looking for battles and winning them. It’s pretty amazing.

Damnum Absque Injuria:

It’s official: Fred? is finally a Presidential candidate. He’s got my vote, and may even lose the obligatory question by the middle of his first term if he wins.

Misunderestimated:

He’s got the fire in the belly we’ve been waiting for.

Betsy’s Page:

I thought Fred Thompson was the best he’s been in any of the debates and he was the best on the stage tonight. What I liked is that he could clearly articulate conservative principles. Sometimes I feel that these candidates are just mouthing slogans but don’t really believe in any of these principles deep down. Or if they believe in the conservative ideas of small government they can’t explain why and would not be able to persuade anyone who didn’t already agree with them. Tonight, Fred Thompson could do that. All I could think was, where has that guy been?

Born Again Redneck:

Pundits and regular people are starting to realize that Fred is the most intelligent, well-informed, thoughtful and GROWNUP guy in the race. I’ve known that all along but not everyone can read subtle signs like I can and they need to sometimes be hit over the head with a ten-pound claw hammer - claw-side down.

The rest of the horses in the race are clever - like sophomores are clever. Only Fred is wise like a grown man should be.

More as I come across them. To think the one night I couldn’t watch it Fred demolishes them all….dammit.

Here are a few of the videos going around right now. First up is Fred’s take on the Iranian boat’s rushing our ships:

And next up is his take on Huckabee. He’s nothing but a Democrat:

Here is too hoping Fred gets a bump out of tonight…..

Here is the focus group:

And Sen. George Allen’s take on the debate:

South Carolina State Senator Ray Cleary on Fred tonight:

This from The Corner:

Just got off the line with someone close to the Thompson campaign–and, more to the point, to Thompson himself. His reading of what took place tonight? Fred Thompson was riled. “Nothing ever upset Fred Thompson more than the story [on the day of the Iowa caucuses] that he was considering dropping out to endorse McCain.” Thompson, my friend explained, has a kind of Reagan-like innocence about him. He can’t understand why anyone would circulate such a rumor–or how the rumor has remained alive. “He’s just not the sort of person who would drop out. And he likes John McCain, always has. But endorse McCain? Are you kidding? He took a swipe at McCain tonight. Didn’t everybody see that? That’s not how you get to be somebody’s running mate. Anyway, the idea that Fred is the kind of person who would run for vice president is just absurd.”

Also, he may be getting major endorsement tomorrow.

Until then, please drop a few coins into Fred’s warchest today:

UPDATE

Check out Right Wing News and their poll of bloggers about who they wanted for President. 57% want Fred out of the whole field. In different scenerios of candidates he won them all. The big one was when he is put against the other major contenders. Mitt, Mike, Rudy, & John. 72% want Fred.

California Conservative runs down Fred’s answer on the recession:

Fred had a great answer, saying that he’ll defend Rudy’s tax cut plan because “it sounds an awful lot like the plan I introduced months ago.” He then stated that revenues are always more than the so-called experts predict before saying that “we’ve got too many two-handed economists”, saying on the one hand this, on the other hand that.

While I would have no qualms about voting for Rudy if he was the nominee (well, maybe a little. He is a bit too socially liberal for me but strong on national security), I have to agree with Fred. That tax plan of Rudy’s was a few months too late and was almost taken verbatim from Fred. But maybe thats a compliment. He liked it so much he copied it.

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