Three Things that Stood Out in Thursday's GOP Debate (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The run-up to the nomination for the GOP's 2012 presidential contender has already been full of drama, arguments about who has created the most jobs, and who is the best candidate to defeat President Obama. With that, there were three things to take note of in the debate last night.

1) Rick Perry is backing away from "the states" taking over Social Security. The claim from Mitt Romney is that Rick Perry wants to abolish Social Security, and leave the operation of it to the states. While Perry has said that in the past, he backed away last night. He wants to leave it as an option for areas to opt out of Social Security in favor of other options, but not dismantle the program completely.

2) Michelle Bachmann needs to get more of her facts straight. In the debate, Bachmann mentioned that President Obama is currently suffering the lowest poll numbers of the modern era, something that is not factually supported. In fact, several presidents have been well below Obama's current 38 percent approval rating, including George Bush and Bill Clinton. The problem with Bachmann's errors is that she does have many good ideas, but her willingness to stretch the truth in some cases hurts her with independents.

3) The media continues to write Ron Paul off despite his recent strides. There is no doubt that Rick Perry's entrance to the 2012 race has changed the dynamics of the GOP election. Mitt Romney has been a frontrunner since the last presidential election, when he was claiming that business leadership experience is what this country needs. Ron Paul, however, has largely flown under the radar. Most of the debate focused around Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, while Paul made his libertarian points from time to time. Paul's recent close showing in a New Hampshire poll should strike a nerve within the Perry camp, and also show that he is definitely not out of the running.

Regardless of what happens, these debates have been worth watching. The country needs strong leadership and ideas, and even if Republicans are not able to take the White House in 2012, their ideas have been entered into the mainstream as ways to jumpstart the economy, impact foreign policy, and bring fresh arguments to the stalemate that has been Washington, D.C. for the last several years.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110923/us_ac/9171511_three_things_that_stood_out_in_thursdays_gop_debate

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