"Romney is definitely the frontrunner," government professor Brendan Nyhan said. "The question is whether he can consolidate his support across the party."
Although the College debate, which was also sponsored by The Washington Post, Bloomberg News and local news outlet WBIN-TV, was solely focused on the economy, some important fiscal issues were missing from Tuesday's discussion, according to professors interviewed by The Dartmouth. Economics professor David Blanchflower said that in light of a stagnant unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, a major topic that went unaddressed in the debate was the lack of any real job plan.
"I didn't hear any sound economics about what these folks would do about jobs," Blanchflower said. "This was the politics of economics, not economic policies. You heard little about the deficit, and the consumer is running scared, not spending, and will not start spending until the economy gets better."
In a post-debate interview with The Dartmouth, debate moderator and journalist Charlie Rose acknowledged Romney's triumphant performance, also tagging businessman Herman Cain as a candidate who exceeded expectations and advanced his national stature through a strong performance. Cain addressed disparaging references to his 9-9-9 plan, which became a tag line by the debate's end.
"I thought it was interesting that Cain got so much attention in the debate even though people were most interested in the Romney-Perry dynamic," Nyhan said. "He's not a serious contender for the nomination but he's sucking up lots of media that Perry wants to capture."
Cain's popularity has grown due to his ability to connect to the common American, according to government professor Sonu Bedi.
"He's getting traction because he's speaking to everyday Americans," Bedi said.
Rose elected to conduct the debate in a format similar to that on his weeknight show, "Charlie Rose," by having candidates seated around a table while answering fielded questions. The stage setting, which was entirely financed by Bloomberg, was conducive to producing a more civil although seemingly benign conversation between candidates. Tuesday's broadcast was only debate in the 2012 cycle to employ such a setup.
"In some ways, it might have made it harder to attack each other," Washington Post political correspondent Karen Tumulty said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Tumulty co-moderated the debate with Rose and Bloomberg TV White House correspondent Julianna Goldman.
Government professor Linda Fowler echoed Tumulty's sentiments, adding that the roundtable format was conducive to the discussion the candidates needed to have on the economy.
"I thought it was the best thing about the debate," Fowler said. "Eight people onstage is deadly, but [with] the round table the candidates were close to each other instead of being isolated and it was not nearly as static of a viewing experience."
The seated debate format proved beneficial for some candidates, such as Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., who, in the August debate in Iowa, had to raise his hand and ask the moderators to be included. When Santorum raised his hand on Tuesday night, however, it was to ask a question of the audience. Santorum attempted to wound Cain and his 9-9-9 plan by asking audience members which New Hampshire voters wanted to pay a 9 percent sales tax.
Romney also used the debate format to his advantage, remaining calm and not letting subtle digs phase him as he articulated his platforms from the center of the table.
Government professor Russell Muirhead said Romney has a clear path to the nomination ahead of him.
"He's the nominee, unless he destroys himself with an unforced error," Muirhead said. "It's Romney v. Obama in 2012."
Romney's status as the frontrunner comes on the heels of an endorsement from Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., in the Courtyard Marriott in Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon. The endorsement brought Romney the support of many staunch conservative voters, according to Nyhan.
"Christie's endorsement contributes to the sense of inevitability that Romney's trying to create, and reinforces the idea that he's going to be the nominee," Nyhan said. "It's getting lots of officials and activists into his camp."
Romney's charisma worked to his advantage as well, according to Fowler.
"He was confident, relaxed and even had some flashes of humor," Fowler said. "I think the public can see him as a little less distant and impenetrable candidate."
Faculty members praised Romney for his deft responses to his opponents' attacks, particularly when he deflected criticism from Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, for similarities between Obamacare and Romney's legislation for Massachusetts health care. Romney effectively turned the attack around by separating his role as governor from the role of president.
"He said, That is what I passed as governor of the state if I were president I would be cognizant that Congress has limited powers,'" Bedi said.
Republicans oppose the mandate under the recent health care legislation that requires individuals to purchase private health insurance, a regulation that many consider a violation of Congress' powers. Romney, however, played the Republican-favored small government card and turned the criticism into a states' rights issue when he said he wanted to end Obamacare to let states decide policy for themselves, Bedi said.
Rose's proclaimed "kitchen table" debate style likely deflated the performances of the firebrand candidates, noticeably Perry and Bachmann.
Perry, who entered the night seeking to rebound from poor performances in past debates, failed to convince viewers that he was a strong candidate, Fowler said.
"Perry was the one with most to prove," she said. "He wasn't terrible, but I'm still shaking my head that he went into a debate about the economy without any specific [plan]. It would have be fine if people didn't have such low expectations, but he didn't get over the bar."
Government professor Joseph Bafumi said that Perry's performance Tuesday might have further decreased his chance at the nomination.
