Klein: Huckabee clearing the second tier . . .

I generally concur with Joe Klein's close-in assessment of the first two GOP debates. ("How Rudy Won the Second Debate" | TIME). I say "close-in assessment" because I think he is wrong in asserting, for example, that referencing Reagan makes a candidate (particularly a GOP candidate) seem "old." I also think in a primary debate "winning" is relative.

Here is the money paragraph from the article:

"As for the others, let's clear the stage. There are three pairs of also-rans. Tommy Thompson and Jim Gilmore were fine Governors, but they have nothing to add here. Both of the right-wing populists, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, seem obscure and insubstantial, a classic problem for House members running for President; neither is as compelling as Pat Buchanan, who has played this role in the past. I've been surprised by how ineffective Tancredo has been in making his anti-immigrant pitch, which should have some resonance in the Republican Party. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee seems to be winning the battle of the religious conservatives against Kansas Senator Sam Brownback. Huckabee is colorful and funny. In the second debate, he drew whoops from the audience when he said the (Republican) Congress has 'spent money like John Edwards in a beauty shop.' Brownback appears bland, by comparison, young and not very authoritative, a Senator who seems like a member of the House. Of these six, Huckabee seems most likely to survive."

(emphasis mine)