From a longtime and very shrewd Republican TPM Reader ...

I have no idea what kind of governor Mike Huckabee has been. But I'll bet he was an awfully good minister.

Fred Thompson seemed barely to have a pulse. John McCain stepped right up to the border of saying something negative about George Bush (responding to the question about the Vice President's role) after going out of his way to repeat nearly verbatim the President's rhetoric about Islamic terrorists following us home if we withdraw from Iraq. Ron Paul just seems to try and wing it every time he shows up for these things, and did it again tonight.

I made myself watch Mitt Romney, just to try to figure out what he is thinking as he goes through this process. I don't really know, but here's a guess: to Romney, getting elected President is a lot like putting together a business deal. The details of getting the deal done matter, because the deal doesn't happen without them, but the main thing is getting the deal done. I think Romney has personal beliefs, but not political principles; he wouldn't do anything in this campaign that would hurt his family or someone he cared about, but he'll change positions the way most people change socks. Whatever it takes to get the deal done.

Giuliani talks like a prosecutor if you listen to him long enough to get past his prepared material; McCain's is the career naval officer's reflex to support the wartime commander in chief embattled by critics. Romney is different because he's more calculating, but his business career was all about putting deals together, and he was in business for a long time. I could be off-base here. I just don't think people reinvent themselves past a certain age.

I think he's totally got Mitt's number.