Palin says: Gingrich won

According to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was the winner of Tuesday night's Republican debate in Las Vegas. She compared the other candidates to bickering children.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Sarah Palin told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren during "On the Record" Tuesday night, "I think we are more interested in substance. And that's why, like, tonight Newt Gingrich again I think did the best because he seems to be above a lot of the bickering that goes on." 

She also added that she believed that Gingrich would "clobber" President Barack Obama in a debate.

She also had praise for the other contenders. Of Herman Cain she said,  "Herman Cain, thankfully, although a lot of people are criticizing his plan, he does have some specifics that he laid out. And that was appreciated. That's what I was looking for. Didn't get a lot of that." Palin was referring to his proposed "9-9-9 tax plan."

She said of Michele Bachmann,  "It's refreshing to hear somebody candid and blunt like Michelle Obama -- or Michele Bachmann -- I'm sorry -- tonight. She came right out and she said, no, she would not cut foreign aid to Israel because they are such a strong ally."

Palin also had some criticism to offer. Of the debate she said, "So when the debate started, a couple minutes into the debate, my kids started walking through the door after school and after play dates, and they're kind of griping and bickering amongst each other, then the debate in my other ear, the candidates are up there bickering and fighting amongst each other. And I honestly for a minute or two there didn't know which group I be listening to and which group was making more sense. Thankfully, the candidates kind of calmed down and started talking more about detailing the things that -- serious -- an electorate that is very serious in these serious times needs to hear."

She also criticized Texas Governor Rick Perry for his bill which allowed undocumented immigrants living in Texas to pay in-state tuition rates. She also criticized former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for hiring (and later firing) a gardening service which hired undocumented immigrants.
Palin also criticized the generally evasive nature of the candidates responses. She said, "I think the hosts need to kind of dig a little bit more and come back to that candidate and say, No, that's not what I asked you. Here's what I asked you. Please answer it."

Sarah Palin herself has declined to run for president in 2012. She was the former running mate of Arizona Senator John McCain in 2008. Palin has remained in the political spotlight as a commentator on Fox News and with a bus tour of the eastern US.

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