The 3^rd primary Republican presidential debate of the month took place in Orlando and may have been the first debate to really change up the race. For one thing, there were no longer just eight contenders on stage, but there was a ninth addition, Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico who joined the race.

Of course there was the same battle between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney that the audience has seen in past debates, but Romney came out stronger then Perry did in this particular debate. It seems as if some of Rick Perry’s policies have backfired on him.

What he believed originally was a vaccine to save young girls lives, turned out to be a controversial issue and one brought up repeatedly by Michele Bachmann. Perry admitted he was wrong about the mandatory HPV vaccines as in prior debates, but this time around he made a well-designed approach at justifying his actions with a story about a woman who was dying of HPV, who lobbied him for support.

Another instance was when Perry was called “soft” on border patrol and immigration. Perry thought it was a good idea to promote and educate illegal immigrants at Texas colleges by giving them in-state tuition, a total of $100,000 dollars in savings in some cases. This came off to the other candidates as a free pass for people who don’t necessarily deserve it and is rejected by many.

Santorum has been a main critic of this action and questioned Perry during the first half of the debate on it. John Huntsman got some speaking time in the debate and has shown to be picking up in polls in New Hampshire. People are now wondering if he can he pick up support nationally.

Other highlights throughout the night included Gary Johnson’s dog comment, which is making headlines throughout the nation. “My next door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than this administration.” This quote was made popular the next day especially for supposedly copying it from Rush Limbaugh.

A moving moment in the debate was presented by Herman Cain when he told his story of when he had cancer and explaining how he “would be dead on ObamaCare.” The story clearly connected him with the audience. Bachmann still didn’t get as much time as she probably would have hoped, but has been consistent in answering questions well.

The interactive aspects added by Google also contributed to shaking up the debate and put each candidate on the spot and added some pressure to the night. Some questions that were added to the debate were “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the education system. The number of viwers alsmot doubled from previous debates and had 6.1 million viewers tuning in.

This debate not only introduced a new candidate as well as a new way of interacting with candidates, but also presented a new outlook for the election.
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Those who have been watching the presidential debates or followed the 2012 presidential election know that there was one additional member on stage in last weeks’ debate in Orlando. Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, made his first appearance at the presidential debate chiming in with his occasional policies, but has so far not made any drastic changes to the presidential race.

Being his first debate, the candidate did not have as much experience as the others, but he seemed confident and will hopefully get more face time during the next few debates to really increase his following. Johnson was perhaps the least in-focus candidate throughout the night with a lot of the attention still being directed to frontrunners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

“I got four minutes tonight,” he added, “I tried to make the most of it. I’m not complaining. That’s four more minutes than I had a week ago.” Although only appearing for a total of four minutes in the debate, he got some main points across and managed to include the most note-worthy line of the night.

“My next door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than this administration.” Despite just getting laughs, this line also made Johnson stand out and was highly talked about days following the debate. Johnson is known to have similar stances as Ron Paul including his libertarian views and being anti-government.

He even answered that he would choose Ron Paul as his Vice President if he was elected into office as president after a hypothetical question during the debate. Some think that his entrance in the race might hurt Ron Paul or divide the support down the middle because of their similar views.

One position that he made clear in the debate is that he would promise to propose a balanced 2013 federal budget on his first day in office. When Johnson left office in New Mexico, his state had a balanced budget, along with only four other states across the country. His other positions include legalizing marijuana and supporting “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

He also supports withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and other countries that are not related to American defense such as Libya. He is also known for his frequent vetoing on legislation, and he said in the debate, “I promise to veto legislation where expenditures exceed revenue.

And if anybody doubts my willingness to veto bills, I think I vetoed more bills than any governor in the history of the United States. I think I vetoed more bills than all the other governors in the country combined.” Johnson will have to do some catching up in the race, and still only has support in the single digits, but he may have the track record and comic relief to gain the support he needs.
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