Friday, October 5, 2012

For weeks, Republican Party elders have fretted that the presidential race was slipping through Mitt Romney's fingers. The handwringing -- at least for the moment -- has stopped.

Romney's strong head-to-head showing against President Barack Obama in their first debate gave some of Romney's severest critics reason to quiet their grumbling.

One of Romney's regular doubters, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, calls it "one of the best debate performances in my life."

Another frequent Romney detractor, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, says it was "the best debate performance by a Republican presidential candidate in more than two decades."

Even one-time bitter foe Rick Santorum said on Twitter that Romney, in Santorum's words, "rocked it!"