Tales from the Trail

There were eight candidates in the first big Republican debate of the 2012 campaign season.

Two of them dominated the stage from the start in a contest over who has created more jobs.

And the winner is…..  Mitt Romney, according to his campaign.

“Mitt Romney won tonight’s debate because he demonstrated that he is the only candidate in the race who can return the country to economic prosperity. Career politicians got us into the mess and it will take someone with experience in the real economy to get us out,” the campaign’s communication director Gail Gitcho said in a statement released after Wednesday’s debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley,  California.

While the  former Massachusetts governor’s campaign claimed victory,  Rick Perry was  the man in the spotlight.

All eyes were on the Texas governor as he made his debut on the national stage — and when it was over  Perry said in a post-debate statement he was pleased to have been able to introduce his “conservative philosophy and pro-jobs record to the American people.”

Barack Obama did it. So did Joe Biden, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and scores of others. They all ran for the White House while sitting members of the U.S. Senate.

The 2012 presidential campaign, however, may feature for the first time in more than a half-century no U.S. senators.

John Thune had been the only current senator openly considering a run. But he announced on Tuesday that he’s decided instead to stay put.