From NBC's Mark Murray and John Yang
Hillary Clinton's proposal to repeal the 2002 war authorization is being criticized from both the right and the left. At his on-the-record, off-camera gaggle this morning, deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto called it "a political stunt."

Meanwhile, John Edwards -- who has implicitly criticized Clinton for her refusal to apologize for her war authorization vote -- released this statement today, which casts doubt on Clinton's proposal without naming her. "This is deja vu all over again. We saw it in Vietnam and we saw it earlier this year. We don't need any more non-binding resolutions or big statements; we need to end the war... In 1971, Congress repealed the resolution authorizing the Vietnam War -- and the war continued for four long years until Congress stopped funding it."

From NBC's Chuck Todd and Mark Murray
A brand-new Gallup survey has Hillary Clinton's positive/negative rating in the net negative territory (48%/51%).

Gallup says that Clinton's image has consistently moved into the negative territory as this campaign has progressed.

From Chuck Todd and Mark Murray in Simi Valley, CA
 *** Mirror Images: Maybe it's just us, but the most striking impression from last night's GOP presidential debate was how similar it was to the Democratic one. Like the Dem debate, the participants didn't really engage each other, and they actually agreed on many issues. What's more, the buzz candidate (Giuliani, like Obama) ended up disappointing many of the observers. The telegenic one (Romney, like Edwards) demonstrated why many in the party's base like him so much. And the long-standing front-runner (McCain, like Clinton) was solid and reminded us why this person -- despite the obvious dents in his/her armor -- still is one of the party's favorites. The biggest difference? There was no disruptive Gravel at last night's debate.

*** Still W's Party: NBC's Carrie Dann notes that the candidates mentioned Ronald Reagan's name a whopping 19 times last night. Despite that (and despite the presence of the popular Schwarzenegger and Nancy Reagan in the front row), it was clear to us that this remains George W. Bush's party, even as the candidates did their best in talking about how their administrations would be different. Except Paul, the candidates largely backed the Iraq war; even with Nancy Reagan in the room, most of them opposed her call for expanding embryonic stem cell research; and all of them salivated over tax cuts. McCain and perhaps Huckabee (who wasn't shy about saying that Rumsfeld should have been fired before last year's midterms) were the ones who clearly tried to separate themselves from Bush. Yet even McCain is tied to him by the biggest issue of all: Iraq.

*** Giuliani: "OK" doesn't sum up his performance -- it was his response to Chris Matthews' question if it would be a good day if Roe v. Wade were overturned. "It would be OK," he said. He started off strong, talking about his achievements as mayor of New York and bringing optimism back to the country. But the rest of his performance was uneven.

*** McCain: There was less consensus about McCain's when one traveled the spin room. Rival camps did their best to bring up his temper, pitching to reporters of all stripes that the comment about "gates of Hell" was an angry moment. He was confident on the issue of the war, but he also didn't allow himself to look shaky on some social issues that he hasn't enjoyed talking about in the past. Overall, McCain showed that experience with debate formats like last night's was an advantage.

*** Romney: The guy looks great on TV, doesn't he? He was articulate, and gave a good defense of his pro-life conversion (pointing out that plenty of other famous Republicans had a change of heart as well). If McCain won on the substance, Romney clearly won on style. Yet if there are lingering questions about Obama's experience -- especially in this post-9/11 world -- you'd have to argue that's also true for Romney.

*** Brownback: His performance didn't surprise us a bit: He was the strongest social conservative in the room. But what kind of general-election candidate is he? And if the goal was to separate himself from the rest of the second-tier candidates, he wasn't successful. If anything, one could argue a few other second-tiers did a better job of sticking out than Brownback.

*** Huckabee: He was the calm, cool, and disarming guy we've seen for the past couple of years. Which raises the question: Why didn't he try harder -- a year or two ago -- to build an infrastructure to try to win the nomination?

*** Gilmore: Much like Dodd a week ago, he didn't really own a moment. But he also showed that he won't be a shrinking violet in these group sessions.

*** Hunter: Anyone else surprised by Hunter's stronger-than-expected performance? He seemed to match McCain on answering the Iraq/Iran questions with authority. And, perhaps more importantly for his campaign, he stood out immigration more so than the candidate who was supposed to be the anti-immigration candidate: Tom Tancredo.

*** Thompson: No candidate looked more uncomfortable last night than Thompson, although he certainly got the point across about how many vetoes he issued as governor of Wisconsin. By the way, Thompson is pulling back from a comment he said about whether private employers should be allowed to discriminate against gay people. At the debate, he said yes, but he now says (in a phoner to CNN) that he misspoke because he didn't hear the question.

*** Tancredo: Perhaps the biggest sign of how cordial last night's debate was Tancredo's tone on immigration. Don't get us wrong, he's still against it -- but he didn't raise his voice or really engage his rivals. When re-watching the debate, Tancredo's folks better figure out how to not let Duncan Hunter steal his immigration thunder.

*** Paul: He was no Gravel (thankfully). Some of his responses - especially on Iraq - demonstrated why the GOP is no longer a party of libertarians.

The Boston Globe: "Facing each other for the first time, the candidates made mostly veiled criticisms of one another and stuck to their scripts in advocating fiscal restraint, a hard line against Iran, and a belief that their party will hold onto the White House despite a dismal showing in midterm elections last fall and an unpopular sitting president."

The Washington Post: "The GOP candidates found much to agree on when the questions turned to foreign policy, with all but one, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, supporting President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq and taking a hard line against Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. But they were critical of the president's management of the war. McCain also made it clear that he would have been far tougher in restraining spending than Bush has been… The debate produced no clear winners or losers. The three candidates who top most national polls -- Giuliani, McCain and Romney -- made forceful presentations, but those struggling for attention also generally acquitted themselves well."

The New York Times sums up the debate this way: "The leading candidates offered sharply contrasting views of Mr. Bush himself. But they also differed on an array of social issues - abortion, stem cell research, immigration and evolution - in a debate that highlighted a party in flux as it struggles to figure out how to retain the White House for a third consecutive term."

The Wall Street Journal: "Several candidates made reference to the Bush administration's mismanagement of the four-year-old war in Iraq, as if that were a given. Arizona Sen. John McCain defended his support for the war now, saying 'it's on the right track.' But he added, as he does routinely on the campaign trail, 'The war was terribly mismanaged and we now have to fix a lot of the mistakes that were made.'… The careful criticism of Mr. Bush, usually without naming him, reflected the needle that Republicans must thread. While the president and the war are unpopular with a majority of Americans, both are supported by a majority of Republican voters."

The Washington Times leads with Giuliani's "OK" on abortion. Giuliani "said last night that he would be 'OK' with a Supreme Court repealing Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. But Mr. Giuliani said he would approve of the justices upholding the decision -- a sharp contrast with the nine other candidates on the stage for the first Republican primary debate, who said they would welcome its overturn and one even saying that would be 'the greatest day in the country's history.'"

The take from MSNBC debate partner The Politico: "The candidates, taking the stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., did everything possible to cloak themselves in the mantle of the 40th president's sense of strength and optimism. But when it came to the 43rd president, George W. Bush, there were very few encouraging words."

The Los Angeles Times features this exchange, "when moderator Chris Matthews of MSNBC quoted from a recent interview in which former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney stated that it was 'not worth moving heaven and Earth, spending billions of dollars' to capture Osama bin Laden. Romney backpedaled somewhat… 'Can we move heaven and Earth to do it?' Matthews interrupted. 'We'll move everything to get him. But I don't want to buy into the Democratic pitch that this is all about one person - Osama bin Laden - because after we get him, there's going to be another and another,' Romney said."

"McCain, who previously called Romney's statement naive, responded vigorously. 'We will track him down,' McCain said. 'We will capture him. We will bring him to justice, and I will follow him to the gates of hell.'"

Politico's Roger Simon gave the debate to Romney, with McCain second and Rudy third.

Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan: "If we view the proceedings in vulgar and reductive Who Won, Who Lost terms, and let's, Mitt Romney won, Rudy Giuliani lost, and John McCain is still in."

The Des Moines Register's Yepsen gave the night to McCain.

And for an interesting look at last night's debate through the prism of a dial-testing focus group, check out strategist Rich Thau's messagejury.com. According to his group of Iowa testers, McCain had a more difficult time than many pundits perceived.

CLINTON: Would this have received more attention on any day other than the one of the first GOP debate? Maybe that's why it came out yesterday… NBC's Ken Strickland reports that Clinton yesterday announced plans to offer legislation that would end (or "sunset") the current congressional Iraq war authorization on October 5, 2007-- the five-year anniversary of the original authorization vote. In a short speech on the Senate floor, Clinton said the original authorization "has run its course. It is time to reverse the failed policies of Pres. Bush and to end this war as soon as possible."

The New York Times: "Mrs. Clinton's proposal brings her full circle on Iraq - she supported the war measure five years ago - and it sharpens her own political positioning at a time when Democrats are vying to confront the White House… Now, her advisers say, a vote to withdraw authorization would make plain to antiwar and liberal Democrats that she was repudiating her 2002 vote. The hope among her aides was that demands by antiwar voters for her to apologize for her vote would be rendered moot."

OBAMA: The Chicago Tribune reports that the Secret Service "assigned a team to the Illinois Democrat - the earliest point in a campaign cycle at which the agency has ever taken responsibility for a candidate not already under its protection as an office holder. Several congressional sources familiar with the situation say there was no specific event or threat that triggered the decision, but that a bipartisan panel of congressional leaders reviewed threats to Obama on Web sites and in letters before recommending special protection."

Some of the GOP candidates stay in California after the debate. McCain visits Google headquarters; Romney is in Valencia and Fresno for private finance events; Giuliani heads to Iowa to discuss small business economic issues; Brownback campaigns in Iowa; and Huckabee is in New Hampshire.

And Fred Thompson, whose presence was felt at the debate (in at least one question) even though he didn't participate, appears in the flesh in California as he delivers a speech to the Lincoln Club of Orange County around 11:30 pm ET.

The Miami Herald covers Florida's move to push up its primary to January 29. The big takeaway: The Florida Democrats are contemplating a post-February 5 caucus, so that they don't lose delegates for what would then become a beauty contest primary on January 29.

From NBC's Carrie Dann and Mark Murray
We just replayed the tape to answer the question some of you asked: Which candidates raised their hands when Chris Matthews asked them if they don't believe in evolution?

Three did: Brownback, Huckabee, and Tancredo.

From NBC's Carrie Dann
The most popular person at the debate? It was clearly Ronald Reagan. The candidates invoked his name a whopping 19 times. Giuliani led the pack with five mentions of Reagan; McCain, Romney, and Thompson each gave him three shout-outs; Hunter was at two; and Huckabee, Gilmore, and Brownback all mentioned him once.

From NBC's Mark Murray
Fred Thompson didn't participate in tonight's debate, but the people who are hoping he runs did their best to make his presence felt -- and take a veiled shot at his possible GOP rivals. "Tonight, we saw ten fine politicians stand side-by-side and do their very best to inspire Republican voters," Dean Rice, treasurer of the Draft Fred Thompson 2008 Committee, said in a statement after the debate. "We also saw these men standing under the six-foot-five-inch shadow of Senator Fred Thompson and his possible entry into this race."

More: "We heard many references this evening to President Ronald Reagan. In fact, we watched a 90 minute sprint between podiums by candidates trying to lay hold to the Reagan mantle... Only one person in the potential field today carries that same confidence. Although he was not on stage tonight and may the only candidate not comparing himself to Ronald Reagan, voters are anxiously awaiting Fred Thompson to enter this race."

-- McCain solid
-- Hunter surprisingly strong from the second tier competitors
-- No Mike Gravels
-- All candidates afraid of criticizing each other, criticizing Bush and criticizing Iraq
-- Elephant in the room: Though McCain was solid, I'm guessing Fred Thompson saw nothing tonight that made him fearful of getting in

Four guys seemed ready for this debate, the other six were, well, not ready for prime time. The "ready" candidates on this stage tonight: McCain, Hunter, Romney and Huckabee.

The other six... shaky at best.

Big story of the night: Giuliani's tentative performance. This is almost a carbon copy of last week. The hot buzz candidate (Obama vs. Rudy) is struggling in their debut while the old reliables (Clinton vs. McCain) showed that experience in this format matters.

Hunter seems more aggressive on the immigration issue than Tancredo. If Hunter can raise money, he'd be one to watch. He's very composed and doing surprisingly well IMHO.

First time these candidates showed some animation is on this tax cut question. It's the lone thing that truly unites this party. If Republicans ever start losing the tax issue, they'd have an even more serious problem than they have now.

Is Romney doing very well or is he doing TOO well...  Is he too ready for TV? Depends on who's watching. Republican voters like made for TV candidates.

Surprisingly, the candidate who seems to be struggling the most with the format -- Tommy Thompson

Did Rudy actually try and go to McCain's right on stem cells?  Sure sounded that way to me.

This debate is VERY tame, so tame that Tancredo's attacks on immigration are being done with grace.

Editor's note: Only Chuck is live blogging at this point as Mark helps time the candidate's responses. So I'll stop preceeding everything with "From NBC's Chuck Todd."

McCain looks to be the most prepared tonight. His answers are crisp and ready for air. It's the difference between doing this before and doing this for the first time. Ask Barack Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton from last week. Obama wasn't ready for the format, Edwards and Clinton were.

From NBC's Chuck Todd
Rudy's sole goal tonight: prove electability. Analyze every answer he's given and it's all been framed through the prism of "electability."

From NBC's Chuck Todd
Compare how many times the candidates mention Reagan vs. Lieberman. Brownback just made the first mention; it won't be the last.

From NBC's Chuck Todd
Huckabee is not telling the truth. He did INDEED attack Romney about what he said about his faith. This just shows you that these guys realize this is their FIRST impression and they are desperate to look like, well, COMPASSIONATE conservatives.

***UPDATE*** (5/7) Many folks, including the Huckabee campaign, took issue with the word "lie" in my headline describing Huckabee pulling back on what he said re: Romney and his faith. Huckabee's answer during the debate about faith and public life was not nearly as direct regarding Romney as his answer was when asked on the ABC program, "This Week" a few weeks earlier. I understand that "lie" is a charged word and this certainly doesn't rank up there with real campaign lies. But it was an attempt by Huckabee to wiggle out of his original criticism of Romney. In the heat of the moment, I chose the wrong word, but I don't regret pointing out what still appears to be an inconsistency between what Huckabee said during the debate and what he said on "This Week." My apologies for waiting until today to address this issue.

From NBC's Chuck Todd
Why doesn't Duncan Hunter smile? He's a serious guy; carries himself well... but he needs to smile... BTW, Ron Paul is not attempting to be a gadfly... he's also carrying himself well.

From NBC's Chuck Todd
Rudy Giuliani STILL won't give a straight answer on what he thinks about the repeal of Roe; that "OK" is going to be the "OK" heard around the conservative world.

 

From NBC's Chuck Todd
It was 8-2 against allowing Arnold or Mel Martinez to legally run for president. Ouch.