(Image source: The Henry Jackson Society)
 

BY AUSTIN FAX

You're watching multi-source video analysis from Newsy.

Ron Paul and Rick Perry set their sights on each other in Wednesday’s Republican Presidential debate. When the dust settled observers asked, which Lone Star stater had more presidential potential.

MSNBC played host -- while the two candidates took their best shots at knocking each other out of the saddle.

PAUL: “First off, you know the Governor of Texas criticised the Governor of Massachusetts for Romney-care, but he wrote a really fancy letter supporting “Hillary-care.”’
PERRY: “Speaking of letters, I was more interested in the one you wrote to Ronald Reagan that said ‘I’m gonna quit the party because of the things you believe in.”
PAUL: “Oh, I need an answer for that.”

With cameras rolling, the Texas titans traded verbal jabs, but things really got interesting -- off air.  The Washington Times’ Stephen Dinan says we almost had a REAL Texas slobber-knocker on our hands at the Reagan Library.

“[The] two Texans who apparently have spent plenty of time digging up dirt on each other and aren’t afraid to use it. At one point when the video cameras weren’t rolling Mr. Perry walked over Mr. Paul’s lectern, took hold of the congressman’s wrist and wagged his finger at him.”

So, did this have the potential for a bar-room brawl, or was it all just a big misunderstanding? The Texas Tribune’s Mark Miller thinks we shouldn’t read too much into the incident.

“[Paul] said he told a reporter, ‘Well, I'll tell you what, What he was saying to me I cannot repeat.' And he said, 'What? What?' I said, 'I'm just kidding! I'm just kidding!'"

That -- against the backdrop of a newly-released campaign ad in which Paul highlights Perry’s past political life as a Democrat.

“Ron Paul was one of only four Congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan’s campaign for President. After Reagan, Senator Al Gore ran for President pledging to raise taxes and increase spending-- pushing his liberal values. And Al Gore found a cheerleader in Texas named Rick Perry.”

Fighting aside, Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly doesn’t understand the horsin’ around -- we all know who is going to win.  

“With all due respect to the Congressman, he’s not really a factor. We had this last night on our program. He’s entertaining, he’s a gab fly, he has some good ideas, but he has no shot.”

But hold on there ‘Bill - O.’ Politico’s Ben Smith says Ron Paul might have WON the debate partially because of his new campaign strategy-- modeled after his son’s successful 2010 bid for US Senate.

“This may be the best thing that's ever happened to a Paul presidential campaign, and it wasn't entirely an accident. The Ron Paul campaign set out to bait Perry into a confrontation, a tactical move that's part of a quiet but real shift from Paul's earlier, inward-looking presidential campaigns...”