Tonight, at 8 PM EST, I will be liveblogging the GOP debate. If you're planning to tune in and watch, come on over to RWN, chat in the comments section, and refresh regularly to read the commentary.
7:59: Is there still a point to having Ron Paul participating in these debates? I mean, if you have Ron Paul, why not Alan Keyes at this point?
8:02: Mitt almost has no choice except to try to take a big chunk of McCain while McCain can simply be presidential.
8:03: The problem with these debates so far, for all the people not named John McCain, is that the only debate that made a big difference was the one where Hillary made the massive screw-up over drivers' licenses for illegals.
8:04: Mitt: I made things better in Mass. when I was there, but it's not my responsibility to argue on Bush's record.
8:06: Americans are better off, but things are tough right now. Need stimulus package, need to make Bush tax cuts permanent, eliminate alternate minimum tax -- I think we are better off overall, but a lot of people don't feel better off right now because things aren't going as well. I agree with that. McCain had a pretty good answer here.
8:07: Huck says we're not better off than we were 8 years ago. Romney dodges it. Huck is giving the Democratic answer -- wait, he's complaining about a 5% employment rate? Really? That was considered full employment not all that long ago in this country.
8:09: Paul, we're worse off. Okay, how long until this....I didn't even have time to finish the sentence...until he gets in monetary policy and empire, yada, yada. Sigh. He sucks so bad.
8:10: Now Mitt gets to tear into McCain. McCain opposed to drilling in Anwr, voted twice against Bush tax cuts, authored McCain-Feingold which has been bad, pro-amnesty bill, McCain-Lieberman, US only imposed Cap and Trade program on gas. Only we do that. Endorsed by the New York Times. Excellent answer.
8:12: Geeze, McCain is tone def. He's bragging about being endorsed by a bunch of liberal newspapers. Someone alert him that's not a positive. Romney raised taxes 700 million, job creation was terrible, 245 million dollar debt because of a health care plan, Mitt lost lots of manufacturing jobs. McCain didn't answer Romney's attack effectively, but he bloodied Romney in return as well.
8:15: Mitt's time. Oh, we actually added jobs while I was in office. I didn't raise fees as much as you said. Mitt defends his record and most people probably have no idea whether it's true or not. But, now the fight is over Mitt's record, not McCain's. McCain wins that exchange.
8:17: Huck: "I wish Rush loved me like I love Rush." I believe in lesser government. Lower taxes, not higher. One of the things Rush once praised me for was the "tax me more fund." Good answer, but the fact Rush ripped on him hurts.
8:19: Mitt still not good on the defensive and he has been on the defensive a lot. Long answer -- most people probably zoned out during it.
8:21: McCain, do you side with Ah-nuld or with conservatives? I side with Ah-nuld because of Federalism. McCain, what if Ah-nuld and I are wrong? What does it hurt? All we've done is give our kids a greener world. Wrong. We've wasted billions of dollars and significantly damaged our country's economy. McCain is definitely in the Gore camp on this. McCain, I would not agree to a global agreement unless China was part of it. We have to address this non-existent issue!
8:25: We all agree that America should become energy independent -- I don't. It's simply not possible with the technology we have. What McCain is doing is a 20% utility tax, a 50 cent tax on gasoline. Then the energy plants move overseas. They don't call it America warming, they call it global warming. Excellent answer from Romney there.
8:27: Huck, I support California on the basis of Federalism. Not much from Huck on that one.
8:28: Ron Paul's turn. We don't talk about property rights and that's the problem here. Anderson rudely blows off Ron Paul.
8:29: I don't know if Huck's stimulus idea is a good one or not, but building a highway is certainly a legitimate use of government funds. Ooooh, Huck makes an unintentional funny there about the highway.
8:31: Investment in infrastructure is good for the country, Mitt. The Big Dig -- America's biggest carwash? Joke falls flat. Way too much talk here without anyone hitting McCain.
8:32: Ron Paul. Free up the market. Can't expect the government to do everything. Monetary system. Empire. Geep, glorp, gloop. He's like a broken record. 40% music, 60% annoying skips.
8:34: McCain -- there are greedy people on Wall Street who need to be punished. This is pure pandering. People didn't get fooled, they knew what they were doing. They bought houses they knew they couldn't afford and they got burned by it. McCain repeats a bunch of conservative talking points that sound good. Ron Paul and I agree that spending is out of control.
8:36: Good question for McCain. You said the tax cuts were too skewed to the wealthy and that they weren't paid for. So what has changed? I disagreed when spending got out of control and guess what, spending got of control. Had we done what I had wanted to do, we'd have gotten spending under control and we'd be talking about more spending.
8:38: Ronald Reagan would have said sign the tax cuts, but McCain voted against it. 60% of our spending is for entitlements and it will be 70% soon. The military is 20%. We have to deal with entitlements. We can't fix the problem with the 20% that is left over. We have to change the deal for 20, 30, 40 year olds or we will bankrupt the country. Good answer for Mitt.
8:40: Huck dodges the anchor baby question. We need to secure the border. Fence built in 18 months. People here need to go to the back of the line and start over. Huck didn't help himself much on this question because it left his stance on amnesty fuzzy.
8:41: Mitt, my plan is no amnesty for people who are here illegally. People who have been here 5 years, we let their kids complete the school years before you send them home. Ehr, what? How would that even work? You catch them, let them go to finish school, and you will never see them again. Mitt attacks, accurately I might add, what McCain's Z-Visa would have done. Not a criminal, you get to stay here forever under a Z-Visa.
8:44: McCain, if your original plan came to the Senate floor, would you vote for it? McCain dodges to keep from admitting that he would. We will secure the borders first. I will have the border state governors say the borders are secure. Employers will have to hire people who are here legally. That will cause attrition by enforcement. We know now we have to secure the borders first. McCain, I will not answer how I would vote on my own bill.
8:47: Huckabee won't even say Sandra Day O'Connor was the wrong choice? Yeesh. What happened to this guy? He used to be great in these debates.
8:49: Ron Paul, I wouldn't have appointed Sandra Day O'Connor. Good answer, Ron.
8:49: John McCain. I am proud of O'Connor, but I would appoint people like Alito and Roberts.
8:49: Mitt: I would much rather have a justice like Alito, Roberts, Scalia, Thomas than O'Connor.
8:51: Commercial break: So far, no major blows have landed although McCain has had more of his record dragged out here than in previous debates. I hate to say it, especially since I am supporting Huck, but Huck and Paul are just wasted space in this debate so far.
8:56: Huck seems to be campaigning for veep here and Mitt hasn't been nearly aggressive enough.
8:57: Peggy Noonan, Bush broke the Republican party. Is the GOP better off than it was 8 years ago? Mitt, no, it's not. Not all Bush's fault. Really Washington's fault. Bush has kept us safe these last 6 years. I watch the Dems with horror when they say it's more important to get out of Iraq than win. We have overspent in Washington. We did not deal with entitlements. I think No-Child Left Behind takes the ball forward. Good answer for Mitt.
9:00: McCain is lying about my setting a specific time for withdrawal. McCain is a liar. Let me make it absolutely clear, McCain is a liar, I will not pull our troops out of Iraq until we've gotten the job done. McCain smirks while this is going on. It was a dirty trick on McCain's part. Lots of clapping. Good answer.
9:02: McCain, well of course he said he wanted a timetable. McCain, Mitt wouldn't talk about the surge while I was pushing the surge. McCain is being sleazy here.
9:03: Mitt calls McCain on it. Claps. Now McCain is trying to be slippery.
9:04: Cooper reads the quote. Honestly, you CAN interpret that quote from Romney as wanting to set a secret timetable. It's admittedly, ambiguous, but that is a fair interpretation of it. More McCain smirking. Wow, that is annoying.
9:07: Mitt on the surge -- McCain smirking -- Mitt is obviously royally p.o.'d about McCain dropping that secret timetable charge before Florida. Even the New York Times admits it's a lie.
9:08: McCain, I think my interpretation was right. Also, you got a lot of nerve, Romney, using your own money to run all those sleazy negative ads.
9:10: Ron Paul, we shouldn't have even gone into Iraq. Empire! Wait, I have forgotten what question they asked the guy. Does it have anything to do with whatever he's is talking about? I think. There were Al-Qaeda there, Ron. They did commit aggression. It wasn't unconstitutional.
9:11: Mike, I didn't come here to umpire a ballgame between these two guys. We need to leave with honor and victory. If we leave a bigger mess in Iraq, it will erupt and give Al-Qaeda and Iran to take advantage of the situation. We can't leave it vulnerable in Iraq and we'll have to come back. Really good answer from Huckabee.
9:13: McCain, it's a false argument. It's American casualties, not American presence. Spot-on. We're not talking about timetables, we're talking about winning. Americans will come home with honor. Good answer from McCain.
9:15: Huckabee on Putin. People's eyes can lie, but their actions don't. -- Wait, was that Alan Keyes in the audience? Back to Huckabee. We need enough troop strength.
9:17: Putin is a bad guy. There are 4 types of strategies in play. People using energy resources. People using Communism and wild-west capitalism. Then there's Al-Qaeda, and then there's us. That's actually an interesting way of looking at it. Good answer.
9:18: McCain, what makes you more capable than Mitt to run the economy? Leadership, vision, and then McCain goes into his stump speech. Foreign policy, I was a POW, I was in the military, That's a little too try hard -- everyone knows he was a soldier...he should be getting into fiscal conservatism here soon...he didn't? Odd. Not a great answer.
9:20: Mitt, he's a fine man, but I am a better economic leader. I am not a senator. I spent 25 years in the private sector. I turned the Olympics around. I went on to become a governor. Good answer.
9:23: Mitt, why are you a better commander-in-chief? I don't think you have to serve to be a great foreign policy leader. I can bring in the perspectives of the entire world. Abe Lincoln wasn't a military expert. Eh...he didn't make a good case.
9:24: John McCain. Mitt sometimes made people lose their jobs -- he's like your boss! Blah! That was really hamhanded. I am ready to step in and lead. Look at all these people who support me.
9:25: Paul, why would you be the man to run the economy or foreign policy. Paul, it's not the job of the President to run the economy. True, but he's not making a case for himself. We can't print the money out of thin air! Commander-in-Chief -- wise foreign policy, not be involved in so many things. Humble foreign policy, not policeman of the world. Last part of the answer was coherent, not terrible.
9:30: Would Reagan endorse you, Mitt? He would. Ronald Reagan and I are practically twins and we would agree on every issue. Getting lots of issues out here at least.
9:31: Ronald Reagan would not approve of someone who changes his position depending on what the year is. Reagan was a man of principles and so he would endorse me. Of course, they're very different principles.
9:32: I supported Reagan in 1976 and 1980. Reagan campaigned for me in 1978 and I don't know what he would do, but he was very sympathetic to the gold standard. That would be the key issue.
9:33: It would be presumptive to assume what Ronald Reagan would be. I don't know if he'd endorse me, but I endorse him. Reagan wasn't just about policies, it was that he saw this as a great country and he loved this country. Great answer from Huckabee.
Summary: CNN did a decent job. They brought out more of McCain's record than the other debates did, asked some tough questions, and overall, I have no complaints.
Loser (Ron Paul): Same as always. 40% good stuff, 60% incoherent babbling about monetary policy, empire, yada, yada, yada.
Mike Huckabee: Awful in the first half of the debate, but he improved a lot in the second half of the debate and finished strong. He was hurt a bit by not getting as much time as McCain and Romney.
John McCain: Romney definitely scored some points against him and McCain slipped into his canned speech a bit too much. There was a lot of smirking, too, which was really annoying. In my opinion, this was a weak performance for McCain, but I think he was just trying to play it safe and ride out the momentum of his Super Tuesday win.
Mitt Romney (Winner): This is Mitt's 2nd strong performance in a row. He defeated McCain pretty handily in this debate by pointing out some of McCain's weaknesses and highlighting his own strengths. On the other hand, although Mitt won, I don't think McCain was damaged enough to hurt him badly on Super Tuesday. So, a win? Yes. A difference-making win? Probably not.
PS: If you watched the debate, let me know who you think won in the poll below,
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John Hawkins | 07:55 PM |
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