Free Republic

"In debates rife with confrontation and verbal barbs, there was one thing that wasn't a big surprise: Nobody was speaking above a high school level." "And at least one front-runner was in elementary school territory. That's according to a Big Crunch analysis of the first three Republican debates, looking at the candidates' speech patterns — and matching to them an appropriate school-grade level. We based our analysis on the well-known Flesch-Kincaid readability test. (Some readers might remember playing with this feature on Microsoft Word when writing up school reports — to see how highbrow their writing was.)"

RUSH: Mr. Snerdley, the Official Program Observer, is asking me if I still think that they're not embarrassed by it. I actually don't. Now, I have to tell you that I'm basing that solely on my knowledge of who they are, not anything that's happened since. I don't know. I've not tuned in CNBC since this happened. I've not heard Harwood or Becky Quick or Carl Quintanilla. I've not heard them say a word since the debate. I haven't sought 'em out. I haven't read anything... I just know them, Harwood especially. You cannot have the kind of arrogance these...

RNC Chair Reince Priebus just told NBC that because of the CNBC debate, the debate scheduled for NBC News in February is now canceled. He said the CNBC conducted their debate in bad faith and since they are an arm of NBC, Reince wants to make sure there is not a repeat performance. Heres the letter: Mr. Andrew Lack Chairman, NBC News 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, New York 10112 Dear Mr. Lack, I write to inform you that pending further discussion between the Republican National Committee (RNC) and our presidential campaigns, we are suspending the partnership with NBC News...

The Republican National Committee has pulled out of a planned Feb. 26 debate with NBC News after widespread criticism of this week's CNBC debate from both the party and campaigns. "We are suspending the partnership with NBC News for the Republican primary debate at the University of Houston on February 26, 2016," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus wrote in a letter to NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack. ADVERTISEMENT "CNBC network is one of your media properties, and its handling of the debate was conducted in bad faith," Priebus wrote. "I have tremendous respect for the First Amendment and freedom of the...

I write to inform you that pending further discussion between the Republican National Committee (RNC) and our presidential campaigns, we are suspending the partnership with NBC News for the Republican primary debate at the University of Houston on February 26, 2016. The RNC’s sole role in the primary debate process is to ensure that our candidates are given a full and fair opportunity to lay out their vision for America’s future. We simply cannot continue with NBC without full consultation with our campaigns.

This could be a YUGE shift amid the 2016 political continuum. According to media reports the Donald Trump and Ben Carson camps are currently organizing a meeting to discuss future debates. The RNC is not currently invited. There are two aspects inherent within this dynamic that cannot be over emphasized: * First - Similar to the DNC tactics, by RNC Rule the candidates are barred from participating in, or organizing, debates that are outside of the Republican National Committee. * Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the RNC is Team Bush. The RNC, as a current political construct, is a wholly...

Exclusive: GOP campaigns plot revolt against RNC The Sunday evening meeting comes after an eruption of complaints by the candidates about the debates. Republican presidential campaigns are planning to gather in Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening to plot how to alter their party’s messy debate process — and how to remove power from the hands of the Republican National Committee. Not invited to the meeting: Anyone from the RNC, which many candidates have openly criticized in the hours since Wednesday’s CNBC debate in Boulder, Colorado — a chaotic, disorganized affair that was widely panned by political observers. On Thursday, many...

Republican presidential campaigns will meet together to discuss changing the debate process this weekend, and will not include representatives from the Republican National Committee (RNC), Politico reported Thursday evening. The news comes after a series of complaints about Wednesday’s presidential debate hosted by CNBC. Candidates complained during and after the event about the network and the debate moderators. The weekend confab is being organized by the campaigns of Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Politico reported. The campaigns of Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), as well as Carly Fiorina and...

Not too long ago Reince Priebus asked Donald Trump to sign an agreement not to go third party. It is time for Priebus to go third party.

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, who was criticized for how she moderated the first GOP presidential debate, is herself critiquing the CNBC moderators from Wednesday night’s debate, saying it was “uncomfortable to watch.” “How about personalization of so many of the questions: I, I, I — you heard Becky Quick saying — there was one when she said, ‘I too had student loans, Senator Rubio, and I can’t figure out the math of that; And Harwood, ‘I have spoken with The Economist’; Back to Becky — ‘our cause’ talking about working women; ‘our cause,'” Kelly said in her analysis of the...

The Republican National Committee is suspending its participation in a scheduled February debate hosted by NBC News and Telemundo after complaints from GOP presidential campaigns about this week’s CNBC debate, RNC chairman Reince Priebus announced on Friday.

Mr. Andrew Lack Chairman, NBC News 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, New York 10112 Dear Mr. Lack, I write to inform you that pending further discussion between the Republican National Committee (RNC) and our presidential campaigns, we are suspending the partnership with NBC News for the Republican primary debate at the University of Houston on February 26, 2016. The RNC’s sole role in the primary debate process is to ensure that our candidates are given a full and fair opportunity to lay out their vision for America’s future. We simply cannot continue with NBC without full consultation with our campaigns....

GOP candidates face a firing squad manned by leftist journalists The Republican presidential candidates’ debate on CNBC wasn’t so much a debate as it was a firing squad manned by left-leaning journalists. Over and over journalistic equivalents of, “When did you stop beating your wife?” were asked of the candidates. The reporter-moderators weren’t just asking questions: they were prosecuting the candidates at a televised show trial. Personal attacks were disguised as questions. (Here is a transcript of the at times boisterous 10-way main debate, along with a transcript of the four-way undercard debate that preceded it.)

Marco Rubio may have stood out in the Republican debate, but if you ask competitive debaters, Ted Cruz was the hands-down winner.Ted Cruz did well last night's debate because he knows how to debate-literally.Though the emerging pundit consensus seems to be that Marco Rubio won the night, Cruz nabbed what was arguably the biggest stand-out moment of the evening when he squared off with moderator Carlos Quintanilla and questioned the entire premise of the evening's event. Whether he was conscious of this or not, the Senator used a risky and controversial tactic used by high school debates champions the world...

...HUGH HEWITT: Now Mark Steyn, on two levels, and we'll talk about the substance, but there is art in that response. There is a man who's litigated successfully nine times before the Supreme Court, who managed without taking notes to retain every personal attack, reframe them, repackage them, repurpose them into a counterattack on the panel expertly. It was actually art.MARK STEYN: Yeah, and that's the Ted Cruz I like, Hugh. The criticism of Ted Cruz this election cycle has been that he's been too canned and too rehearsed, and he uses his talking points. And when he does that,...

At least for this Presidential election cycle, and also for the last two, the GOP has agreed to debates hosted by unfair moderators who masquerade as "journalists". From Candy "get the transcript" Crowley, to the CNBC debacle October 28, the GOP seems complicit in setting up an unfair playing field. Basicly, the hard, snarky questions are asked the Republicans while the Democrat candidates are served softball questions. Could it be the GOP is in cahoots the mainstream media and the democrats, and is using the unfair format to decimate the conservatives within their ranks, leading less formidable ( McCain, Romney)...

For the CNBC employees who boarded a charter plane right after Wednesday's bruising GOP debate, the redeye flight was physically smooth but emotionally turbulent. People were exhausted, but also rattled and worried. "We were shell-shocked," one source said. The poor reviews were piling up - declaring CNBC the biggest loser of the night - and the moderators Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick knew more would be published by the time the flight landed in New York. So for some flyers, it was a sleepless night. But there was some laughter and some liquor to lighten the mood - and some...

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus stated that CNBC won’t moderate another Republican debate after its “crap sandwich,” and that all future debates will be “re-evaluated” on Thursday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.

The third GOP presidential debate, held Wednesday evening in Colorado, revealed two key truths: The political media has declared war on several Republican candidates, and the candidates have declared war on the political media. The GOP's gripes against the media are legion. Over the past several election cycles, they have reached a fever pitch, with the presidential debates largely to blame. The problem, from a Republican standpoint, was epitomized by Candy Crowley's intervention on behalf of President Obama during his crucial second debate with Mitt Romney in 2012. Reeling from a limp and lackluster performance the first time around, Obama...

Unlike almost all conservative commentators and a fair number of liberal ones, Ohio Governor John Kasich was quite satisfied wit the job done last night by the CNBC debate moderators. Brittany M. Hughes of the Media Research Center: The presidential hopeful told MRCTV he “thought they did a good job,” saying he was “very appreciative of how they did their job.” "I had time" to speak and discuss the issues - and, this time, the debate "wasn't a circus," Kasich said.