Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #1~ Reagan Library 05/03/07 - Official Discussion Thread

[CounterCounterCulture]

Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #1 – Reagan Library 05/03/07 - Official Discussion Thread

• Sam Brownback
• Jim Gilmore
• Rudy Giuliani
• Mike Huckabee
• Duncan Hunter
• John McCain
• Mitt Romney
• Ron Paul
• Tom Tancredo
• Tommy Thompson

  The debate will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and will air live on MSNBC from 8:00 to 9:30 pm (ET) and stream live on MSNBC.com and politico.com and will include audience questions gathered on politico.com.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Does Hunter want drilling in Anwar? I DO. Also clear out regulations and encourage the building of new refineries here, encourage nuclear energy, offshore drilling, whatever we need to do to get away from dependence on the Middle East. HOw would he get such measures through the envirowacko Congress? President Bush has tried with Anwar - but so far no cigar, right? Hasn’t the Senate blocked it or am I wrong?

[CharlesWayneCT]

I think Tommy Thompson is getting the Fred Thompson vote.

[TAdams8591]

Goodpost, redgirl and agreed! : )

[JRochelle]

I actually liked McCain the best of the ones who got more face time.

Romney overdid it. Even his biggests boosters saw thru his BS.

Romney’s Catastrophic Answer [Peter Robinson]

“I’ve always been personally pro-life.” That sure isn’t what he tried to convey in his debate with Ted Kennedy, citing his mother’s pro-choice activities and the death of a family friend as the result of a botched abortion. Courtesy of YouTube, hundreds of thousands have now seen that debate with Kennedy, watching with their own eyes as Romney asserted a personally pro-choice position. But he still can’t admit it? A highly intelligent, immensely accomplished, and hugely likeable candidate. But this? Appalling.

[AliVeritas]

Freep the Drudge Poll on the debate:
http://www.drudgereport.com/

Case in point:
Go see the Politico’s homepage
http://thepolitico.com/

[LibertarianInExile]

I didn’t say I’d vote for the winner. I’ll vote my conscience, and I said I’d vote for Thompson if choosing from the left. I’m voting for the right wing, not the left wing.

[jaycee]

Okie,dokie!!

[SoCalPol]

Ron Paul’s anti war rants make Hillery look conservative

[Guenevere]

You mean mix-up name recognition?

[acsrp38]

They can grant paroles, even early paroles. The accomplice of the murderer of my brother in law was granted early parole by Bubba in 1988. Now the murderer is trying to get his sentence commuted by Huckabee. He hasn’t denied it. The guy can bring it up now every year.

[Mensius]

Think of Fred Thompson, think of John McCain

No. Don't think so.

[Vision]

I’d rather have calculated sound bites on each candidate than being able to say your party wouldn’t debate on a network.

[ozarkgirl]

I have never been familiar with Ron Paul before. I like alot of the things he said and I’m glad he was on there. There certainly was a place for him. Now, it’s time for him to drop out but he had some great points I thought.

My winners are Romney and Hunter. I also need to inform myself on Gilmore.

Tancredo also had a place and I’m glad he was there but he’d never make a good President, he seemed real nervous, stuttered alot.

MSNBC is saying Mitt Romney is the clear winner.

[CharlesWayneCT]

And Romney was smart enough to figure that out and correct him.

[murron]

What about a Fred Thompson/ Tommy Thompson ticket?
Thompson/Thompson in 08?

[jaycee]

Well, excuuuuuuuse me!

[Fudd Fan]

You have got that right my FRiend!

[NeoCaveman]

Romney prepares for everything with the same intensity and focus that Muhammad Ali used to prepare for title fights. That's why Romney is worth a good fraction of a billion dollars.

A half a billion from what I heard. Bain Capital - Staples, Dominos Pizza, etc. He's no slacker.

[The Pack Knight]

So, who are the big winners and big losers in tonight's debate?

I recorded it, and I'm going to go back to watch it more closely to really get a sense of how the candidates looked.

First impressions, though, are that Romney and Hunter looked the most confident. As I said before, Hunter in particular needed to come up big here to distinguish himself from the pack and spark some interest from people who've never heard of him, and I think he did. They were the biggest winners.

Rudy didn't look too bad, though his liberalism was further exposed. McCain showed conviction on the war, but some of that lovable personality we all know started to strain through. Neither looked particularly good, but didn't cause themselves too much damage, either.

Paul also seemed sure of himself, and his focus on the Constitution was good, but, as expected, probably turned off a lot of Republican voters with his foreign policy, as well as his moonbat comment on Libby. Still, he made an impression, and I think he comes away from this at least with more recognition.

I liked what Tancredo had to say, but his delivery was weak. I think he was one of the biggest losers tonight, and that's a shame. Brownback started off shaky, but came on strong on social issues. Tommy Thompson didn't look very good, mainly because he took the brunt of the moonbat "gotcha" questions like the firing gays one or the question on the numbers killed in Iraq. Huckabee would have scored huge points with me by endorsing the FairTax (I already knew Tancredo's position), but it doesn't quite square with his record as Governor of Arkansas. Gilmore was forgettable.

Just my initial impressions, but Romney and Hunter were the big winners. Rudy and McCain were slight losers. The rest lose by default, because they needed to win.

[No.6]

“Guiliani is a liberal.”

I’m suprised nobody had the testicular fortitude to ask him, after some of those responses, whether he was in the right party’s debate.