Posted on 10/12/2007 8:26:17 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
I’ve been catching up on the GOP debate. Thank God for TiVo. After a half dozen of these, I just can’t stomach any more of the Tancredo, Hunter, Brownback triumverate. *Bub-boop!*
Tonight, of course, marked the first debate for Fred Thompson. He fit right in. Which is hardly a complement. He was shaky with his talking points — visibly straining to remember the script about “Islamic fascism”. He looked vaguely dyspeptic when he was speaking, and more or less catatonic when it wasn’t his turn. The top lighting gave the bags under his eyes an uncanny resemblance to steamer trunks. He looked older than McCain if you can imagine that.
His height helps him — is he really Yao-Ming sized or are the rest of these guys midgets? And the easy folksiness of lines like “we’re eating our seed corn” in his answer on the future of Medicare and Social Security probably plays with a certain kind of Bush voter.
When it comes down to it, these debates are all about gotcha moments — think: Rudy dressing down Ron Paul earlier in the season — video nuggets that get amplified and replayed in the mainstream media. Fred didn’t have any of those moments, good or bad. So his debut was probably ‘good enough’ in his pursuit of government work.
Mitt Romney seemed a changed man tonight. Perhaps it was the CNBC/WallStreetJournal sponsorship of the debate, but he projected himself as a zealous, sunny business wonk. He looked sharp and tan and was unusually un-scary about Iran. It seemed clear he’d rather talk than fight with Tehran — as opposed to Rudy whose unbridled enthusiasm for the “military option” made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
I get the feeling that if you peel back the oniony layers of opportunism, this is actually who Mitt Romney is. A northern Republican with a hard on for capital gains. And if you’re a Democrat rooting for the least-worst option to emerge from the Republican field, Romney may just be your guy.
That Mike Huckabee hasn’t caught just a little bit of fire is a mystery to me. He’s charming and funny, and always seems reasonable even when he’s preaching to the freepers. I don’t know why the James Dobsons of the world are threatening to leave the party rather than throwing their weight behind this Southern Baptist minister with a concealed-carry permit and a “covenant marriage.” Someone whose phone calls Focus on the Family actually returns ought to ask Dr. D. just that.
Ron Paul continues to be the most effective antiwar voice on either side of the aisle. His presence on stage at least lets these guys mix it up a little bit. The debate starts to live up to its name in moments like Paul blasting Romney as a constitutional ignoramus for saying he’d have to consult his lawyers to see whether the president needs congressional authorization to bomb Iran.
Speaking of bombing Iran, there was Rudy, delighting again in the possibility. That is, when he wasn’t invoking the menacing tax-and-spend specter of “Hillary Clinton.” I’d have to check the transcript to be sure, but I think he invoked her more than 9/11 tonight. Which is saying something.
It’s remarkable how much the GOP looks like a party in disarray up there on stage. It’s no longer clear what the party stands for. What does “strong on defense” mean in these late, tragic days of the Iraq war. Fiscal restraint? Cue: laugh track. Family values? When the front runner is Rudy G?!
There are divisions on immigration, free trade, global warming. But the one force that seems to give the GOP meaning these days is… opposition to Hillary Clinton.
Sick and wrong? Sure. But very real nonetheless.
“Temporarily Unavailable” is doubling posts!
LLS
Where in the Constitution did Ron Paul find the congressional support for the Islamic celebration of Ramadan that he voted for this week?
Is this the exact text? If so, the author used the wrong word, it should be complIment, not complEment. Compliment means say something good. Complement means to go together well.
thanks weegee and hi there
Good question.
This is what bothers me the most about what a leftist thinks of Republicans:
“I get the feeling that if you peel back the oniony layers of opportunism, this is actually who Mitt Romney is. A northern Republican with a hard on for capital gains. And if you’re a Democrat rooting for the least-worst option to emerge from the Republican field, Romney may just be your guy.”
And it is all about beliefs and substance, Romney is least worst. If it were the general election, that would be something different, but this is primary time.
Thank you for presenting the Moveon.org phoney “betrayed Conservative” talking point for the day. Waddle back over to Democrat Underground now.
Well, he IS a product of the public school system so....
Chief Justice John Roberts. Associated Justice Sam Alito. Those two names alone show all this nonstop pathetic whining from the Freeper 100%er club for the pathetic childish temper tantrum it is.
You don’t have to, the whole op-ed is right there. He talks about Mike Huckabee “preaching” to the “freepers” in his slovenly screed.
“Opinion from the left, FWIW”
Not so much :-)
Geez, your PMS is out of control today. I’ve been a member of this forum a lot longer than you, and I’ve never been accused of belonging to DU before. I was no doubt a fiscal conservative while you were in high school. I don’t like the way Republicans in Congress have turned into drunken tax-and-spend sailors and I’m not the only one who feels that way. I believe that is one of the reasons that the Dems took over last year: voters couldn’t identify the difference. I usually enjoy this forum because it is, for the most part, civil. You should look up that word.
So you like the big spending Repubs?
Backing Rudy “never seen an abortion I didn’t like” Giuliani?
So which is it? Political fool or Political fraud?
Our budget deficit has been more than halved since 2003.
Bush just vetoed Democrats’ SCHIP over-spending bill.
That minimal fiscal restraint is too much for the Democrats.
The Republicans this year have gotten fiscal religion and are fighting to stop earmarks that the Democrats still want.
Meanwhile the Democrats demand more - more for New Orleans, more for socialized medicine, more for killing embryos, more pork barrel and earmark spending (while running on the opposite), more for leftist special interests.
The whines about Republicans overspending are yesterday’s news. ... Today’s news is that the Democrats are worse.
Much worse.
code word “reasonable” = not really a conservative
Fact is, Huckabee didnt say much conservative stuff in this debate as he is not really a fiscal conservative.
“We do have to woo indies and some Hitlery-hating Dims to win. There’s something to be said for this description, regardless of the phrasing.”
This damning-by-faint-praise is one thing, as we dont want our nominee picked based on the leatst-hateful-to-other-side metric, but the more important thing is the liberal meme on Rudy, which IMHO indicates why is indeed NOT VERY ELECTABLE:
“Rudy whose unbridled enthusiasm for the “military option” made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. “
Conservatives ought not fall in the trap of confusing that swagger or jingo-enthusiasm for either (a) good decision-making/executive skills wrt GWOT or (b) electability.
The Dems will paint Rudy as “BUSH II” Texas swagger replaced by NYC swagger. Just as bad and will lead to Hillary as PRez. Rudy is the wrong candidate against Hillary for many reasons and this is one of them.
“And what’s wrong with a real pro-business candidate anyway? Aren’t we still filthy capitalists?”
- It’s Romneys #1 credential - he’s actually made the jobs that free-market pro-business Republicans talk about as the engine of our prosperity. And yes, anyone with any money in a 401K or in a mutual fund is indeed an investor/capitalist. People ask why Huckabee isnt getting traction - just read up on the ClubforGrowth scathing report on him. FredT is a much better choice there, as is Romney.
Romney has a non-threatening/optimistic demeanor as well. Makes him harder to demonize by the libs (of course they will try).
“Thank you for presenting the Moveon.org phoney “betrayed Conservative” talking point for the day. Waddle back over to Democrat Underground now.”
LOL - see post #36.
Nothing in life is ever perfect. Certainly not in politics. You take the good with the bad. The best you can hope for is at least 51% of the time they move in the direction you want them to go. Adults understand this basic political reality. Whiny petulant spoiled brat children throw a tempertanrum it.
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