Posted on 10/21/2007 11:38:01 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
I am going to post just a small review of my night with 23 Republicans at the Fox News Orlando Republican Presidential Debate.
Luntz was angry early on before camera's went live when he polled the group to make sure everyone there was undecided. A 21 yr old guy raised his hand and said he was supporting Ron Paul. Luntz absolutely lost it on this kid and said "Why in the hell did you not put that on your questionaire that was e-mailed to you? Why does it not shock me that a Ron Paul supporter would pull this kind of crap?"
"If someone else shows up you are being replaced and out of here...this room is for undecided."
I was originally placed in the second row towards the end of the row next to a man named Fred Hawkins Jr. who is running for Osceola County Commissioner. Luntz asked us a bunch of questions with a camera crew and producers in tow behind him and I was the first to answer. I was the first person to use the word "socialism" and it spread like wild fire.
I said the concept of America voting a socialist like Hillary Clinton as President should be motivation enough for Republicans to get their act together. I reminded Luntz of the Hillary quote saying "This is the same woman who is quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle saying "We will have to take things away for the common good." Luntz had this smirk on his face and he knew I handed him gold.
After 3 segments it was time to go live. By the time you saw what you did at home we had already gone through 3 rounds of questions and I was lighting up the joint with what I call the biggest crisis this campaign.
What do any of these men who are running for President plan on doing to combat the extreme hatred of anyone who is a Republican by the mainstream media and how bad the liberal blogs, Soros, and just about everyone who has some sort of journalistic power slimes Republicans on a daily basis. Who is going to have the spine to stand up to it and how do they plan on doing it when the Bush Administration has been knocked out time and time again with no fight.
WHO IS GOING TO PREVENT THE PERCEPTION THAT REPUBLICANS ARE NOT WAR MONGERING NAZI'S WHO ARE OUT FOR OIL COMPANIES AND THE RICH?
Luntz definitely told us through his polling and research that as of today Hillary Clinton will win in a landslide. He was putting all of his money on her. I said you are going to go broke. He said Republicans are too disorganized and the focus group proved that.
I said not it does not. I said if you want to see motivation and organization? Put Hillary Clinton against any Republican and you will see Republicans vote like you have never seen before, the alternative is too grave. Whether we can stand it or not Republicans will do everything in their power to elect anyone else but Clinton.
You saw my exchange later on saying we have long memories and do not want to live through that hell again.
The Ron Paul comment I made was simple and sweet and every single person except the Ron Paul supporter all said "perfect" with regards to that remark.
Luntz walks over and says "you are good...you are going down to the front row...keep talking."
We taped about 70 mins worth of discussion. More clips will be aired at 6:20 AM on Fox and Friends First and then 8:20 AM on Fox and Friends. Then more clips from the debate will be aired on tomorrow's Hannity and Colmes as well from 9-10.
I am sure this is when you will see how hardcore it got in there.
I called out the room at the end of it all..when I saw how many people put their hands up that Rudy was the only one who could beat Hillary I said "I am really saddened to see how many people think he is their answer. That is very telling that the fire that was there earlier tonight for all of us agreeing that we want a true Conservative is gone already and that makes me sick as a true Conservative."
To me the top winners tonight were Romney, Huckabee, Thompson, and blech...I hate to say this but Rudy. His night was not that bad but he certainly is not my top choice for President.
I called for a thining of the herd. Paul, Tancredo, and Hunter need to go. They virtually played zero in the room. It was sad because I really like Tom and Duncan and said that if a Republican wins the White House in 2008 they should all be given cabinet posts ASAP.
Except Paul...which who by the end of the night lost his one supporter...the 21 yr old guy who didn't raise his hand when asked if anyone supported him.
Finally...Luntz. A nice guy but can be insulting. When he compared a moderate conservative to a major serious conservative he wanted a show of hands...then he added "When I say major serious conservative I mean you can hear the German Nazi marching bands and get excited", I then said to him "There it is..exactly what I was talking about." Luntz said "Relax I was only joking." I said "I know you were and it is that kind of talk that I am absolutely disgusted by and sick of...sick of it Frank...enough is enough with the nazi conservative comparisons people have got to speak up for conservatives...true conservatives."
That in a short capsule is it. Met some really nice people and we had a discussion at the end of everything and went our own ways.
I thank Luntz for letting me say whatever I wanted to on camera and speak up for Conservatives and letting me call Ron Paul out on global television.
The only reason I want them to go is so we can get on with the business of supporting one candidate like the Dem’s are with Hillary. It’s cluttered. We have to be realistic...Hunter, Tancredo, and Paul are not polling well at all and are not getting the funds to survive.
It is a total shame because I really like Hunter and Tancredo...but their future should be in a cabinet position in the next Republican White House.
It’s my take that they gave him few questions because he hasn’t gained support. But how can you gain support if you’re not asked questions?
There will be a push to eliminate the lower tier candidates. It had already started before this debate. It’s my take that they thought they were doing Hunter a favor by even letting him appear. Reducing the questions seemed reasonable to them.
I disagree, but then that’s my opinion.
I think we might hear of that on Hannity and Colmes tonight. Luntz really had this look on his face when I called her a socialist and then later a communist. Which forced him to ask the room who here thinks Hillary is a socialist.
The crew behind him looked like a deer in headlights.
Whether we can stand it or not Republicans will do everything in their power to elect anyone else but Clinton.
In 2000, it was anyone-but-Gore and we got Bush2.
In 2004, it was anyone-but-Kerry and we got Bush2 the Globalist with a middle finger to the conservatives [Dubai ports, Miers, amnesty round 1 (2006), amnesty round 2 (2007), amnesty round 3 (2007) and still trying to get it attached to other legislation].
The RNC is hoping for a rousing anyone-but-Clinton in 2008. But 2006 told them the GOP was in serious trouble with its policies. The GOP/RNC still maintain those same policies. Their anyone-but-Clinton may not work this time — because they are still pushing such policies as open borders and amnesty for illegals. They lost the conservatives. They seem to be heading for a brokered convention. Who emerges (a globalist more of the same or a real conservative) will determine whether they can garder enough support to stop the Hillary machine.
33 posted on 10/22/2007 4:47:21 AM PDT by TomGuy
You would have rather had Gore or Kerry???
We better stop deluding ourselves.
I don't like her, you don't like her,
but there are more people who would vote for her than for Giuliani.
At least right now.
The more people learn about Giuliani, the gap will widen.
In the Witch's favor, that is.
A lot of people are going to be in for a RUDE awakening.
“Then you are not ‘staying home’.”
As I’ve written several times herein, no, I’m not staying home. I’ll be voting for every office on the ballot, and except in the case of a baby-killing nominee running for president with an “R” attached to his back, I’ll vote straight Republican.
“...If you also don’t think we should throw all the Rudy supporters out of the party and tell all the Ron Paul supporters to go away,...”
As long as they vote for the eventual nominee, Mr. Thompson, I don’t think they should be thrown out. Frankly, it is THEY (especially the rudybots) who have indicated they’d like to throw US out of the party.
“...then you are the least of my worries.”
Well, then, if folks like me are the least of your worries, then you’re not overly worried about another Clinton presidency.
There are plenty of social conservatives who will vote in 2008, but will under no circumstances vote for Mr. Giuliani, if he is unfortunately the Republican nominee.
sitetest
Just wanted to clarify in case the Luntz group has members trolling here today. I already got a few messages from people sent to me today who work for some of the candidates.
They are trolling here.
The problem as I see it is that most Americans are not learned in their understanding of politics. They take in the nightly news (and unfortunately it is STILL the MSM), so they get slanted views. Period. Which means name recognition. Until we draft a well-known, HIGH NAME conservative, most won’t vote for him. Bush needed to name a high-name conservative who was WILLING to run in 2008, but he chose Cheney instead. I love Dick Cheney - he has done a great job; but that decision is why we have all this going on. No one was being groomed to take Bush’s job. This is a critical moment in WORLD HISTORY - IT IS NOT THE TIME to elect another CLINTON that helped get us to this crisis in the FIRST place by awful policies against terrorists and failure to get Bin Laden when Clinton had numerous opportunities. Hillary will be more of the same koolaid, only worse because she’s never RUN anything except her mouth!
Thank you Suzy. Hunter is a well grounded individual. Your comments aren’t out of line, but I think you forget that a President has a great many people at his disposal to help organize his staff and run the show.
He would have top level advisors. He wouldn’t lack for executive assistance I can assure you.
What matters to me is what is at the core of the individual. Hunter would not be a pushover and his moral compas would rule.
I appreciate your thoughts on this.
You were able to reduce this to two words, “Sore loser”.
Here, read it again. I think you may have missed something.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1914434/posts?page=178#178
+ 1. I totally agree with you.
He may be. I’m not that tuned into his comments that are out there. I just know he’s bad enough that I can’t support him.
I appreciate the observation.
Overall from the group, was there anybody that said they would vote third party, or not vote at all if Rudy was the nominee? And did anybody change their mind about that after the debate?
Did you find most of the participants more socially conservative? Or was there a general mix of conservatives?
You said that? Wow! Good for you! Sometimes I wonder about Luntz.
I appreciate the post. Evidently between two and three years ago he made some incredibly obnoxious comments about illegal aliens to the effect that calls for cracking down weren’t good.
The list of opinions you posted were actually quite good.
The other day someone posted some of his past comments and it was a real eye opener for me. I don’t know if he’s had his Romney moment or what, but this doesn’t strike me as consistant on the subject.
I do think it’s good that you brought this up, and I’ll try to do some nosing around to see what I can find.
Thank you.
No third party. People were kind of worried that Ron Paul is going to pull a Perot and cost us another election. I said not to worry that the only reason Ron Paul is up there still is because of anti-war donating libertarians. He will be shut out soon enough.
The consenus at the start of the night was more people would like to have a true Reagan/Nixon like Conservative but sadly there were a good number of people at the end of the night who said they were willing to accept the nominee and vote against Hillary and not so much for the nominee if it were Rudy.
You think I should be worried that you will vote for Hillary? Why should I worry about you? You will vote for conservatives whereever they run. You won’t antagonize moderates and liberals who call themselves republicans so they are chased out of our party. You will work hard for the conservatives we run.
You are a worry, because you won’t vote for the republican nominee for President, and we might end up with hillary, but you are the LEAST of my worries, because others will do MORE things that are worrisome than you are.
I realise I used the term “least” in it’s literal sense in a place where most interpret the phrase colloquially. I apologize for that.
The mods will zot ‘em soon.
I have to disagree completely with Luntz’s assertion Republicans are disorganized or whatever. If nothing else, I took away from that focus group and that debate that Republicans ARE fairly united. That actually surprised me. But, conservatives are strong individuals who aren’t afraid to chart their own course, so compared to the socialist sheep we may look disorganized but that is very misleading.
Romney I thought was disappointing. More than once he failed to answer the question, and instead took the opportunity to spew his spiel, same with Guiliani.
I thought Thompson came off very well.
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