Ya know, this debate tonight is a farce, designed to paint the GOP in a bad light, I think. All of the questions were on issues that the Dems can use to polarize and make Republicans look unappealing. Immigration, amnesty, abortion, gays in the military, guns, Bible, disenfranchisement of blacks....Where was health care? Where was S-CHIP? Where was the surge in Iraq? Where was the dismal approval of the Democratic Congress? There was absolutely no discussion on the economy and the housing/prime rate mess.
Roody & Romney - I have a feeling that the rest of America saw 2 petty boys bickering back and forth more than statesmen of presidential caliber. That endorsement from Pat Robertson ain't gonna help Roody one iota now. His answer to abortion, to gun control drew noticable jeers and boos from the crowd. Romney was, well Romney...he's still flip flopping and shot himself in the foot several times. The petty exchanges between the two of them were just unbearable.
Fred - Fred was especially strong on immigration tonight and did well overall, but he failed to excite. I was expecting more from Fred. Fred had an opportunity to take Romney and Huckabee down when Anderson Cooper asked him about the ad that was ran showing Romney pro-abortion speech from several years back and Huckabee agreeing to tax hikes while he was gov. of Arkansas. I was rather surprised that Fred said nothing except "those were their words."
Huckabee - I think that the other candidates allowed Huckabee to slide tonight without challenging him much. They took it way too easy on him. Yes, he had to answer the scholarship to illegal immigrants issue, but he answered it in a way that I think Christian/Social conservatives could forgive him. I believe at one point he even got an applause for his answer. I disagree with those who think that he'll be hurt by that issue. Basically, most folks will let it slide and agree that yes, you don't punish kids for the sins of the parents. Huckabee came across as compassionate and did made it clear that the scholarship was meritorious and not a handout. Damn, Fred and the others should have spanked him on taxes and his lack of fiscal responsibilities when they had a chance. For crying out loud, this debate is in Florida, they should have snapped at the chance to call him straight on the Nursing Home Bed Tax he signed to law as gov. of Arkansas. Overall though, I think Huckabee will come across to the public as genuine and caring, esp. with that Jesus comment (though he really is just another slick, pass the donation plate, Bible totin' minister).
John McCain - McCain showed himself to be a heavy weight tonight. Smacked RuPaul in place with the "Let us win" Marine comment. McCain came across as a dignified statesman who's above the pettiness of politics. His answer to the amnesty question, however, did not seem genuine. One could tell my the quiver of his voice and the facial expressions that he had been forced to toe the Republican line.
Duncan Hunter - OUR MAN! Unfortunately, he was once again placed way at the far end and not allowed to play in the sand box with the others. He received far fewer questions than the rest of the group. He could've hit the ball out of the park with that question regarding the Chinese toys by stressing his firm stance on fair trade with China, committment to restoring our industrial base, etc...but he wasn't allotted enough time (only 30 sec.) and was cut off, so he ended up with the "Buy American" cliche, which did draw a tepid applause from the crowd. His statement "I will never apologize for America," though, drew a loud applause and was his best of the night. The answer was to the question of a Muslim woman who asked how America can restore our image in the Muslim world. His answer came straight from his CPAC speech "America is a Good Nation". He gave a great answer to the gun question and even gave the young man, Jay, a fatherly lesson on gun safety as well. His answer to gun as being not only for security but a family tradition will resonate well with the core conservatives. It did with me. Hunter didn't bite on the Norquist pledge like the other stooges. He made clear that he came during the Reagan revolution and had voted for more tax cuts over the years than anyone else on the panel. But he didn't bite on the Norquist pledge though, stating that in time of national emergency and war sacrifices may be necessary. A very reserved but wise answer. I loved it when he smacked the Hildabeast planted gay general back in line. And did it quite respectfully, too. It's clear and evident that Duncan Hunter was, once again, deliberately blacklisted and not given enough questions and airtime. Hunter was never given an opportunity to fully participate in this debate. Same with Tancredo. It's my firm belief that had he been allot equal time as Roody, Mitt and the others, Duncan Hunter would win the GOP nomination easily.
RuPaul - This guy is nuts! 'nuff said
This debate did shed some light, though. Roody cannot rally the conservative base and neither can Romney. Their petty bickering on national TV is certain leave a sour taste with voters. McCain has alienated conservatives beyond repair over the years so he's a no go. The GOP nomination, in my opinion is still wide open with Huckabee, Thompson, and perhaps our Duncan Hunter, the best chances left to grab the nomination. Huckabee is a shyster, we all know that, but he's ahead in the polls. Fred has failed to excite the conservative base and his numbers are falling. As Hunter's Rangers we must get the words out and shake up the grassroots even harder since the MSM won't give our candidate the time of day. We must expose Huckabee taxing tendencies and hold his shoddy fiscal record to accountability. Let's get out there and rally under Duncan Hunter to restore the GOP to its conservative roots. Our borders can be secure, our sovereignty preserved, our industrial base restored, our unborns rescued, and our Christian family values kept whole. Duncan Hunter always puts America first. Let's help him get the job done for all of our sakes.
I would say that is an excellent assessment. This debate format was as bad as I have seen. It started out as the Rudy/Romney show. Anderson Copper is an idiot, they all knew that going in. I knew he would try to move the debate in a direction that would place the Republicans in a bad light. But, I like that. I like my candidates under fire and their mettle tested.
Hunter did, I think I think about as much good as he could with what he had to work with, which wasn’t much. I liked that his answers always included, America or Americans. “Buy American this Christmas Season” and “I won’t apologize for America” will both pay dividends for him in the coming weeks I believe. All we need is for the electorate to start believing he can win, that is his greatest and really only setback. If he can get a bump and voters start thinking, “Hey, this guy can win this”, then the contributions will increase and he will be on the front lines of this fight. Let’s hope that it is sooner, rather than later. He is the best candidate that I have ever had the opportunity to support. I am going to be very disappointed if he isn’t on the ballot when the primary finally rolls around to my state. We have to work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen. :)
The relatively few questions and small amount of time given to Hunter and Tancredo shows that the media is out to exclude the conservatives. But, remember that the Iowa Republican Party was also going to exclude them based on low Drive-By Media generated poll numbers. We cannot let the Drive-By Media and the RINOs determine the party’s future.
Instead of whining after each debate about the unequal number of questions and total response time of the candidates, we should contact future debate sponsors and demand that all the candidates should be given the same number of questions and/or the same amount of time. It may not work, but if we don’t ask, we’ll never know.
Since I am a newbie, I’ll leave it to someone else to post a debate schedule and contact information.