Posted on 10/11/2011 3:18:34 PM PDT by Kaslin
Greetings from the picturesque campus of the Ivy League's Dartmouth College, the site of tonight's Republican presidential tilt. The Tipsheet will have live coverage of the event, which kicks off at 8:00 pm ET and airs on Bloomberg television (time to break out the TV guide, I suspect). Before you read my take on what to watch for tonight, check out the latest poll from Gallup, which puts the three top-tier candidates within five points of eachother.
Storylines
(1) Iran: Although the debate is supposed to focus almost exclusively on economic issues, today's breaking news bombshell that the Iranian government has been caught financing and coordinating terrorist attacks against targets inside the United States should absolutely be addressed. The candidate with the most granular understanding of the issues at play on this subject is Rick Santorum. I'm eager to hear what he, and all of his rivals, have to say. (Except for Ron Paul, who doesn't think Iranian nuclear aggression is a biggie, and who will find some way to blame us for Iran's poisonous treachery). Another wrinkle: Could Eric Holder's involvement in this story provide an opening for someone to finally raise Solyndra and/or Fast & Furious in one of these debates?
(2) Chris Christie's endorsement of Mitt Romney will likely get some play. Will Rick Perry -- or someone else -- pull the Northeastern RINO card? A Perry spokesman has already come pretty close.
(3) Mormonism: Rick Perry was recently introduced at an event by a pastor who has called Mormonism a "cult." Today, Mitt Romney demanded that Perry repudiate this view, arguing that the Consitution forbids a religious test for the presidency, and that anti-Mormon bigotry is ugly and has no place in American politics. A Perry spokesman has already declined to acede Romney's request, calling the issue a "distraction." I'll be stunned if this kerfuffle doesn't spill over into the debate, and Rick Perry had better be prepared with a damn good answer.
(4) Occupy Wall Street questions are almost inevitable. The base cannot stand the mob of hippies, communists, anti-capitalists, and sundry lefty hangers-on who comprise the bulk of the "movement." Organized labor and the Democrat Party establishment are getting on board, too. He (or she) with the best Occupy Wall Street-related zinger might win one of the biggest headlines tomorrow.
Candidates
Mitt Romney - The former Massachusetts Governor is in his own backyard, leading in the polls, and feeiling buoyed by the Christie "get." Deep down, he knows that Rush is right: Absent a tactonic shift in the race, Mitt will be the Republican nominee. His goal is to keep things moving on the current trajectory. It will be interesting to see if anyone besides Rick Perry will try to jolt Romney out of cruise control.
Herman Cain - With first-tier status comes first-tier scrutiny (and first-tier stage positioning). Expect more exploration of Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan, which I called for in an earlier post. It's been fascinating to watch the Romney-Cain partnership develop over the last few debates. Neither one has anything bad to say about the other, with Rick Perry hardest hit. At some point, if Cain is going to win this thing, he's going to have to attack his ally. Will that first salvo come tonight?
Rick Perry - The guy is still raking in major bucks and has never lost a campaign in his life. Reports of Perry's demise are -- for now -- premature, but the comeback train has to leave the station soon. Perry's campaign unleashed a brutal attack ad against Romneycare this week. Almost on cue (arguably, directly on cue), the White House has leaked the story that several top Romney healthcare advisors were actively involved in crafting Obamacare. If ever there were a time to really tee off on the frontrunner, tonight would be the night. Perry's probably got the most to gain, and he seems to enjoy mixing it up, so he'll likely lead the charge. But will be be able to pull it off succinctly and convincingly, unlike his slow-motion trainwreck in Orlando? The good news: Perry's son says his dad will be "well-rested" this time.
Newt Gingrich - I briefly heard Newt compare Occupy Wall Street to the Tea Party movement on a local radio show this morning. I wonder what he means by that, and whether he's read Ann Coulter's column on the subject.
Rick Santorum - The former Senator's expertise and greatest appeal to primary voters lie in the realms of foreign affairs and social issues. Does this mean he'll he flounder in an economic debate? Not at all, but he may feel less relevant.
Jon Huntsman - He needs a strong showing in New Hampshire to justify the continuation of his campaign, so Romney's the guy to beat. But some anti-Mormon rhetoric has seeped into this race over the last few days, and Huntsman might join forces with Romney to beat it back.
Michele Bachmann - One of her previous high water marks came here in the Granite State, when she made a stellar debate debut in June. She'll try to recapture the magic tonight.
Ron Paul - The retiring Texas Representative says many of his "extreme" views of three years ago have been vindicated by intervening events, and have now gained broader credibility and acceptance. He'll have another chance to explain why tonight.
Tonight's debate is being co-sponsored by Bloomberg, the Washington Post, and a local television station. Between Romneycare, Mormonism, and the "Occupy" mob, there could be major fireworks on tap. Tune in, and follow our live chat here at Townhall.
Ron Paul is an economic theologian, like Krugman. He doesn’t understand how the real world works.
Governor Gingrich and Congresswoman Santorum did real well, I thought.
It gets rid of the current tax code
I was getting extremely irritated with the amount of time given to Romney...even by the other contenders!
Who would you vote for?
Romney and Bachmann
Or Cain and Newt
Who would you vote for?
Romney and Bachmann
Or Cain and Newt
YES! YES! YES! Newt is head and shoulders above all of ‘em on brains and experience. Sheesh. What da ya think about Perry, huh? Sadly he has the record and can’t sell it. May go Newt here! I NEED the inspiration.
Thats because Perry doesn’t waste a lot of time talking about Mama Grizleys.
Yep...I noticed that.
But how long until it’s repealed? It was passed against overwhelming popular opposition. Result 1: November 2010. Result 2: November 2012.
You seem to think ObamaCare is here to stay. It was the Progressives’ Waterloo, and their rout has only just begun.
Another FOS story/column by hater you.
You’re notorious here for hating.
Only by the grace of Jim you’re still here.
I think Cain stayed neutral. He didn’t hurt himself but he didn’t really gain either. Then again he didn’t get asked much and others would mention 999 so that he had to respond to, you guess it, 999. Too bad they didn’t ask him about other economy questions, but that would have given him some air time. They could have asked him about his empowerment zones and how bringing business and jobs back to inner cities would help remove people from unemployment and welfare and boos the economy.
“Sorry, I disagree.
I will not vote for Romney. “
AGREED!
That man repulses me. He’s had a liberal position on almost every issue in the last decade, and the guy’s simply not likable. I disagreed with GW on a lot of things-especially his govn’t spending, but at least I liked the guy. To me there’s not much redeemable about Romney.
Oh-and the “Romney’s most electable” argument is simply without merit. The polls today mean nothing. Once the public sees that Romney’s been on both sides of most of the major issues in recent years, they will sour on him too. And it wont be hard to educate people, his own words are all over YouTube. Here’s just a preview of what the line of attack the DNC will use if he’s the nominee:
Bottom line-with Mitt, we get the worst of all worlds-liberal, unlikable, unelectable. For the life of me I can’t figure out why the GOP establishment is throwing their money away on that broken down horse.
But the question is, did he screw at any point so bad that people will remember it tomorrow? If he didn't, then he probably achieved what he set out to do.
I don't think he did. There was nothing in there as painful or memorable as Cain's praise for Alan Greenspan.
Someone needed to hit him much harder on Romneycare. No one did. I don't understand why.
That said, Newt is looking better and better. He's the smartest in the room and has a plan from the get go. He knows The Beltway like no other. Is he for sale? We don't know. He looks intense. I like that. I think he understands Obama - who he is. .
Plus part of me just wants to see him debate Obama. . .
Also, you know Newt's an American, doesn't hate America and doesn't have all the colonialist/socialist/class warfare/racist/anti-capitalist/NPD hang ups. Was going to add 21 more but that's enough. . .
Newt/Cain ?
I didn’t like that answer either. However, I wonder who most conservatives would choose given the question was limited to the last four decades.
The question was whether or not he supported a trade war with China. He might as well have responded by saying he likes turtles.
But don't get your panties twisted. I think Perry did much, MUCH better in the final 45 minutes of the debate.
You know dems always have a way around that. They would come up with a plan to “help” low income types with some kind of gimmick..
Look, I am okay with 999 as long as it stays 999.
SP’s endorsement is needed, otherwise the whore bag Milt is most likely going to be nominee.
A Romney win is a loss for the USA.
I came in here during the very first commercial, and had already heard "999" enough times to say, "Alright, already"...then I got distracted by the libertarian eyebrow, that apparently went rogue on it's owner..
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