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.
More people need to accept the Romney-Cain alliance as truth, because it is.
SP’s endorsement is looming large here.
Cain is my guy too, and I’d vote for Romney over Perry, Perry is another Bush, I believe Romney would actually improve the economy, still, we need an entirely new tax plan, imaging how simple 999 would be for businesses, no army of tax layers, no loopholes, it’s 999 stupid.
Funny picture. But if I looked in the mirror and saw the goodness of a man like George W. Bush then I would be mighty proud of myself.
Is Fred Thompson still not running again?
Yes, it was. And that was a relatively easy question by a cub reporter from a liberal website. How poorly would he do should he debate Obama? Scary.
Tonight, coupled with Palin’s announcement last week now makes no sense.
If you had to draw up a board of all the things that would need to happen for Sarah to waltz in and grab the conservative mantle, all has come to pass and then some. You couldn’t draw it up better.
Something(one) kept her out of this thing. And it wasn’t God or family.
We’ll see.
I think a lot of people are selling Perry short.
You are going to have to tell Perry to stay off of the benzodiazepines even if he is nervous.
I think he took too many a few weeks ago. You could see it in his eyes. He was better tonight, but he has to be on these. And it is not helping him.
I’m not even joking with you. I truly think he is taking these to settle down - it’s just slowing down his delivery.
He is not my first choice, but he is better than his most recent performances. Just my opinion.
In other news, Bachmann looks more like a dingbat every time she is on tv.
Perry was very good. There were only a couple of statesmen on that stage and Perry is one of them.
I like Cain best of the field, but the obvious answer was Volcker.
Greenspan was well-thought of in his early years, including the years Cain was on the Fed, and that is probably what Cain was thinking.
Although I like the Volcker of the late 70s and the 80s better than the current Volcker
I realize you're all in for Perry but racist remarks only serve to damage your reputation and they do nothing to promote La Raza Rick.
Herman now says on the Greta show that his “Bold” 999 plan will level the deficit +5 or -5
I think he is talking smack.
Anyone stay tuned in to watch these snide Bloomberg “reporters” and their take? What a bunch of losers. Trying to shoot holes in the candidates’ figures, saying they “provided no proof”, yet at the same time providing ZERO backup on where the Bloomberg numbers came from.
And then there’s “Andy Hunt” or some such peon. He was asked about the clapping for Ron Paul (and I am not a backer, but still) and made some smarmy comment about how “they cheer for the JV soccer team, too” and that “it didn’t matter”.
I find all of the Bloomberg team repugnant.
The only reason that I would support Rick is to stop Mitt.
Of course the 999 plan was brought up and Cain had to respond— because the focus was on the economy!
And to me, at this point, all the other candidate’s ideas and talk sound stale. Without a decent tax overhaul, NONE of them mean a hill of beans. Even Bachman said — by the time kids are grown, they’ll be paying 70% of their income in taxes!! How will we have any sort of growth with this, no matter what other problems we fix.
I’m with Cain/Newt in the top positions. Both seem the most in control, are the absolutely best communicators ... A good combination of economic/business/government and political experience — not to mention the entertainment/likeability factor.
The rest for cabinet positions, except Mitt. He needs to go back to Massachusetts, perhaps, as a healthcare czar or something.
Confirmed my suspicions that he really is angling for Romney's VP slot.Absolutely. Cain's going nowhere without a ticket on someone else's train.
No organization; no electoral experience.
For all the Cain Trainers, tell me the first state Cain is going to win.
I'm looking for that prediction here.
Tell me a state, not a debate, that Cain is going to win in the Republican Primary.
We know what you think.
diddley dang dang dang.
Not going to find any Congresscritters agreeing to a National Sales Tax. Cain is going to have to find a another trick pony.
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