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.
My first choice for POTUS was and is still Perry. Tonight, before the debate, I was considering Cain to take Perry’s place in my book because he has done so well in the debates but tonight was not Cain’s night. Gingrich and Santorum were really good tonight. Santorum did hurt Cain when he asked the audience about the 999 plan. Perry’s record with JOBS beats the rest even tho he is not the best debater.
An seemingly intelligent man who is in cahoots with Mitt Romney. Never forget, Cain backed Romney AFTER RomneyCare was signed into law and Romney got caught with illegal aliens cutting the grass at his mansion in Belmont, MA WHILE HE WAS THE SITTING GOVERNOR. And yes, Cain said he would not support Perry, what's that tell you?
Now, the Cain-bots HATE, HATE, HATE when these facts are brought up, but for me, that's all you need to know about Herman Cain. IMO, he may be bright and a good public speaker, but his judgment skills, particularly when he backed Romney in 2008, makes him suspect at best to me.
Newt is clearly the most intelligent person at the debates and should be getting some serious consideration.
Santorum did a good job making Cain's “Nein, Nein, Nein” plan look foolish. He's make a good UN Ambassador.
You're right, the others are mostly angling for cabinet posts.
“5th inning” - time to get going then!!!
Conservatives don't give taxpayer subsidized handouts to ILLEGAL aliens. La Raza Rick did and defends it to this day.
I like Cain but I don’t think his “Nein, Nein, Nein” has a chance in hell as Santorum cleverly demonstrated.
Also, I was horrified that he endorsed Alan Greenspan who had quite a role in our current financial woes.
I can’t believe I agree with Paul - Volcker was the best Fed.
Perry supported the bailouts too. He claims to support Reagan while supporting Gore right after Reagan left office.
Yes, Cain didn’t have a great night, but I didn’t think Perry was all that great either. Unfortunately for the Perry people, I would wager that few watched this debate as it was on a channel not easily gotten.
Cain will be fine.
Not in every county/city, right?
Good thinking. I think Newt is rehabbed enough that he’d be perfect for VP or Chief of WH Staff. It’s been long enough that only hard-core Dems would still be as full of hate for him as they always have been (and he’d never expect their votes in any case). Some of our ‘fellow travelers’ won’t forgive him the couch scene w/Nancy, tho.
Few will disagree about Newt’s brilliance. I’ve been arguing her for weeks that whoever gets the nomination will need a partner on the ticket with DC experience. Newt certainly fills that bill. And it’d be the show of the year with him and Biden in a debate. (unless he pulls a Kemp)
Missed the debate tonight, but from what I’m reading here, Perry did better. I like him and Cain but am concerned with some of Cain’s remarks that seem more oriented to his actually seeking the VP slot w/Romney than wanting to be the nominee himself. Perry has enough $$$ to hang in and build his standing back. An interesting few months ahead.
Hate to tell you this, but if you don’t eliminate the income tax and the FICA before you institute a 999 plan you are going to have 25-25-25 plus medicare and social security. The only people who will benefit is the guys getting capital gains. I really had to laugh at Mitt talking about the middle Americans. Just how much capital gains does he think we have now?
McCain Part 2, “The RINO Returns”.
I stand in admiration of you, my dear friend TEX!
I’m not ready to contribute to any candidate yet, but I sure applaud you!
See you tomorry on our FReepathon thread!
GO NEWT!
PRAYERS FOR ALL OUR GOOD CANDIDATES. Emphasis on GOOD.
And risk the ire of their core voters of poor white trash and ghetto rats who will finally find out that THEY are finally about to be affected by a Democrat tax increase?
I would love to see that!
Perry is dealing with illegals the Fed protects and you know it.
I shouldn’t bother replying to you but I will this one time.
Perry has not given taxpayer subsidized handouts to illegal aliens.
The Texas legislature voted 11 years ago to grant in-state tuition rates to children of illegals if they met certain requirements. This is not novel to Texas and is not totally on Rick Perry by any means.
In fact, the vote was so overwhelming (4 noes I think) that it would have passed a veto had Perry been so inclined.
These kids still have to pay tuition and it isn’t free or cheap. Most of them go to community colleges. The total amount involved is spit in the ocean compared to what Obama has done with the economy.
You are proving yourself to be a racist on this board and would do yourself and everyone else a favor if you would knock off the cursing and ugly talk and get some sleep.
That would be part of the 999 legislation.
You have a point. The first thing they will start to do is make exceptions. First it will be one thing and then another, next thing you know we’ll have a “progressive” sales tax. If you make less then X then you don’t pay anything.
Right. Try this: Politically speaking, Perry's campaign is bleeding to death.
I think so
We pay about 9.75% where I live in SE TN
on everything including food
Of course we have no state income tax..
IN 2008 I could not tell one person to vote McCain. He was too phony. I remember Cavuto ripping him a few days before the election for trying to play both sides of TARP as did I in that comment.
I am sure Cain will disappoint me BUT at least he does not fit in the standard RINO mold. At least he makes the election interesting.
Nope, you have to do one first. Anything congress can pass, congress can change. It has to be a constitutional amendment. Congress says 3/4 vote? Next congress says 51%, republican president vetos, democrat president signs.
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