Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #1~ Reagan Library 05/03/07 - Official Discussion Thread

[CounterCounterCulture]

Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #1 – Reagan Library 05/03/07 - Official Discussion Thread

• Sam Brownback
• Jim Gilmore
• Rudy Giuliani
• Mike Huckabee
• Duncan Hunter
• John McCain
• Mitt Romney
• Ron Paul
• Tom Tancredo
• Tommy Thompson

  The debate will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and will air live on MSNBC from 8:00 to 9:30 pm (ET) and stream live on MSNBC.com and politico.com and will include audience questions gathered on politico.com.

[Netizen]

At the risk of getting flamed, I actually appreciated the format for a first round. It's the first debate I've seen in a long time where I didn't believe the candidates had all the questions in advance and just gave scripted answers. They actually had to think, and some failed miserably. Cull the herd and then get down to some more in depth conversation.

EXACTLY!

[oneamericanvoice]

“....but not real helpful for informing the populace about the candidate’s vision.”

It helped inform the public about the drive-by media.

[JCEccles]

Rudy looked and sounded uncomfortable and often seemed flustered. His voice betrayed a lack of personal conviction in many of his answers, especiallly on abortion. He himself wasn't buying what he was selling, and it was painful to witness the attempt.

Given his fearsome reputation as a persuasive prosecutor, I must say I was astounded by what I saw and heard from him tonight.

[Paperdoll]

Good idea. I taped the debate to show other friends who may have been stuck in traffic from 5 to 6 this evening.
I had four friends in to watch the debate. I think Hunter came across very presidential, and in complete charge of his subject. I also liked Brownback.

[claudiustg]

-—Maybe he is exhausted.-—

Maybe I should lift the curse...

Naw!

[Netizen]

If you want a TV pretty boy, it isn’t McCain.

That would be Romney! :)

[TheRiverNile]

All of the candidates have something wrong with them to a fault.

Thompson: Do I need to say anything?

Rudy: Could he have possibly done any worse? He couldn’t even explain his position on abortion when I expected him to clearly and concisely use the “on libertarian grounds” out. He did realize that this was the GOP debate, right? His positions are almost verbatim in line with Kerry’s positions in 2004.

McCain: Looked like he was begging for the presidency ‘cause its “his turn”

Brownback: Does he come across as too furry

Hunter: Is it just me or did he get almost zero airtime on domestic issues?

Paul: I’d love to put Paul’s heart, mind and soul with Romney’s looks, charisma, speech, and funding. Save foreign policy, Paul is a perfect conservative...except he can’t win.

Tancredo: I like him, but, like Paul, he can’t win.

Romney: So smooth, polished, and canned...he’s scary. Socialized health care, abortion....anyone that votes for this man is a liberal.

Huckabee: Terrible track record (as a conservative), virtually unknown, and unelectable

Gilmore: I actually liked him a lot but I think he came off as more of a little league coach than a president.

OK, you may now grade my “debate grading”

Here’s hoping a true conservative is able to set himself apart.

[SteelTrap]

Point taken! I’ll do the research.

[CounterCounterCulture]

If one of those responses was at post #666, then it would have been scary impressive.

[JCEccles]

OK, you may now grade my “debate grading”

I think you would have panned Reagan in 1980 and given him a C-.

[ntnychik]

Thanks for the ping. Romney was great on Leno last night. I don’t get cable, but the FReeper poll has Romney doing the best tonight. The people who know Mitt say he’s the genuine article. What did you think?

[oneamericanvoice]

Didn’t get to see the entire debate, because I’m at work. But McCain went down in flames tonight. Your assessment of Rudy is correct.

But there were a few bright moments from some of the candidates when they slapped Matthews down, etc.

[takenoprisoner]

"Libby’s charges had nothing to do with uranium or Iraq. He was charged with perjury. Paul said he shouldn’t be pardoned because of Bush’s Iraq policy? Even for a rules-based idiot like Paul it was quite a stupid statement for him to make."

First, Libby was not charged with perjury. He was charged with obstruction of justice. Need proof of the correlation? learn here

[CharlesWayneCT]

Well, Hunter could have just spoke up when he called the next name in the list, and pointed out he missed him.

A couple of times other candidates just spoke up and got in what they wanted to say.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

I noticed that too. I think Hunter got the least airtime out of them all.

[Netizen]

I was asking Eternal Vigilance if he had any record of him supporting pro-abortion causes after he claimed to be pro-life. He was able to provide me with a link, though.

Right and I asked for the date when he claimed to be pro life.

[TheRiverNile]

Interesting how Thompson responded to the ID question given his boardship at Verichip.

[calcowgirl]

Thanks!

[Rick_Michael]

I’m glad you’re on his side Jvert...

[potlatch]

Yes, he did well. Some are better speakers than others and they had little time to reply to some odd questions, lol.