Posted on 05/03/2007 3:19:11 PM PDT by CounterCounterCulture
Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #1 – Reagan Library 05/03/07 - Official Discussion Thread
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.
I have to admitt, Romney could win this whole thing.
That’s what happens when you pretend to be a statesman, and lie through your teeth about your political record.
Romney’s religion will be a huge liability in the South.
Otherwise, I would think he already has it won
Things have dynamically changed since Thompson left the Senate. He has directly insulted Mexico recently for their own war zone in northern Mexico. Which involves Tijuana. It's very bad down there now. It has to be walled off.
Visa caps should be raised. Visas are a country-to-country verifiable communication about travelling people. To get a work Visa you need a sponsor. We don't need a (SPIT on our face) "comprehensive immigration reform" to do this. And we also don't need a new I.D. for anybody in this country.
In McArthur Park in L.A. a few days ago, illegal aliens threw bottles of piss at the cops. Do we need this anymore? You can buy any I.D. you want there for the money. It's a deadly park in the daytime.
LOL.
I'm sad that I missed the dabate tonight. Please ping me if a transcript gets posted/online replay is available. (Though, truth be told, since it's clear Condi won't run, I may have to become a FredHead.)
Love you!
I have a feeling Freddy T will be Romney’s running mate when the smoke clears. He’s so close with Lamar Alexander and its awfully late to accumulate cash at this juncture. A Romney/Thompson ticket would scare the bejesus out of the dems.
That’s really a shame because so many freepers have been saying to me (and elsewhere) that I should give Hunter a look. I mean, I know the guy’s strong on defense, but I really want to know how he feels about the other issues and yet...he was given very, very little airtime.
Thank you :)
If Crissy Mathews was avoiding Hunter, that is another plus for Hunter in my notebook.
Beautiful...
Do you, perchance, have trouble reading? Everything I posted is FACTUAL.
Do you have a thinking problem?
What part of "Congress authorized the use of force against a defined enemy" don't you understand?
The constitution is VERY cut and dried about what constitutes and Act/Declaration of War...
LOL?
As I said Congress authorized the use of force against a defined enemy. Congress declared war.
You are so full of it.
What immagration bill did Fred vote for during the current administration?
He left the Senate on 02.
A total circus, IMHO.
Pat answers.
Wishy washy.
Squishy.
Waste of time.
I like ALL of them even less than I did before the debate.
They spoke soundbites from their standard stump speeches.
NO ONE had any fresh ideas. Same old crap.
“I cut taxes.”
“When I was a prosecutor.”
VOMIT!!
Mitt Romney - Mitt Romney did what he needed to do in this debate. He looked good. He spoke well. He seemed to have a good grasp of the issues. He didn't do as good a job highlighting his executive experience, but he came across as smart and competent.
Mike Huckabee - Mike Huckabee seemed the most comfortable of the "hard" religious conservative candidates. He came across as confident and spoke well. If anyone is paying attention, he'll get the biggest bounce in the "second tier" of candidates. His answer on global warming bothered me a great deal.
John McCain - John McCain looked funny in the way he gestured, but he helped his cause by showing the people that he is still alive. His comment about following bin Laden to the "Gates of Hell" helped him. His answering the "Democrat in the cabinet" question by mentioning a businessman rather than a moonbat politician will help him.
Jim Gilmore - I thought Jim Gilmore came across as the most qualified man to be president. I think he'd do the best job. His nuanced position on abortion doesn't bother me, but he'll lose huge pro-life support because of that answer. The debate does help him tremendously because he was an unknown and his presence on the stage gives him credibility.
Tommy Thompson - Tommy Thompson came across as a great conservative politician, but he also came across as someone who is a little too old and a little too "nerdy" to be strong on the campaign trail.
Duncan Hunter - Duncan Hunter is a great candidate, and the debate helps him by giving him the credibility of sharing the same stage as the "top tier" candidates. He knows a great deal and is unique in his military experience and willingness to confront trade issues. His global warming answer won't play well with conservatives. The best thing that the debate could have done for him would have been showing that he is far and above better than Mr. Tancredo on the issues where they hold views in common. If he could have shown that difference and taken the Tancredo supporters, he would have gotten the most from the debate.
Tom Tancredo - Tom Tancredo did well on a few points, but he needed to show some reason why Duncan Hunter supporters should abandon Mr. Hunter. He held his own support, but he didn't gain anything.
Rudy Giuliani - Rudy Giuliani didn't do too badly, but he didn't look presidential. Ambivalence about whether Roe versus Wade should be overturned won't help him. He ducked things on abortion, and his ducking won't help him. He looked good knowing the difference between Shia and Sunni. He looked okay on a few other points, but he didn't come across as being stronger than any other candidate on any issue.
Sam Brownback - Sam Brownback didn't do badly, but he came across as being the least of the "hard" religious conservatives.
Ron Paul - Ron Paul is a good man, but he's wrong about the war against Muslim jihadist terrorists. His statements will knock him out of any chance that he would have had.
Bill
The former remains strong, but the latter took a hit tonight. Where he lost Romney gained.
“John McCain looked funny in the way he gestured”
That ‘funny’ would be because he can’t move his arms very well becuase of torture he suffered in Viet Nam.
The former remains strong, but the latter took a hit tonight. Where he lost Romney gained.
Oh, I apologize for my misunderstanding. I don’t have an exact date. I’ve heard approximately two years ago he claimed to be pro-life. He’s not pro-life enough for me, though. Here is a snippet of this, but a few paragraphs before he was fully pro-abortion.
“Now Romney says he opposes abortion except in cases of rape and incest or to save the life of the mother, and supports overturning Roe. At the National Review Institute Conservative Summit last month — at the very hotel where he had told us of his commitment to not altering state law one way or another — Romney boasted that each time an issue involving reproductive rights came up during his governorship, “on every single one of them I came down on the side of respecting human life.”
Romney’s “Extreme Makeover: Political Edition” goes beyond abortion rights. Once he supported allowing gays to serve openly in the military and backed a federal law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation — not anymore. He’s gone from saying “I don’t line up with the NRA” to becoming, last August, a life member.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001266.html
Here is part of this as well:
Lopez: In a 1994 debate with Senator Kennedy, you said “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my Mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it.” Further confusing matters, the Boston Globe reported in 1994 that “as a Mormon lay leader [you] counseled Mormon women not to have abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or where the mother’s life was at risk.” Governor: What is your position on abortion today? On Roe? How do you account for what is obviously a change — certainly publicly — on the issue?
Gov. Romney: My position has changed and I have acknowledged that. How that came about is that several years ago, in the course of the stem-cell-research debate I met with a pair of experts from Harvard. At one point the experts pointed out that embryonic-stem-cell research should not be a moral issue because the embryos were destroyed at 14 days. After the meeting I looked over at Beth Myers, my chief of staff, and we both had exactly the same reaction — it just hit us hard just how much the sanctity of life had been cheapened by virtue of the Roe v. Wade mentality. And from that point forward, I said to the people of Massachusetts, “I will continue to honor what I pledged to you, but I prefer to call myself pro-life.” The state of Massachusetts is a pro-choice state and when I campaigned for governor I said that I would not change the law on abortion. But I do believe that the one-size-fits-all, abortion-on-demand-for-all-nine-months decision in Roe v. Wade does not serve the country well and is another example of judges making the law instead of interpreting the Constitution.
What I would like to see is the Court return the issue to the people to decide. The Republican party is and should remain the pro-life party and work to change hearts and minds and create a culture of life where every child is welcomed and protected by law and the weakest among us are protected. I understand there are people of good faith on both sides of the issue. They should be able to make and advance their case in democratic forums with civility, mutual respect, and confidence that our democratic process is the best place to handle these issues.
And yes, as a private citizen I have counseled women not to have abortions.
http://www.evangelicalsformitt.org/front_page/gov_romney_explains_prolife_po.php
Besides the link EV gave me, you might wish to check this blog out:
http://romneyisapro-lifefraud.blogspot.com/
Once again, I apologize for the confusion.
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