Posted on 05/04/2007 9:57:30 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
John McCain bounced back in the first Republican presidential debate and breathed new life into his faltering candidacy.
His answers were strong: he faced the camera squarely, and scored big with his circa-2000 attacks on pork spending and special interests. He was both passionate and articulate. His sole bad moment came with his fumbling answer about why he opposed the Bush tax cuts. But for a candidate who seemed to have lost his way, McCain did very, very well.
That said, there was a major bias in the debate. MSNBC and Politico deliberately marginalized Giuliani and steered far too many of the important questions to anybody not named Rudy. In doing so, they paid homage to their Democratic Party masters by diminishing the candidate most likely to win in November.
The other two winners were Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.
Romney, who had the most face time of all of the candidates, showed himself to be the handsome, well-spoken candidate that he is. While his account of his flip-flops on abortion was not convincing, his homilies to family, God and country will sound good to Republican ears.
Huckabee (disclosure: a former client) was the most original and interesting of the candidates. His unique style came through when he defended his pro-life views by asking why, if we "move heaven and earth" to find hikers lost on Mt. Hood or in a coal mine, we don't defend human life in the womb. His explanation of how his faith leads him to embrace global stewardship in the face of climate change and to want to punish Enron-style executives who fleece their workers was both novel and intriguing.
Rudy Giuliani underperformed in the debate.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
I took a copy of the transcript and deleted all of the non-Giuliani stuff, just to see how he answered. UGH! Roe v. Wade—no big deal. Amend Constitution for Arnold—sure. Christians in the Gop—dodge question but be sure and mention all the dems and independents he will work with. Funding for abortion—I didn’t, well maybe I did, but that was only for the city. Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Reagan, Reagan. Taxes—eliminate death tax and adjust AMT (whew! that one was okay). Embryonic stem cell research—plenty of funds! and on, and on, and on. He got 16 questions and didn’t take the multiple opportunities given to him.
As to Politico, they did ask some questions that had been provided by readers, and several of those were addressed specifically to Rudy (about his mayoral record and such). Someone posted that those questions were voted on by readers, so they might not have had a choice? I don’t know. Some seemed out of place, but he didn’t botch any of those so they actually helped!
Bias? That is an understatement if anything. Chris Matthews a 4 time democrat presidential employee. Brian Williams, a genuine moron. Bias? C’mon, who do they think we are, retarded? As al Gore on South Park would say, “I’m serial!” Man Bear Pig is in there!
Did you watch tonight? He had a much more honest/lawyerly presence than he did celebrity. I didn’t like his comments on globalism (and his disdain for those who are a bit concerned about NAFTA and similar agreements). He also sounds like he’s gonna be an amnesty guy. He and Duncan are almost opposite on those issues.
I too am a liberal trapped, but in Bellingham not Seattle. Seattle does not hold a candle to the “liberal education” WWU provides, literally.
I meant conservative trapped in a liberal state, I behest ever calling myself a leftist. I might as well consider myself braindead at birth.
“Bias” would imply that Matthews favored some over others.
• Which candidate do you think got treated unfavorably? Was there a particular question? What was it?
• Which candidate do you think got treated favorably, and why? Was there a particular question? What was it?
• Which candidates were treated fairly, or down the middle?
• Solely as a result of Matthews, who do you think suffered or gained the most from his “bias”?
He’s the Giuliani-is-the-only-one nonsense killer. Let him bring Giuliani down a few pegs and let the others rise. We may be in store for some real debates after all.
I look forward to the debates and learning more about each of the candidates. I agree about killing the GITOO nonsense/mantra. Definitely the first priority, and the sooner the better! There was a comment on the live thread the other night about how deep the bench really was. I look forward to the media branching out from the Three Amigos and letting voters get to know all of them. (yeah, yeah... I know.. I’m an idealist, LOL)
To me, Fred is like a Southern Ronald Reagan, with a little Dwight ‘Ike’ Eisenhower, Harry Truman (the plain talking aspect) and John Wayne thrown in.
Fred Thompson/John Bolton 2008
He's still very relevant. He's the best predictor of elections I've ever seen. About two weeks out he will pick a winner. He will put down a clear, concise logical explination for his conclusions. They will make perfect sense. They will be absolutely wrong.
Thompson was in John Wayne territory tonight—although he said he never got to meet him. He did mention him though, and got lots of applause for it. JW is definitely an Orange County legend, along with his Hollywood fame.
ROFL!
WHAM! Right out of the park and into the next county Mr. Robinson. Rudy will never be the candidate after that dreadful performance.
Hunter and Gilmore are our best bets for a true conservative. Romney looked and sounded good, maybe too good, and I just can't seem to trust a guy from TaxWhoYouToUs. Huckabee sounds good, but I just can't trust a politician from Arkansas who has hired Dick Morris.
Funny and very true!
Thank goodness one debate wont eliminate anyone yet or John Kerry would be president today after GWB’s performance in one of the presidential debates.
While some candidates seemed stronger than others in this first debate, no one really made any major gaffes. Its a long time until the election and there will be other debates to come.
Given Rudy's poor performance, they were probably doing him a favor. Imagine if gun rights had come up. Or gay rights. Or...
I agree with you.
I think the Democrats and the liberal media (I don’t mean Morris) is going to keep pushing McCain because they’re afraid of Romney.
lol! I really can’t stand Morris.
How did that "Jump Start" anything?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.