Replies

Here we go. Once again a candidate thread sidetracked and destroyed by rabid Perry supporters.

Yep. I suppose that I'm as guilty as anyone for adding fuel to that sidetracking. It's tough to remain mute, though, when I see this sort of stuff going on. Don't know if you saw it, but I protested about some Perrywinkle interjecting him into the thread, early on.

For what it's worth, I think they're simply desperate. Their guy has shot himself in the foot so many times now, that he's pretty much permanently crippled himself in this race. On top of that, some of their staunchest compatriots on the site have embraced the lightning of late, and only the most devoted Perrywinkles are doggedly persevering on.

Unfortunately, they choose the darnedest places to do it - like threads that have nothing whatsoever to do with their candidate. You've got to wonder about the mental state of someone who sees their candidate bungle the show from day one of entering the race, then drop from 30%, down to 8%, and yet responds by becoming even MORE dedicated and combative, where their broken candidate is concerned.

In my view, the healthy ones looked at the man's performance in the debates, and his actual record, then moved on. That said, there are a select few who (I believe) really think the man's been under-rated and unfairly maligned. Fair enough, but the fact of his rapid descent in the polls ought to tell them that he's finished.

It's a crazy time, my brother, and it's probably going to get even crazier before this is all over. In the end, I hope that we don't rip each other to shreds over all this. It's precisely what our enemies want.

I disagree with who is at fault for the "sidetracking". Here are links in support of my position that it was the anti-Perry folks who provoked the sidetracking:

At least there won’t be a bumbling, stumbling, stuttering moron tonight.
That was the first reference to Perry -- an attack on Perry, in a response to someone saying they weren't interested in the debate
HAAAA! Perry was invited.
An attack on perry claiming falsely that he was invited to THIS debate
Just for S&G google "Rick Perry and "The crotch".
That's 3 attacks. not ONE perry person had said ANYTHING negative about Cain or Gingrich
That must be Willie Mitty and Rick acting up...
another attack on Perry

Rick Perry was invited to have his own one-on-one moderator-free debate with the candidate of his choice. So far he has turned them down. Guess he prefers the "gotcha" 60 second soundbite debates.
This one at least got the story right, but it's still an attack on Perry.
Look Reagan could debate and Perry cannot.
Another attack on Perry.
He had a long interview on Hannity two nights ago and Hannity asked tough questions. Perry did beautifully.
First pro-Perry post; it is a response to the "Perry wouldn't do the one-on-one debate"
Had no idea Perry was invited and declined. Says a lot.
Another attack on Perry based on the false "he was invited tonight" claim
Why would Perry not want to participate? :-)
And another He wasn’t and didn’t.
2nd pro-perry person, correcting the error above that Perry was invited to THIS debate and declined. Still NO negative Cain/Gingrich comments from ANY perry people.
They have a pre-debate test and you must pass it for admittance.
Another attack on Perry for not being at tonight's debate.
He was and he did.
Response to correction earlier, misstating that Perry was invited to tonight's debate. Included a link to the wrong page of information
[A repeat of post 82, saying Perry refused a separate one-on-one debate.
Accurate, but still an attack on Perry.
I’m in blogger section, tweeting @bnuckols #caingrich # tcot
That's the 3rd freeper I would identify as a pro-perry freeper, but the comment has nothing to do with Perry, and is about being AT the debate.
This was a picture of someone laughing, with a quote about Perry being conservative
attacking Perry for not being a conservative
Blogging or reporting back to Perry? :^)
Another reference to Perry; kind of a jab at the freeper, who didn't mention Perry
A picture mocking Perry's bad debate performance
Another unprovoked Perry attack
Looks like Cain is liking Perry's tort reform laws.
this is a new freeper -- mention's perry, but doesn't attack anybody, and it's about something said in the debate.
So nice to see republicans that are actually able to speak without making you wince. Bush, Palin, Perry....eeeek.
Another unprovoked attack on Perry.
Perry can not beat “the one” in a debate so I just can’t go there this time
And another.
Perry can not beat “the one” in a debate so I just can’t go there this time
Another freeper repeats this and agrees with it.
My first post, explaining that Perry was NOT invited to THIS debate.

At this point, I'm going to have to apologize. I know I entered this thread a bit ticked off at the vitriol I was getting in other threads. I figured "Cain/Gingrich, at least I won't have to put up with attacks on Perry". And then I read through the first 400 posts, and saw all those attacks above, so I wasn't as nice in response as I should have been. But still, no attack on Cain or Gingrich from me or the perry supporters at this point.

Perry is a coward. He prefers the shot in the back.
Another unprovoked attack on Perry. This is the one that got me mad.
He shot Romney in the back, but lets keep to the debate.
I should have listend to this one -- but I interpreted it still as an attack on Perry for fingering Romney as the source of the leaks, which Perry didn't do
I thing Romney would wilt in this kind of debate...Perry.....pfffsttt....
Yet another attack on Perry.
ROmney/Perry were invited to do their own 1-on-1. Doubt they will
My 2nd post to the thread, pointing out to the bad-link poster above that they were invited to their own debate, NOT THIS ONE.
Can you imagine either of them [Perry/Romney] debating Joe Biden in a VP debate?
Another attack on Perry
455 (8:56:07): Whatever you do, don’t point out Perry has already reduced medical costs in Texas with Tort Reform
This was a post to ME. It's a pro-perry post, but deals with something that just came up in the debate, saying Perry has accomplished this already. Still no anti-Cain stuff by ANY perry supporter.
No, I can’t. Can I imagine either one in a monologue?
Another attack on Perry
Perry has decided he can't run with the big dogs and has elected to sit on the porch.
In response to the substantive comment that Perry did Tort Reform, another attack on Perry
Why, why, why do you have to demean Perry all the time? He is a good man and has good ideas
This was targetted at one of the Perry attacks. Just asking for civility, and still NO ATTACK ON CAIN

Perry will have his time if he decides he’ll debate again...currently he says he won’t
Another false attack on Perry (he's doing 5 more debates), and an attack on a pro-perry person for saying something about Perry.
Don’t waste your time trying to pry open welded shut minds.
A personal attack on a freeper who mentioned Perry's pro-tort-reform position.

So at this point, we are an hour into the debate. That's EVERY reference to Perry. ONE perry person expressing disinterest in the debate. Three pro-perry comments about items brought up IN the debate. NO attacks on Cain or Gingrich from a Perrry supporter. OVER A DOZEN attacks on Perry, including false attacks about him not being at the debate.

I think it is very unfair of you or anyone else to blame Perry supporters for "sidetracking" the debate. As should be clear by the links above, there were multiple negative references to Perry in this debate thread before ANY perry folks turned negative, and only THREE out of the first 500 posts were pro-Perry: all were comments about issues brought up IN the debate.

If the people in this thread wanted to keep it about Cain and Gingrich, they shouldn't have posted all the unprovoked attacks on Perry. If you are going to attack a candidate, you have to expect the candidate's supporters to show up and respond.

Still, I apologize for responding to the bait. It didn't make things any better.