Live Thread: Republican Presidential Debate in Jacksonville, FL on CNN 8 P.M. EST

Thursday, January 26, 2012 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

Hosted by Wolf Blitzer at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Candidates: Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Word is the audience will be "allowed" to participate.

Livestream here.

[Shelayne]

*pffffffffffft* IF, and that is a big IF, Mitt gets the nod, he will be savaged in the general by this very media that is propping him up. He won’t even win his own state.

[Toespi]

Why aren’t they talking about the government gun runners, how about solyndra, the troops dying in Afghanistan, gitmo, failing educational system, keystone pipeline, fuel prices, and the list goes on. Instead they are baited against each other, and then to top it off, they are asked why their wives would make good first ladies. Disgusting.

[The Citizen Soldier]

My report card:

Santorum - (A-) far and away his best debate, energized, passionate.

Newt - (B+) deck clearly stacked against him but gave reasoned answers to most questions

Romney - (B-) started strong (well-rehearsed) but stumbled on blind trust and Reagan support

Paul - (C-) was there and occasionally witty but no strong answers on any question of substance

Predictions for Florida:

Newt - 38%
Romney - 34%
Santorum - 18%
Paul - 9%
Others - 1%

[tomkat]

Fair enough  

Either way, I'm just glad the damned thing's over .. LOL

[manc]

I tried to get tickets for this debate as it is near me.
I was told off the GOP lady that there were 3,000 seats but only 800 tickets went out.

Now who got those tickets less than 800, I heard and I am betting Romney establishment stooges to cheer him.

Disgusting how they have come after Newt instead of staying out of this.

[writer33]

Once his Florida panderfest is over, he had better change his tune, and fast.

Yes, sir, because it won't fly anywhere else.

[RedhairRedhair]

Could be that Drudge is just trying to put some Newt dirt out there so that some thought may cross your mind (now) as to what Obama will do with the same dirt....

[mylife]

http://www.mormon-underwear.com/mormon_underwear.html

[jwalsh07]

Well bless your wife then for saving your brain from turning to mush. Wolf and Cooper aren’t exactly Thomas Paine and Tom Clancy.

[AGreatPer]

"Romney may have a shot at buying the election"

Boy did you hit that one on the head.

His money dwarfs everyone else.

[icwhatudo]

Thanks for the kind words-No prediction made for SC.

I think the pushback from Rush, Michael Reagan, and Palin helped turn the coordinated Drudge attack back. It will be close but I think Newt pulls it out. Keep an eye on Jeb Bush and Rubio. If they stay neutral, Newt wins. If either goes to Romney, Romney takes it.

Be nice to see Santorum and Newt unite.

[MaxMax]

I always add small items like that (amazon) if it has Super Saver free shipping.
But only things under three bucks. Heck I'd buy it for the right price just
to put uncle crazy on the shelf.

[Kenny]

We need to hit the boards tonight. Newt was tired of the constant bickering but CNN & Romney wouldn’t let up. Is that how Romney’s going to debate Obama? If so, he’ll be accused of not respecting the President or more to the point, being a whiney little girl.

Not attractive at all.

[manc]

I tried to get into this debate as it is near me.

I was told off the GOP lady that 3,000 seats but only 800 tickets went out.

Now it seems the establishment filled those seats with stooges from the establishment to give the appearance that Romney is more liked that he is

[PAR]

Santorum is the only conservative running now - I thought this was his best debate - he seems to be improving from debate to debate. (BTW, you know you’re coming under serous fire when Tom Delay says you’re not conservative.)

In the post debate comments on CNN, one of the commentators said Romney has a new debate coach. It showed. He kicked Newt’s a$$ relative to expectations going into the debate.

[paintriot]

I noticed when Mitt would speak Wolf would give time for applause, but when others would speak he would cut to someone else or a different question.

[AnnGora]

The line has been a joke since the 1990s. He should have stated it differently. Some of you same people who mocked the Clintons saying it now think Newt is a genius for saying the exact same thing.
I’m not criticizing the sentiment...just the expression. Chill out.

[newzjunkey]

How about if sanctimonious Santorum use that time to talk POSITIVELY about himself and his agenda, as he was asked, and not yapping about the other candidates?

[AmericanInTokyo]

Side ramble here regarding the debate, but....If you heard a Japanese person or a German person who had become an American citizen, or maybe was third generation or fourth generation American with that ethnicity, using the actual, exact German or Japanese pronunciation of names and places, in a major American public forum, why they would be an idiot.

Everyone knows for example "harakiri" or "kamikaze" are pronounced differently in the mother country with the mother tongue than in the USA; same for German, "Berlin" or "Munich" are pronounced quite differently in Germany as opposed to in discourse on American soil, amongst most Americans. This applies to many different backgrounds and ethnicities.

But in this CNN forum tonight from the floor, you hear the same d*mn thing you hear a lot on CNN, NBC, ABC, NPR, or on US college campuses in the class room etc, when it comes to Spanish names. "PuERRRRrrrrrto RRRRRIkkkoh," "ManuELLL OrrrrrrTEga" in the midst of an otherwise perfect English sentence. What's up with THAT? What makes these people so special that they have to shove their language like that in most peoples faces; I think it is a certain superiority. I think it is divisive and insulting and rather unecessary. Speak in American English in a full sentence, or fine, in Cuban or Mexican Spanish in a full sentence, fine, but do not mix the two! (Pet Peeve)

[NKP_Vet]

All that sorry ass Blitzer wanted was a cat fight between Newt and Willard the liberal. Newt does not look good against someone that has a motor mouth and can say 1,000 words a minute, especially if every other word is an insult.
Blitzer knew exactly what he was doing. Newt should have walked off the stage and said to hell with it, this “debate” is fixed for Romney and he’ll have no part of it. Newt wanted it to be civil and Blitzer and the common son-of-bitch Romney would not let him.