Open Thread: Republican Debate
6:13 pm - Got started late watching this - 6:00pm? I thought it was going to have a delayed start in CST.
Wolf Blizer asked an idiotic hypothetical question. "If we knew then, what we know now would you go into Iraq?" How would that help us know who has the best plan for what is now.
6:17pm - I like Sen. Brownback's answer on Iran. We need to talk with them on Iraq, but that doesn't mean we have a formal diplomatic relationship with them. They are a state sponsor of terror.
6:19pm - Congressman Hunter just said that he would use tactical nukes in Iran if it was necessary to shut down Iranian nuclear facilities. Wow - I bet MSM will be all over that.
6:21 pm - Govenor Huckabee had a strong answer on the Iranian issue - no options off the table.
6:23pm - Governor Romney - help Islam become moderate - how to do that though?
6:25pm - Congressman Tancredo - "Republicans can stop this immigration bill." Amen. Bad bill. I have to say I disagree with President Bush on this one.
6:27pm - Governor Romney - good answer on immigration. Avoided being baited by Blitzer into going after Senator McCain.
6:29pm - Senator McCain - "If somebody has a better idea (on immigration) I would like to know." I laughed out loud to see how many of the candidates who raised their hand to share their ideas.
6:30pm - Governor Romney - "We need to enforce the law as it exists." Amen.
6:31pm - Congressman Hunter - put the reporter in his place on the "they are filling jobs Americans don't want" argument by referencing the Swift plants - how Americans lined up to fill the 850 jobs that were suddenly open.
6:32pm - Senator Brownback calling balanced approach that has to be focused on external and internal enforcement. The current bill is ok if it doesn't leave out border security and law enforcement.
6:35pm - Congressman Paul's first question - wow he has been silent for 1/4 of this thing.
6:37pm - Senator McCain - 40% of those who are illegal didn't come across the border - they overstayed their visas - that was interesting I didn't know that. He did say that a requirement to learn English is part of the bill. Also didn't know that. Interesting.
6:39pm - Governor Gilmore - "Rudy McRomney" LOL
6:40pm - Mayor Guiliani - Abortion question - lightning struck and you couldn't hear him. LOL - a sign?
6:41pm - Need a break.
6:43pm - Gov. Huckabee - great response to the evolution question. He pointed out the absurdity that it is even being asked since he wouldn't write the curriculum. Trying to bait him into a young earth vs. old earth debate. "I don't know I wasn't there." LOL.
6:45pm - Sen. Brownback - good response to evolution question to.
6:59pm - Gays in the military - Democrats are just plain wrong on this. The current policy of "don't ask, don't tell" this is not the time for a social experiment as Romney put it. I am going to have to blog later on Senator Biden's response to this question during the Democratic debate.
7:04pm - Governor Huckabee says that the GOP had losses due to lost credibility. They didn't do what they were hired to do. How true. Huckabee is doing a great job tonight.
7:06pm - Would you pardon Scooter Libby? Who cares? I think his sentence is too steep, but again this is liberals baiting the candidates for a soundbite.
7:11 - brief break - this has been pretty even so far. Everybody has been heard from. I'm impressed that Romney could have really gone after McCain due to comments made yesterday but didn't get personal. CNN is mentioning how the Democrats went after one another, hmmm. perhaps because the GOP tends to be more cordial and less cutthroat.
7:14 - time for town hall debate
7:16 - Duncan Hunter's response to woman whose brother died in Iraq was very good. He has a lot of credibility on this since his son served two tours in Iraq and is now in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps. Sen. Brownback sharing about a bill he is going to put forward in the Senate tomorrow on a three state solution. McCain did the best job directly addressing the question. Great job standing up, giving her eye contact and addressing her directly.
7:19 - Congressman Paul's answer - wow he should be in the Democratic Party. Thanks for using the "neocon" mantra.
7:22 - Mayor Guiliani going after MSM on Iraq coverage. Go get them Rudy!
7:24 - Conservative does not equal anti-conservation - Gov. Gilmore and Rep. Tancredo.
7:27 - "Socialized medicine will ruin medicine in the United States." - Mayor Guiliani - the Democrats' plan scares me.
7:29 - Gov. Thompson answering a question on health care. I think he knows a little about that. Interesting answer on lowing cost of health care - in a nut shell - go paperless.
7:32 - Gov. Huckabee - "I'm getting all of the moral questions tonight, I guess that is better than getting all of the immoral questions." LOL. He was asked what is the most pressing moral question for today - "we need to respect life at all levels...we need to elevate and celebrate human life." Awesome answer! Amen!
7:35 - Guiliani - "we are friends now" (about Vietnam) really? How's that?
7:37 - Sen. Brownback's answer - pro life & whole life - "I don't think we will nominate somebody who is not pro-life." "We are a party of principles, not personalities."
7:41 - Rep. Tancredo - "bilingual countries don't work" I think Canada might take exception to that comment, LOL. Senator McCain - "muchos gracias".
7:44 - Senator McCain - "we have to stop the earmarking" Amen!
7:47 - the answers regarding 2006 were pretty much about spending, the GOP started acting like Democrats. Gov. Gilmore - we need to go back to our principles. Rep. Hunter - "the GOP needs to reunite with the American family."
7:49 - "What does it mean to be an American?" I can't believe they are really wasting their time on this question.
7:50 - Congressman Tancredo - radical on legal immigration - too extreme, that is going to hurt him.
7:55 - How would you bring in moderates and independents? Conservatives shouldn't do it by caving on their principles. Congressman Hunter called Romney, McCain, and Guiliani "the Kennedy wing of the Republican party." Wow, them are fightin words!
6:19pm - Congressman Hunter just said that he would use tactical nukes in Iran if it was necessary to shut down Iranian nuclear facilities. Wow - I bet MSM will be all over that.
6:21 pm - Govenor Huckabee had a strong answer on the Iranian issue - no options off the table.
6:23pm - Governor Romney - help Islam become moderate - how to do that though?
6:25pm - Congressman Tancredo - "Republicans can stop this immigration bill." Amen. Bad bill. I have to say I disagree with President Bush on this one.
6:27pm - Governor Romney - good answer on immigration. Avoided being baited by Blitzer into going after Senator McCain.
6:29pm - Senator McCain - "If somebody has a better idea (on immigration) I would like to know." I laughed out loud to see how many of the candidates who raised their hand to share their ideas.
6:30pm - Governor Romney - "We need to enforce the law as it exists." Amen.
6:31pm - Congressman Hunter - put the reporter in his place on the "they are filling jobs Americans don't want" argument by referencing the Swift plants - how Americans lined up to fill the 850 jobs that were suddenly open.
6:32pm - Senator Brownback calling balanced approach that has to be focused on external and internal enforcement. The current bill is ok if it doesn't leave out border security and law enforcement.
6:35pm - Congressman Paul's first question - wow he has been silent for 1/4 of this thing.
6:37pm - Senator McCain - 40% of those who are illegal didn't come across the border - they overstayed their visas - that was interesting I didn't know that. He did say that a requirement to learn English is part of the bill. Also didn't know that. Interesting.
6:39pm - Governor Gilmore - "Rudy McRomney" LOL
6:40pm - Mayor Guiliani - Abortion question - lightning struck and you couldn't hear him. LOL - a sign?
6:41pm - Need a break.
6:43pm - Gov. Huckabee - great response to the evolution question. He pointed out the absurdity that it is even being asked since he wouldn't write the curriculum. Trying to bait him into a young earth vs. old earth debate. "I don't know I wasn't there." LOL.
6:45pm - Sen. Brownback - good response to evolution question to.
6:59pm - Gays in the military - Democrats are just plain wrong on this. The current policy of "don't ask, don't tell" this is not the time for a social experiment as Romney put it. I am going to have to blog later on Senator Biden's response to this question during the Democratic debate.
7:04pm - Governor Huckabee says that the GOP had losses due to lost credibility. They didn't do what they were hired to do. How true. Huckabee is doing a great job tonight.
7:06pm - Would you pardon Scooter Libby? Who cares? I think his sentence is too steep, but again this is liberals baiting the candidates for a soundbite.
7:11 - brief break - this has been pretty even so far. Everybody has been heard from. I'm impressed that Romney could have really gone after McCain due to comments made yesterday but didn't get personal. CNN is mentioning how the Democrats went after one another, hmmm. perhaps because the GOP tends to be more cordial and less cutthroat.
7:14 - time for town hall debate
7:16 - Duncan Hunter's response to woman whose brother died in Iraq was very good. He has a lot of credibility on this since his son served two tours in Iraq and is now in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps. Sen. Brownback sharing about a bill he is going to put forward in the Senate tomorrow on a three state solution. McCain did the best job directly addressing the question. Great job standing up, giving her eye contact and addressing her directly.
7:19 - Congressman Paul's answer - wow he should be in the Democratic Party. Thanks for using the "neocon" mantra.
7:22 - Mayor Guiliani going after MSM on Iraq coverage. Go get them Rudy!
7:24 - Conservative does not equal anti-conservation - Gov. Gilmore and Rep. Tancredo.
7:27 - "Socialized medicine will ruin medicine in the United States." - Mayor Guiliani - the Democrats' plan scares me.
7:29 - Gov. Thompson answering a question on health care. I think he knows a little about that. Interesting answer on lowing cost of health care - in a nut shell - go paperless.
7:32 - Gov. Huckabee - "I'm getting all of the moral questions tonight, I guess that is better than getting all of the immoral questions." LOL. He was asked what is the most pressing moral question for today - "we need to respect life at all levels...we need to elevate and celebrate human life." Awesome answer! Amen!
7:35 - Guiliani - "we are friends now" (about Vietnam) really? How's that?
7:37 - Sen. Brownback's answer - pro life & whole life - "I don't think we will nominate somebody who is not pro-life." "We are a party of principles, not personalities."
7:41 - Rep. Tancredo - "bilingual countries don't work" I think Canada might take exception to that comment, LOL. Senator McCain - "muchos gracias".
7:44 - Senator McCain - "we have to stop the earmarking" Amen!
7:47 - the answers regarding 2006 were pretty much about spending, the GOP started acting like Democrats. Gov. Gilmore - we need to go back to our principles. Rep. Hunter - "the GOP needs to reunite with the American family."
7:49 - "What does it mean to be an American?" I can't believe they are really wasting their time on this question.
7:50 - Congressman Tancredo - radical on legal immigration - too extreme, that is going to hurt him.
7:55 - How would you bring in moderates and independents? Conservatives shouldn't do it by caving on their principles. Congressman Hunter called Romney, McCain, and Guiliani "the Kennedy wing of the Republican party." Wow, them are fightin words!
8:00 - Well, who won? I don't know. I think Gov. Huckabee made some great strides. While I don't agree with him I think that Sen. McCain made some good strides in defending his sponsorship of the immigration bill. He also did a good job addressing questions in the town hall section. I believe that Congressman Tancredo hurt himself and should probably leave the race. Overall I feel it was a great debate on immigration, and a very cordial debate compared to the Democrats.
Update: Stories on the Debate
- "GOP presidential candidates distance themselves from President Bush" - Chicago Tribune
- "McCain Sets Self Apart in Debate" - Washington Post
No comments:
Post a Comment