The Wrap on the ABC New Hampshire Debate

Virtues and Values ^ | 1/7/2012 | Les Dowrey

[Stonewall Jackson]

As the Joker once told Barbara Gordon, "I like you, Red. You're nuttier than squirrel poop!"

There are times when Paul can sound really good for 90% of the discussion, but that other 10% makes you want to break out the strait-jacket and the padded room.

Tonight was the opposite; it was 10% rational and 90% squirrel poop.

[EternalVigilance]

Perfect.

[baysider]

“One thing I noted tonight was that virtually every notable point made by the non-Romenys onstage was lifted without attribution directly from Rick Perry’s position papers and speeches. (except for Ron Paul, who sticks pretty much to his own script).”

This isn’t the first time that they’ve stolen Perry’s ideas.

[Absolutely Nobama]

Let me get this straight: You claim to be a Conservative, but you support a candidate who signed into law the protype of Obamacareless ?

Really ?

[Steelfish]

Except the rest of the candidates gave Mitt a pass.

Read this from the Daily Mail (UK)
By TOBY HARNDEN
8th January 2012

Did Mitt Romney Just Wrap Up The GOP Nomination?
Frontrunner cruises through debate as rivals scrap for second place

Santorum attacks Romney as ‘business leader’ rather than presidential material - but frontrunner remains unshaken.

Ron Paul accuses Newt Gingrich of avoiding military service during Vietnam

Rick Perry: ‘I would send troops back into Iraq.’

Huntsman hits back at Romney over trade with China - in Mandarin
Rivals united in opposition against gay marriage

Mitt Romney’s position as Republican frontrunner has been solidified after he emerged unscathed from a debate in which his rival sniped against each other but appeared to be observing a non-aggression pact against the man leading in the polls.

The most explosive moments in the debate in New Hampshire, which holds its primary election on Tuesday, came in the de facto contest for second place.

Romney advisers, who had expected their candidate to be the main focus of attacks, were clearly relieved afterwards.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083763/Romney-cruises-live-GOP-debate-candidates-fail-topple-frontrunner.html

[mosesdapoet]

I tuned it in ....What I heard was this ..A question about homosexuals and marriage from the poseur/moderator former Clinton propagandist and I turned it off

Is it too much to expect an analysis/ review of these poseurs of objectivity known as moderators/reporters which demonstrate their use of literary devices of inuendo, implication and accusation as they conduct these so call debates ?

.

[Datom]

Newt used the best tactics of any of the candidates and very few people picked up on it. He gave three or four examples of how his ideas would directly benefit the voters in NH......ie putting a VA facility in Northern NH so vets don’t have to go to Boston.......good approach if the primary is going to be on Tuesday..gives voters something to relate to.

[lquist1]

“Sorry folks: cancel my account here if you must, but I’m behind Romney at this point, and wondering why I wasn’t more so all along.”

And herein lies a big part of the problem with the mentality of many GOP voters. They think that a little nice conservative rhetoric is enough to get behind a socialist candidate. What if Bill Clinton were running as a Republican but had the exact record he has when he was Arkansas gov? Then starting spouting a bunch of rhetoric that conservatives love to hear? I bet a whole bunch of GOP voters would fall for that too.

The point is-I don’t give a rip WHAT Romney says or how articulately he says it. His past socialist record already disqualifies him. He has no business being anywhere near a GOP primary. If GOP voters like this guy fall for him, then our party (and country) is doomed.

[Jim Robinson]

Buy a clue: RomneyCare.

[greeneyes]

I don't think that “going after” mittens is a good strategy for any one who actually wants to win. Those little back and forth spats just make the participants look juvenile, and unpresidential.

Contrasting the policies is the best way to go, especially for Newt. In the previous debates, Newt looked like the only adult in the room while the other squabbled like teeny boppers.

Newt can not afford to get mad and let the media spend another week talking about his bad temper. The moderators made sure not to give him much time tonight, because they knew it would help him. I thought he did very well with the few items they asked him about.

I thought Perry and Santorum did pretty well too. The unaffiliated pacs will take care of “going after” mittens. He certainly asked for it, and I have no doubt he will get it.

Reporter after Newt's VA town-hall today tried to get Newt to criticize Santorum, and he refused to comment.

[RedMDer]

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[af_vet_rr]

Except the rest of the candidates gave Mitt a pass.

I both agree and disagree with this, because part of the problem is that it was hard for them to go on the attack against Romney when the moderators were deliberately putting them on the defensive from the beginning or having them fight amongst themselves. Paul and Santorum should not have been going at it.

Plus, every time they got a good jab in at Romney, he was given ample time to respond. Way too much time in my opinion.

My view:

Romney is being portrayed as stayed out of the fighting, mainly because the moderators directed the fighting and put other candidates on the defensive.

Santorum was goaded into mixing it up with Ron Paul and didn't look so hot when he was arguing or being put on the defensive by the moderators, but Santorum had one of the best statements.

Ron Paul - same as always, took one helluva shot at Gingrich with the drafted crap, was allowed to avoid questions. The moderators seem to want to have him take out Santorum.

Gingrich - did the best, simply because he threw a lot of it back in the faces of the moderators, and because he made strong statements about anti-Christian bias and about the MSM bias.

Rick Perry - he had his say, but he is being defined by his comments about sending troops back into Iraq. Whether the Perry supporters like it or not, the media is running with Perry's comments about Iraq.

Huntsman - given way too much time, and I doubt he made a dent in his numbers. Conservatives still won't buy what he's selling, and he reinforced that tonight. I'm surprised they kept him in, since he's got to be draining a few points away from Romney.

Most explosive moments in the debate: Santorum's statements on class warfare, and Gingrich slamming the moderators and MSM over the bias, including the bias against Christians.

I heard on the radio today that after this weekend, one of the upcoming debates will only have the top 4 candidates based on the Iowa and New Hampshire showings as well as meeting some national criteria like 10% in the polls. I don't know if it is the CNN debate, Fox News debate, or NBC. All three of those networks are in the bag for Romney, so I'd think they'd want to have all 6 candidates, or only dump Huntsman, but I'm ready for it to get down to 4 candidates in the debates, because the fewer candidates, the less chances Romney will have to dodge questions or attacks.

[af_vet_rr]

I don't think that “going after” mittens is a good strategy for any one who actually wants to win. Those little back and forth spats just make the participants look juvenile, and unpresidential.

Contrasting the policies is the best way to go, especially for Newt.

Except that they are not able to attack or contrast their policies with Willard's in depth. The moderators were guiding the attacks or asking idiotic questions.

This is why I'm looking forward to any debates that drops down to the top 4 or 5, because right now it's too scattershot and Willard is slipping through the cracks. It was too easy for the moderators to stir up fights between other candidates. Get the debates down to 4, 5 at the most, and force Romney to defend his policies more.

[Yaelle]

Listen, everyone. We have one more debate in the morning, and hopefully Santorum and newt will be up to speed on the reviews of this one and go after Romney for real. Romney will win NH, but we need Santorum and/or newt to do well. Then we have SC and hopefully at that point Mitt will have lost the Mo.

At that point, all conservatives should coalesce around our best not-Romney, even if he is not one’s favorite. I prefer Santorum but if Gingrich has more traction, let’s go with him. We must must must make sure there is a non Romney in all the primaries. We need to defeat first mitt, then Barack.

[dagogo redux]

Thanks for your opinions. They will be filed in the appropriate folder.

[greeneyes]

It would help to have better moderators. I actually thought the debate where the attorneys general were very interesting.

[BunnySlippers]

Newt was well spoken, clearly the smartest and most true blue American conservative, but the Press has declared Mitt the winner.

Is Newt the one getting the votes? No. Newt has a lot of negatives. It's one of the reasons I have not supported him.

[af_vet_rr]

It would help to have better moderators. I actually thought the debate where the attorneys general were very interesting.

Without a doubt. They were controlling tonight's forum from the start. Gingrich threw them off once or twice, and Perry did as well when he wanted to go back to previous topics, but for the most part, they appeared to have a goal of getting the candidates to attack one another, specifically Santorum.

It was one of the more disgusting debates, because it was so blatant. They clearly hoped Ron Paul would take the bait and go after Santorum and he did, and he got Santorum to respond in kind.

It's a damn shame that Gingrich, Santorum, and Perry didn't gang up on the moderators and tell them to stop with that crap.

Santorum needs to take a page from Gingrich's playbook and call the moderators out a lot more often - they were leaving Gingrich alone a lot after he put them in their places.

[af_vet_rr]

Is Newt the one getting the votes? No. Newt has a lot of negatives. It's one of the reasons I have not supported him.

If you're concerned about who is getting the votes, then who is your candidate? You're definitely not a Romney supporter, so you must be a Santorum supporter. Santorum is somebody I can easily get behind, but I'm concerned about him, specifically that he doesn't seem to have third party Super PACs backing him like Willard, Gingrich, and Perry. As much as I loathe those Super PACs, you gotta fight fire with fire, and Santorum needs a couple of well-funded ones going into SC.

It does look like Santorum will do well in SC though. Willard will probably go after Newt and that helps Santorum.

[haircutter]

UNBELIEVEABLE...Diane Sawyer is just 66 YEARS OLD, as of Dec. 22, 2011 !!!!!!!!!! seems she has been around the block many times..and she was born to a Republican Judge in KY. and she was a Republican...as I said...
UN BELIEVEABLE...

Didn’t bother even tuning in to the debate when I heard who the moderators were..a waste of time...