Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, right, jokes around with fellow contenders John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
Posted on 10/10/2007 1:58:05 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
WASHINGTON -- Fred Thompson emerged Tuesday from weeks of preparation for his first presidential debate, but largely watched from the sidelines as rivals Mitt Romney and Rudolph W. Giuliani clashed over who can return the party to its fiscally conservative roots.
Thompson, a former senator from Tennessee best known as a TV and movie actor, did not officially enter the race until last month. On the stage of a theater in Dearborn, Mich., he sought to allay concerns that he lacked the drive and preparation to run for president.
Thompson appeared nervous in the debate's opening moments. But he displayed flashes of humor as the two-hour forum on economic policy, sponsored by CNBC, MSNBC and the Wall Street Journal, drew to a close. A debate transcript is available here.
By and large, the nine men seeking the GOP nomination echoed one another in calling for restraint in taxes, spending and government regulation.
But Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, took on Giuliani over his fiscal record as New York mayor. That, in turn, led Giuliani to criticize Romney more harshly than before.
"I led, he lagged," Giuliani said, insisting that he was more vigorous than Romney in cutting both taxes and spending.
The competition to establish their bona fides as champions of fiscal discipline comes as Republicans are struggling to regain the edge they once held on economic issues. Recent polls have found that Americans favor Democrats for dealing with the deficit, federal spending, taxes and the economy.
Michigan, hit hard by foreign trade and a beleaguered auto industry, is emblematic of an awkward reality for the GOP: Even though the economy is strong by many measures, including the booming stock market, many voters remain uneasy about the future, and large parts of the manufacturing sector are struggling.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The leftist LAT is far more worried about Fred than Rudy or Mitt — only from the perspective he is a conservative, and the other two are not.
As far as who carries the Repub race...I am still getting stomach aches over that one. But my priorities are (1) Keep the Marxist Medusa out of the White House, (2) Minimize the liberalism in the Repub candidate.
I hope it works.
Ping!
Romney is a conservative. You should learn more about Romney.
Sorry, but nobody is afraid of Fred. He did okay last night but he didn’t stand out, something he needed to do to establish himself as the conservative choice. He was just one of the guys on stage. Average doesn’t win.
LA times upstaged by Mad magazine.
SO the LA TIME IS NERVOUS and Rightfully so!
GO FRED GO !!!
and I’m laughing .... at the media!!!
” Romney is a conservative. “
Nah.
“But my priorities are (1) Keep the Marxist Medusa out of the White House, (2) Minimize the liberalism in the Repub candidate.
I hope it works.”
Right, EagleUSA. I’ve really started noticing Huckabee recently and Romney. They were both good. But my tag says it all.
They all talk conserva-speak now.
ROFL....
Thompson did great....he answered the questions smartly and put little missy chrissy in his place as he did a few others!!!
If anyone can find a winner or a loser in that debate, they are sitting home in their basement trying to make meaning out of the unmeaningful.
Gee, would the LA Slimes mind mentioning which party Michigan elected and re-elected to the governor's office, both senate seats and every presidential election since 1n the last 15 years.
Exactly what policy positions do the eeeeeeeeeevil Republicans hold which could help Michigan recover from their self inflicted wounds? The sad thing is that it would be a fairly decent state if the southeastern thumb of the lower peninsula could be removed and ceded to Canada. Only Canada wouldn't take it.
These are not the droids you're looking for.
The leftist media loves liberals like Giuliani and Slick Willard.
You can always tell which Republican candidate is ahead-he’s the one the MSM trashes the most loudly.
LOL
>> Fred Thompson... largely watched from the sidelines as rivals Mitt Romney and Rudolph W. Giuliani clashed over who can return the party to its fiscally conservative roots
That’s funny. I saw no such thing! Mr. Thompson put in a solid, respectable performance, IMO; dare I say, he looked presidential. Mr. Romney and Mr. Giuliani mostly sniped at each other and threw numbers at each other like they were hand grenades.
Some of the “pundit” observations leave me to wonder if I watched a different debate than they did.
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