YouTube Debate Disaster for CNN; Questions Planted by Democrats
Moderates Dominate GOP Debate; Only Fred Sounded Conservative
GOP Debate #9 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #9 – Orlando, Florida 10/21/07 - Official Discussion Thread
GOP Debate #8 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #8 – Dearborn, Michigan 10/09/07 - Official Discussion Thread
GOP Debate #7 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #7 – Baltimore, Maryland 09/27/07 - Official Discussion Thread
GOP Debate #6 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #6 – Fort Lauderdale, Florida 09/17/07 - Official Discussion Thread
GOP Debate #5 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #5 – Durham, New Hampshire 09/05/07 - Official Discussion Thread
GOP Debate #4 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #4 - Des Moines, Iowa 08/05/07 - Official Discussion Thread
GOP Debate #3 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #3 - Manchester, NH 06/05/07 - Official Discussion Thread
GOP Debate #2 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #2 - Columbia, SC 05/15/07 - Official Discussion Thread
GOP Debate #1 thread: Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #1~ Reagan Library 05/03/07 - Official Discussion Thread
FWIW, I think Fred Thompson did the best job of advancing his chances in tonight’s debate.
Anderson Cooper and Trent Lott, please come out of the closet./Just Asking - seoul62..........
MY humble contribution to 10,000 posts.
I'm getting worried about Fred. His campaign is being badly mismanaged, and his appearance tonight reminded me of Nixon in 1960 - bad makeup, bad lighting, etc.
Okay. At first I thought those were all from tonight. Now, they’re saying the gay retired military was from HILARY’S CAMP. Per Bill Bennett CNN.
As usual Duncan Hunter was the best, and Thompson was second, and as usual, they focused on the Romney-Giuliani-McCain-Huckabee quartet.
I saw a side of Romney I DIDN’T like - his response to the question about the Confederate Flag was an immediate, visceral, and unthought response of exactly what he is - a limousine liberal from the Northeast.
Ron Paul and his choir demonstrated their total lack of touch with reality on foreign policy AGAIN - a most important issue.
John McCain AGAIN demonstrated he hasn’t got the slightest idea about the Geneva Convention is all about and his lack of knowledge of American history. Nobody condones torture, and I have have reservations about “Waterboarding” but there are times and situations that call for extreme measures not generally employed in the Civilian line.
My guess is that response just lost him the nomination.
Huckabee sounds good except when he’s responding to the issue of illegals.
Giuliani sounds like he is trying his best to reach out to the conservative wing on a number of issues.
I’m beginning to think that if Thompson or Hunter can;t make it, a Giuliani/Huckabee ticket would be best.
Despite what I have said before though, the thought of Hillary CLinton and the bloated obscenity called her husband again profaining the White House is strong enough an inducement to get my vote for ANYBODY the Republicans put up.
And by and large, most of the Republican Candidates are much stronger than ANY candidates the Dems are running.
Hunter wins.
making sure everyone see this!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1932056/posts
CNN Fails to Mention Retired Gay General’s Endorsement of Hillary (Author Hat-Tips FReepers)
NewsBusters.org ^ | 11/28/2007 | Matthew Balan
Posted on 11/28/2007 10:38:42 PM EST by Pyro7480
Fred Thompson - Fred Thompson did well tonight. He not only avoided mistakes but helped himself on most of the questions that he answered. He hurt himself by looking down at first, and I worried that we'd spend the whole debate looking at the top of his bald head, but he made good eye contact after that first answer or two. He showed a good grasp of the issues and a good personality. He didn't look old, frail, or out of place. If I were a Fred Thompson supporter, I'd be very happy right now.
Mitt Romney - Mitt Romney would have tied Fred Thompson for the top spot except for one question that I'll touch later. He stood his ground on every issue and at every point. He forced Rudy Giuliani to back down in their initial confrontations over sanctuary cites. He stood strong against Mike Huckabee on scholarships for illegal aliens. Even when he admitted that he was wrong about abortion in 1994, he came across as a strong, confident leader. He showed is usual good command of the issues and good ability to explain his positions.
Where Mitt Romney hurt himself was on the Confederate battle flag question. I'm sorry that many people see the Confederate battle flag as a sign of racism, but their wrong perceptions don't have to be treated as reality. Many people have said that "merit" is a racist code word. We don't have to tiptoe around their paranoia over merit, and we shouldn't have to tiptoe around the Confederate battle flag. For many of us, the Confederate battle flag represents the courage of young men who marched to war because their home was being invaded. To the extent that they even saw the big issues, they were marching to defend what they believed was a Constitutional right for a state to leave the Union. While the cause of keeping the country united and ending slavery was the just cause, fighting to defend one's home is also just. Those of us who descended from men who fought to defend their homes are proud of their courage and the valiant effort that they gave. Mr. Romney's answer to the question was more sanctimonious and critical than necessary. When he attacks the Confederate battle flag, he is seen as attacking men who were braver and stronger than he is, and he may lose votes in the South because of his answer. Those are votes that he didn't need to lose.
Rudy Giuliani - Rudy Giuliani still has a formidable lead in the national polls, and that lead can't be underestimated. While Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson made him look weak in the discussion of sanctuary cities, he comes into these debates without a huge need to expand his support. He wasn't hurt badly by anything, and every day that passes without him losing much support is a day that brings him closer to the White House.
Duncan Hunter - Duncan Hunter had a generally good debate, but a generally good debate isn't good enough. To use a boxing analogy, he's in the 11th or 12th round of a 15 round championship fight. His opponent isn't strong enough to knock him out, but he's lost too many rounds to win a decision. If he's going to win, he's going to have to land a knockout punch. Every day that passes without him landing that punch is a day that makes him much less likely to win any delegates, much less the nomination. Most of his answers were good. He knows the issues. He has the right positions. His answer on the homosexuals in the military question was weak, but he's clearly a great conservative. He's just not likely to win the nomination.
Mike Huckabee - Mike Huckabee hurt himself early and never fully recovered. A scholarship is a reward, and refusing to give a scholarship is not a punishment. When we refuse to give scholarships to children of illegal aliens, we are not punishing them for their parents' crimes. We are simply refusing to reward them for their parents' crimes. Mr. Huckabee's inability or refusal to see this truth will hurt his candidacy. Beyond that question, he did pretty well, but he's no longer a novelty. On certain questions, he'd slip into his "gentle wisdom" style of speaking, and we all recognize the act. I'm not saying that he's not sincere or that we don't enjoy hearing him speak. He's like Bob Hope singing "Thanks for the memories." We enjoy listening every time, but with the novelty wearing off, the act doesn't make us want to vote for him.
Tom Tancredo - Tom Tancredo is no longer a serious candidate. Duncan Hunter and others have diluted the impact of his immigration message. He doesn't have Duncan Hunter's military experience. I admire the man tremendously, but I see no chance of his campaign getting through January. He has nothing to lose, so he can't do too well or too poorly in the debate.
John McCain - John McCain looked ill tonight. He's a hero, and he's sometimes right on the issues. Other times, he's really wrong on the issues. By appearing old, sickly, and cranky, he lost a chance to sway undecided voters who are his slim hope.
Ron Paul - Ron Paul didn't do as badly tonight as he's done in the past. He's very wrong about a few issues and very right about most issues. Unfortunately, we can't afford to consider someone who is wrong about the issues where he's wrong.
Bill
A couple of off-camera items:
Prior to the start of the debate, Anderson Cooper entertained questions from the audience. A woman asked Cooper whether he is married. The audience broke out in laughter.
During the pre-debate photo op, Rick Baker, the 6' 7" mayor of St. Petersburg, stood next to Fred Thompson. Someone yelled out, "My God, he's taller than Fred!" At that point, Thompson stood on his tip toes. Great audience laughter.
Following the first commercial break, as the cameras went live, Fred Thompson was not on the stage. Anderson Cooper started to look nervous. The cameras panned the audience until Thompson arrived from back stage.
There were substantially more boos and jeers during this debate than during the Orlando debate.
During the second break, Giuliani and Huckabee spent the entire time engaged in conversation.
If anything is clear, to me, about the GOP nomination this time around is that at least they are discussing REAL issues.
Unfortunately, I’m a Fred Thompson supporter and he has not, in my opinion, done well tonight. But I’m not electing an actor or TV personality. I think he has the best policy positions stated to date.
Alas, we are so devoid of intellectual voters today that it takes TV goods to pull it off. Just one more reason we, as a free country, are doomed to fall.
Might as well let the nukes fly now...it’s going to happen soon anyway given no one, and I mean NO ONE, is going to stop the radicals around the world.
And we sit here and debate Social Security. What fools we are.
Of course these three got the least talking time - but that just left more time for the others to dig their own graves. I’m talkin Romney and Juliani for sure. They didn’t do themselves any favors tonight.
Fred Thompson did OK, but I didn’t care for that ad he used - besides it aimed at the wrong guys - Juliani should have been the target.
Huckabee just does not appeal to me. What some see as sincerity - I see as preacher talk. I don’t like the prominence of his faith as a determining factor for the way he would lead this country. I am all for Christian values, but political decisions need to be based on the Constitution, not someone’s interpretation of the Bible - Oh yeah - he bombed on the “What would Jesus do?” question.
Overall - CNN couldn’t have been much more biased. It just becomes sadder and sadder to see the reality and direction of MSM control and influence. Even though I don’t agree with all of you on issues - It is a pleasure to be in the company of some of the most informed folks in the country. I’m afraid the internet is our only hope.
My sister was in the audience in St. Pete and sat behind Mitt Romney’s sons. She called in to Bill Bennett’s show this morning to give feedback from the perspective of an attendee — was on with him for about 15 minutes, I guess. She told me that when that gay military guy’s (Hillary’s plant) mic went dead for that short time, the audience was applauding.
RUSH LIMBAUGH a natural to moderate next Republican Debate!! Let’s get these candidates jump-started!!