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Republican Presidential Debate #1 - May 5, 2011 - Greenville, South Carolina (Live Thread)

Posted on 05/05/2011 5:08:20 PM PDT by CounterCounterCulture

Broadcast on: Fox News

Broadcast time: 9pm EDT/6pm PDT

The Candidates...

Gary Johnson

Johnson served as governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2002. He founded what would become one of the largest construction companies in New Mexico. He has competed in several triathlons and climbed Mount Everest.

Herman Cain

Cain is the former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He lost the Georgia Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in 2004. He was recently the host of Atlanta-based radio show.

Rick Santorum

Santorum served two terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the U.S. Senate. He became the Senate's third-ranking Republican in 2001. He was defeated for reelection in 2006.

Ron Paul

Paul is serving his 11th full term in the U.S. House. He’s an obstetrician-gynecologist and was the Libertarian nominee for president in 1988. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president in 2008

Tim Pawlenty

Pawlenty served two terms as governor of Minnesota, from 2002 to 2010. He served in the Minnesota House from 1992 until 2002. He is the son of a truck driver.


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: cain; debate; debates; garyjohnson; gopdebate; hermancain; johnson; paul; pawlenty; presidentialdebate; ricksantorum; ronpaul; santorum; scdebate; scgopdebate; timpawlenty
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To: LibsRJerks

I agree with everything you said. Based on what we know about Cain so far, he looks good.

But we are up against not only a lying media and too many trusting voters, but also phony “scientists” (e. g. IPCC) and “economists” (e. g. Krugman).


541 posted on 05/06/2011 12:52:02 PM PDT by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (Budget sins can be fixed. Amnesty is irreversible.)
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To: higgmeister

I was a fool and missed my earlier chance. I won’t make that mistake again.


542 posted on 05/06/2011 1:06:32 PM PDT by doggieboy
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To: southernindymom

One of those guys started off his closing statement with a very stale phrase I’ve heard countless times before. It had the markings of ineptitude all over it. Very bad.

The main problem with Paul for me, is that his foreign policy would destroy our long term connections around the world. It would essentially be the end of the U. S. global hegemony and influence.

If the guy’s goal is turn this nation back 150 years with regard to foreign policy, he’s got a great plan for us.

Talk about handing China the keys to the kingdom.


543 posted on 05/06/2011 1:31:17 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Tell me you haven't asked yourself what mistake Obama made, that wound up causing Laden's death?)
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To: Pan_Yan; campaignPete R-CT; Impy
2008 Republican Candidates:
John McCain - Close runner up in 2000 election, prisoner of war in Vietnam, etc.
Mitt Romney - Saved the Salt Lake City Olympics, managed to elected Governor in Mass. with an "R" next to his name, etc.
Ron Paul - Wildcard in 2008, huge internet sentation made it sound like he was the front runner. Now we know he's a 5%'er in yesterday's news.
Fred Thompson - Celebrity candidate, MEGA hype, household name, unfortunately "movie star Fred" (along with photos of him c. 1992) was alot more inspiring than the one who finally showed up on the campaign trail
Rudy Giuliani - "Hero of 9/11", Time Magazine Man of the Year, Turned around RAT infested NYC and was elected twice in the biggest Democrat city in the nation, etc.
Duncan Hunter - Won seat by beating an incumbent Dem in a district that was 2:1 Democrat, Chairman of Armed Services Committee, Decorated Vietnam Vet, Reaganesque 20+ year track record in office, etc.

2012 Republican Candidates you mentioned:
Palin - Hasn't announced if she's running
Bachmann - Hasn't announce if she's running
Cain - Former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, came in 3rd place (last) when he ran in a U.S. Senate primary
Jindal - Hasn't announce if he's running
Santorum - Former U.S. Senator, defeated by 18 points in his own state by a politician's kid with no track record.

Yes, Pan_Yan, I stand by my statement, the 2008 crop was more inspiring than anyone who has announced in 2012 thus far. You find present-day Rick Santorum to be inspiring? After he killed his conservative credentials by endorsing Arlen Specter in the primary and killed his Senate career? Good lord.

544 posted on 05/06/2011 1:32:14 PM PDT by BillyBoy (Impeach Obama? Yes We Can!)
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To: LibLieSlayer

Rush speaks very highly of Cain. Rush said that Cain has his act together. Also, Ann Coulter likes Christie with Cain as her 2nd choice. IMHO Cain is the best we have running to date.


545 posted on 05/06/2011 2:39:01 PM PDT by katiedidit1
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To: TexasFreeper2009

“Paul - Same old quack, different year. And I REALLY disliked the panel trying to label him the “father of the Tea Party”
Cain - FAR more electable that I had previously thought.
Pawlenty - Wimpy RINO with no shot.
Santorum - Much stronger than I had thought.
Johnson - WTF is a Democrat doing running in the Republican primary?
that’s my personal opinion.”

Mine too. So far reading into this thread, you’re the first poster I’ve read that seems to have reacted to the debate exactly the same way I did.


546 posted on 05/06/2011 2:39:43 PM PDT by Stat Man
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To: Grunthor

Cain upset over the scrapping of defense missiles..I am with him ...http://ramparts360.com/uncategorized/herman-cain-totally-dismantles-president-obamas-foreign-policy/


547 posted on 05/06/2011 2:51:14 PM PDT by katiedidit1
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To: llandres

No, I had heard his name mentioned in a positive light, but knew nothing about him. I will keep an eye on the man for sure.

I keep hearing the Republicans have a very weak field. I don’t see it that way at all.


548 posted on 05/06/2011 3:08:14 PM PDT by gitmo (Hatred of those who think differently is the left's unifying principle.-Ralph Peters NY Post)
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To: WFTR

“His answer was a one-minute long, debate equivalent of voting “present.”

I understand why some of you feel this way about Cain’s foreign policy answer. But I think you’re missing the effectiveness of his answer, to wit:

He was drawing a stark contrast with Obama’s 2008 campaigning where Obama voiced dogmatic opinions against the Bush foreign policy, then got into office, had his “Camp David moments” where he learned a few things about the world we live in, and then continued a good number of the policies that he railed against.

To me, Cain’s answer was excellent, effectively saying to the public “Quit asking people to give uninformed answers.”

He did state some of his general foreign policy principles, and I would expect him to move towards more specific answers in the future. But I thought that the foreign policy principles he laid as his foundation were a great starting place.

(Although I didn’t fully agree with the principles he stated. Pet peeve: Politicians who say we can’t be the world’s policeman. OK, then do you want to live in a world with NO policeman? Do you trust any other country or the UN to be the policeman?!? I’m OK with the USA being the world’s policeman... what I don’t like is when cops stick around after breaking up a family argument and then tell you how to rebuild your house, offer to take you out for counseling, and suggest that maybe your dog would be a better choice for head of household. We should get in, do the job, then get out. And be ready to go back if need be.)


549 posted on 05/06/2011 3:17:16 PM PDT by Stat Man
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To: katiedidit1
Rush also stated with no uncertainty that, “This is not an endorsement of any kind... I am strictly commenting on the debate last night”. Cain was the best person on that stage last night... of that there is no doubt. Coulter is Persona Non Grata with me. She can endorse al sharpton if she wishes... her opinion will make no difference in my vote.IMHO, YMMV etc.

LLS

550 posted on 05/06/2011 4:22:49 PM PDT by LibLieSlayer (THANK YOU PRESIDENT BUSH!)
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To: katiedidit1

Thank you and a few of the others who have posted about Rush liking what he sees in Cain. I was so angry with Rush four years ago for staying quiet about the elections. I didn’t expect him to tell everyone who to vote for, but I did expect him to let people know who was really conservative and who wasn’t and which conservative policies these people supported or did not support. If he had opened up about McCain and Romney and Huckabee and their RINO, lib ways early, we might not have been stuck with the last candidate standing “that could win.”

That Rush understands that Cain is the real deal is important. It is just as important that he let others know this. This is not a game to be played at. It is quite serious and will determine whether we continue as one nation under God or not. All of our informative assets and resources need to be utilized.

Our conservative ideas work. Liberal ideas don’t work. People need to be exposed to these ideas and exposed to someone who truly understands and believes in the conservative way. Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives in talk radio have a duty to point to true conservatives and help them get their ideas out into the world. The stars of conservative talk radio don’t have to pick one candidate but they should set apart those (however many) who truly are conservative and point them out to the world.


551 posted on 05/06/2011 9:03:12 PM PDT by Waryone (RINOs, Elites, and Socialists - on the endangered list, soon to become extinct.)
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To: CounterCounterCulture

Great video with Herman Cain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9_bP219ehQ


552 posted on 05/07/2011 2:43:50 AM PDT by Atlantan
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To: campaignPete R-CT; justiceseeker93; BillyBoy; GOPsterinMA; fieldmarshaldj

I haven’t watched the thing yet.

I’ll let you guys know what I think when I do.


553 posted on 05/07/2011 5:54:58 AM PDT by Impy (Don't call me red.)
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To: Impy

I haven’t watched it and won’t need to.

explain this CAIN outburst. Is it cuz the folks here are young and haven’t seen this act before? Or is it futile? The right has deteriorated into fringe city.

I believe it is futile to fight splintering. We don’t have a real candidate in the race, yet, so I guess they chase after today’s novelty. I was not here in ‘08. I suspect there wasn’t much interest in Fred Thompson until Tancredo, Brownback, Duncan Hunter dropped out in the fall. By then, it is usually too late as FRED found out.

As far as I am concerned, In the real world, I wish to have nothing to do with the fringie activists. Spending an entire year with the Pat Buchanan activists was nauseating. It cured me for life.

Why I’m not excited about Herman Cain:

=Because running for PREZ is not an effective way to start a political career
=Because fringe right-wing candidates help the RINO/establishment to splinter the grassroots, giving us a ROMNEY vs DANIELS race next year.
=Because the RINOs want to select the nominee cuz they like power, the grassroots want an exciting candidate to give them an interesting year. Nominating the guy is not a priority.

RINOs will win again.


554 posted on 05/07/2011 6:19:56 AM PDT by campaignPete R-CT (Palin '12 begins in '11. In western New Hampshire pour moi.)
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To: campaignPete R-CT

Excuse me.

Herman Cain ran for Senate in GA. It just so happened that he did not win the Republican primary. He was a serious candidate, however.

He ran against RINO Republicans, but these are more like stealth RINOs not proud, card-carrying ones such as we have in some other states. If a lot of folks could have their vote back I’m willing to bet they would give it to Herman Cain.

Cain isn’t fringe.

If by fringe you mean not well known nationwide and not scoring in the polls, that’s easily overcome. If by fringe you mean a nutcase or the like, that’s just wrong.

Thanks just the same, but if we choose, we can make Herman Cain into a force to be reckoned with. I said we can, not we will. I hope we will, however. What you could do is just get out of the way.


555 posted on 05/07/2011 6:54:29 AM PDT by txrangerette ("...HOLD TO THE TRUTH; SPEAK WITHOUT FEAR." - Glenn Beck)
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To: txrangerette

I put out yard signs for Herman Cain’s Senate bid in 2004. I enjoyed putting a lot of signs around Morehouse College, Cain’s alma mater, since Cain is definitely not on the plantation.


556 posted on 05/07/2011 9:03:14 AM PDT by Atlantan
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To: newzjunkey

“Cain on gas prices: energy independence plan. Drill here, drill now. Speculators will drive prices down, not up.”

And the Fair tax, and cutting government spending, and being able to take out Barry in a debate, and love of country, and love of God.

Barring some big surprises down the road, Herman’s 10 times better than anybody else.

The cancer of the 16th amendment needs to be ripped out by the roots, and he is the only one with actual experience beating real cancer.


557 posted on 05/07/2011 9:32:06 AM PDT by redinIllinois (Pro-life, accountant, gun-totin' grandma - multi issue voter)
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To: txrangerette
"What you could do is just get out of the way."

Yep, I am the guy who is in the way. Preventing Cain from getting more support. Just like I was in the way for Pat Robertson'88, Pat Buchanan'96, Bauer, Keyes, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul ... and others who never had a chance at being the nominee.

As long as the Cainiacs have a good time trying, that is the important thing. Ames straw poll is only 3 months away and all ya need is 4000 votes to make a splash. Go for it! Game on.
558 posted on 05/07/2011 11:39:04 AM PDT by campaignPete R-CT (Palin '12 begins in '11. In western New Hampshire pour moi.)
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To: campaignPete R-CT

I’m sorry to say that you are probably right, but it is ultimately Republican primary voters who fail us.


559 posted on 05/08/2011 8:03:48 PM PDT by Theodore R.
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