Live Thread - NBC News/Tampa Bay Times GOP debate tonight on NBC

.2012presidentialelectionnews.com ^ | 1/23/12 | nate

[TexasFreeper2009]

All four remaining GOP candidates have been confirmed for tonight's debate sponsored by NBC News, the Tampa Bay Times, The National Journal and the Florida Council of 100. The debate will take place at the University of South Florida in Tampa. This will be the first of 2 debates this week focusing on the Florida GOP primary on Tuesday, January 31st. Note the air times on the east and west coast.

Television Air Time: Monday, January 23rd at 9pm ET, 8pm CT and 9pm PT on NBC

Live Streams: (airing 9pm ET) NBCPolitics.com, National Journal, and TampaBay.com

Participants: Gingrich, Romney, Santorum, Paul

[jpsb]

"Election times brings out the worst in some people.

I completely agree.

[greeneyes]

I think Newt responded just right on Medicare part D. Paying for medicine is cheaper than kidney dialysis. Paying for generic zocor is cheaper than bypass surgery.

He is in Florida home of the retired, and this answer not only makes sense fiscally, but helps him with the over 65, now and in the general(they are mad at Obama about robbing medicare).

[MHGinTN]

I'm glad I was wrong and the NBC/GE scum didn't try it. But there is one more of these scrums before Floridians vote, IIRC.

Ricky Santorum is getting quite tedious and is exposing himself as very ego oriented, meaning we could wonder if he were president if he would work for America's recovery or Rick's style of big government.

[BagCamAddict]

Not “free enterprise” so much, but yes, on any of these:

leDislature

private sector

leadership

Or neglecting to use pronouns, such as: “Started a company, did fairly well, ran the Olympics...”

(vs. “I started a company, we did fairly well, then I ran the Olympics...”)

[lonevoice]

You’re right, those two guys did look like vampires. At first I thought they were wax figures, like from Madame Tussauds. But, then, they moved, or mostly they smirked, every now and again. Their prominent positioning for maximum camera time just gave the whole thing an extra layer of weirdness.

[little jeremiah]

Thank you both for your answers. Good!!!

I don’t have TV and even if I did out here there’s little to no reception, no cable, so there’s only satellite. Actually haven’t had TV since Clinton’s impeachment hearings.

[RitaOK]

So, I hear. My point is that those pecking at Newt and Santorum particularly, and even Uncle Nuttie, even Romney have had decades of wars they fought of national consequence that is second to none. Where did Cain come from?— nowhere for very long, but had a silver tongue just as Obama. Governor Palin governed 18-20 months in a state with a population the size of Houston. There is no comparison, but this is a nice night for Newt and I don’t want to be zotted. My point was clearly intended for those who yawn and have the ho-hums for real magnitude, and then harrumph in favor of rhetorical barkers with paper thin records. Been there, done that and he now sits where he sits today— in the Oval Office. Never again.

[floriduh voter]

There were snipers in my friend’s apartment building. It was more secure than the Green Zone in Iraq. It was important for BOTH political parties that Terri end up dead. Terri’s fight revealed early signs of our takeover by homeland security.

[LibsRJerks]

We know that when Newt rose to power, all hell broke loose over the Contract with America, and Newt had to do most of the fighting himself. He drove the balanced budgets, welfare reform, tax cuts, and drove Clinton screaming and crying to the middle. Newt was the reason for “Triangulation”. He pushed the Clinton Impeachment. Without him, we would have had President Gore in 2000. The worthless Republican senate had no guts and never forgave Newt for embarassing them. These are the real reasons for that phony baloney ethics issue where over 80 baseless charges were thrown out. I remember that and I get so mad rethinking it now.

Newt is the establishment’s worse nightmare, and that is the source of the war we are now going to fight.

**

Thanks. I’d like to hear more. I was a busy young mom in the mid 90’s and really couldn’t pay a lot of attention to what was going on with Newt — and at the time, who really cared? Life was good — and the country, was, at any rate, FAR more fixed on what was going on with Clinton and his intern.

I really want to hear the “facts” about Newt’s so-called resigning in disgrace ...thing. Didn’t seem to mean a hill of beans at the time.

All I know, and all I remember about Newt from that time — is I became a conservative at that time — and much of the reason was due to Newt. He did at that time what he always does ...articulated the conservative position in a way that just totally persuaded me. He WILL do this again, if we allow him to!!! The night of that republican takeover sweep of the congress was probably one of the most exciting nights of OUR political lives — we toasted to EACH seat won that evening by a Republican ...it was GLORIOUS.

[floriduh voter]

You are correct. Jeb deferred to his older brother and Terri was more or less collateral damage for them. Jeb was a RINO all along masquerading as a conservative.

[pulaskibush]

Agreed, Just saw the rebroadcast of Hannity where Dick Morris said that there is no front runner. Morris and other pundits will still try to cheerlead for who will buy the most ads, but at least the results so far are forcing the media to admit that they can’t choose the nominees as easily as they have.

[floriduh voter]

Newt said that Terri was in a coma. Well, Newt, the pillsbury doughboy genius got that wrong. Comatose patients can’t scream when they are told they are going to be killed if they don’t respond. Terri did much more than that but she cried out in vain.

[floriduh voter]

And another thing re: Newt, anything he believes about husbands and wives should be discounted since he’s not very good at being a husband in the first place. 1. wife with cancer 2. wife with MS 3. blonde wife with hairspray overdose.

[llandres]

Fred Thompson endorses Newt - good interview:

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/index.html#/v/1410207146001/fred-thompson-im-supporting-newt-gingrich/?playlist_id=86924

[floriduh voter]

Yes, it’s too hot for Jeb. He might be called a co-murderer if he runs for anything at all.

[nicmarlo]

So true. But God saw and knows all. He won’t forget the facts, and knows so much more than we know as to the evil committed against Terri.

[nicmarlo]

Just like his brother.

[jennychase]

Who was the winner?

[nicmarlo]

I wasn’t able to sit through and watch the whole debate, got a phone call (of course). I’ve read that it would be Santorum; NBC refused to allow audience participation (no applause etc.), which made it boring.....and more staged. I saw Mitt looking and sounding like a jerk. I saw calmness in Newt, and that he wasn’t taking Mitt’s baiting to erupt, so he looked presidential. Perhaps some of Mitt’s anklebiting scored some points since Newt wasn’t going to fall for the lies/deceitful insinuations/remarks/accusations.

[Will88]

I really want to hear the “facts” about Newt’s so-called resigning in disgrace ...thing.

A lot of things happened over those few years that Newt was speaker and I'm not sure anyone is presenting the whole picture. But I recall that the thing that finally caused him to resign was when it become known that he'd had an adulterous affair during those years.

And then after Newt resigned, heir apparent Bob Livingston also ended up resigning for similar reasons. Dims got lots of mileage from the hypocrisy of both Newt and Livingston with personal lives at odds with their criticism of Clinton and their family values positions.

Those affairs did play a significant part in the reshuffling of the Republican leadership in the House.