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To: Sen. John McCain A Republican debate was scheduled to take place on February 28th, 2008. It was to be sponsored by the Ohio Republican Party. This debate has since been mysteriously cancelled. A rush to judgment has ensued following the Super Tuesday elections on February 5th in which more than 21 states held primaries or caucuses. Sen. John McCain gained an enormous advantage and squeezed out Gov. Mitt Romney. Gov. Mike Huckabee was left standing as the Party’s only other viable candidate. We believe: 1) Sen. McCain should earn the respect of the Republican base by debating Mike Huckabee...

Except for a brief time before his exit when I decided to vote for Fred Thompson, this presidential contest marks the first time in my entire life I have been undecided in a GOP nomination fight. Going into tonight's debate at the Ronald Reagan Library, I was strongly considering voting for Sen. John McCain, in spite of McCain-Feingold and other heresies. After watching McCain in action tonight, he'd have to make a heckuva case in the next few days to keep me from voting for Romney. There were a number of flash points tonight that pushed me away from going...

John McCain won over few if any conservatives tonight, and his display of bad temper and his rambling filibuster of his wrongful "timetables" attack on Romney from last weekend may even have lost him some moderates. In the spin room heads were shaking. McCain was at his worst in the second half of the debate, and those who watched had to ask themselves how this sort of performance would play against a youthful, upbeat Obama with a MSM ready not to protect McCain but tear into him as aging and confused --even obviously deceptive-- about his facts. The first half...

John McCain’s performance in the California debate was at best a turn-off to conservative voters. At worst, McCain showed the world a glimpse of whom he really is. This should not be a comfort for those like Giuliani who are supporting him. Arrogant, nasty, having to prove he was right even though everyone knew he was wrong, is this Presidential material? Anger below the surface, fidgeting and sneering throughout the debate are a part of who John McCain really is.

Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390 National Review's Jim Geraghty: "When Romney takes his shots at McCain, it's both strong and fair - he acknowledges that McCain has some areas in which he's a conservative, but he takes several fair shots - McCain Feingold; voting against the Bush tax cuts twice (McCain noted earlier that he had voted to make them permanent)." (Jim Geraghty, " How Rarely I Get To Write This: Romney Takes McCain To School," National Review's The Campaign Spot, http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/, Posted 1/30/08) - Geraghty: "I like that Romney says that the original...

FR Poll: Which GOP presidential hopeful did the best job of advancing his chances in tonight's debate?Who did you vote for and why?

SAN FRANCISCO -- President Bush paid a rare visit to the Bay Area Wednesday, ending a day in California that was all economics, all the time. Bush kept intact his record of never visiting San Francisco during his presidency. Instead, he flew into San Francisco International Airport late in the afternoon and immediately went by motorcade to Hillsborough, where he dropped by a dinner for the Republican National Committee. Earlier in the day, Bush joined Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, chatting with workers on the floor of Robinson Helicopter and urging the Senate to pass...

Reagan Library Republican Presidential Debate: January 30, 2008 SIMI VALLEY, California (CNN) -- Republican presidential hopefuls will face off Wednesday night without a familiar face as ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to drop out and endorse front-runner Sen. John McCain. The remaining candidates will take the stage in a debate -- sponsored by CNN, the Los Angeles Times and Politico -- beginning at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday. The event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, follows McCain's Tuesday night win in the Florida primary. McCain topped former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 36 percent to...

Just a reminder out there to everybody to tune in to tonight's CNN Republican Debate from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA. 8 to 10 PM EST. This will probably be the most crucial primary debate of them all for Republicans since it is the last one before Super Tuesday. So what topics should be brought up? If I were Mitt Romney, I would stress HARD McCain's support for amnesty for illegal aliens. Also Mitt should remind people that McCain OPPOSED the Bush tax cuts when they were first introduced.

Can someone tell me the time (PST) and channel of the GOP debate tonight?

In the wake of the loss in Florida yesterday, Mitt Romney needs to focus on tonight's debate to break out as the conservative choice for the nomination. John McCain has taken leads in significant Super Tuesday states, and tonight will be the last national audience for all of the remaining candidates before 21 states go to the polls or the caucuses. Romney has to ignite conservatives and make this a binary race across a clear ideological line. Some feel that the moment has already passed. Writers at The Corner and Dick Morris have resigned themselves to a Romney loss before...

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation has joined forces with CNN, the Los Angeles Times and POLITICO.COM to host the final GOP presidential debate before the 2008 “Super-Tuesday” primary in California and several other key states. The event will give voters one last opportunity to hear the GOP front-runner candidates discuss their positions in a debate format before casting their votes in the February 5, 2008 primary. This will serve as a follow-up to the first debate of the full field of GOP Presidential candidates that was held at the Reagan Library on May 3, 2007.

No, the whisper wasn't space aliens. No, it wasn't he Holy Ghost. No, it wasn't a super-sekret transmission prompting Romney--presumably because the dual Harvard Law/MBA Romney is an empty suit. Looks like someone in the control room forgot to turn off a hot mike. So, it could be Brian Williams, but I'm guessing it was Ron Paul mumbling to himself. We're just lucky Paul's mike wasn't on 30 seconds earlier. Chances are we'd here him saying 'Illuminati mind control'. Raw Story: "We heard the same thing you heard," MSNBC VP for Communications Jeremy Gaines told RAW STORY via e-mail Friday...

Is Huckabee's highway plan the nuttiest thing to come out of this presidential election? I don't want to speak too authoritatively, because I certainly haven't tried to catalogue every nutty thing everyone has said. But it certainly seems like a good candidate. I say that as the daughter of an avid transportation infrastructure advocate--indeed, my dad just co-authored a report on transportation finance for the next 50 years, which I hope he'll be joining me for a podcast on next week. Transportation spending takes years, even decades, to complete, which makes it less than ideal for stimulus spending. In a...

Thursday, January 24, 2008 A Great Night for the G.O.P. -- and for Mitt, Mac and MikePosted by: Michael Medved  at 11:53 PM   In their debate in Florida on Thursday night the five remaining Republican candidates passed up repeated opportunities to attack one another and instead concentrated their fire on Hillary Clinton   That means it was a great night for the GOP.   Voters should make a direct comparison between this debate – which was substantive, serious, genial, even friendly- and the recent Democratic brawl in South Carolina. Instead of sniping at each other with derisive and highly personal...

Forget Dennis Kucinich’s claims about seeing UFOs. The new unsolved mystery of the campaign trail is the “whisper.” The blogosphere was abuzz Friday morning over an audible whisper that cut through the mix during the GOP presidential debate in Boca Raton, Fla., the night before. It’s unclear who it was, but the voice could be heard after moderator Tim Russert asked Mitt Romney whether, as a fan of Ronald Reagan, he would “do for Social Security what Ronald Reagan did in 1983.” Right before Romney answered, somebody seemed to whisper: “He raised taxes.” And then Romney responded, as if taking...

Here is Williams’ question, from the MSNBC transcript: Williams: Governor, we’ve got an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll coming out in the morning that says, among a lot of other things, 44 percent of respondents say a Mormon president would have a difficult time uniting the country. And I know you’ve answered similar questions about what you were able to do with the Catholic vote in Massachusetts, but 44 percent nationally, writ large, is a large number.

A friend watched the debate last night and heard am audible voice prompting Gov. Romney just before Romney started his answer, and immediately after Tim Russert had finished a question to Romney regarding taxation. I found a clip here -- listen for yourself. http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/30421 Maybe this is the way everyone plays the game, but it struck me as a bit of an Ashley Simpson lip-sync'ing moment, at a minimum embarrassing to the candidate. And recall that John Kerry accused GWB of similarly using a "hearing device" back in the 2004 election cycle.

As soon as this evening's Florida debate ended, the MSNBC TV commentators were wondering how it would have looked to "someone who was seeing these candidates for the first time." Why didn't they just ask me? This is the first debate among the Republicans that I've seen at full length and in real time.* So factoring in all the expectations I'd gathered from coverage (Romney too weaselly, McCain really the strongest one, Huckabee a charmer, etc), how did it look? Romney by a mile. More precisely, the only candidate you could imagine putting up a plausible general-election fight. Again, I'm...

Thursday’s Republican debate in Florida, which was calm, respectful and thoughtful, contrasted sharply with the rancorous and largely shallow Democratic debate in South Carolina held days earlier. In what was a largely, low-key, policy-heavy debate, domestic issues and economics took center stage, while foreign policy concerns such as Iraq were little mentioned. The emphasis on domestic matters deprived Senator McCain of his strongest issue - his clear leadership on Iraq and the War on Terror, and forced McCain to play on slightly foreign economic turf. Senator McCain was particularly weakened by a sharp question from moderator Tim Russert in which...

Florida voters got their final head-to-head look at the Republican presidential candidates tonight, and the winner of the debate was Mitt Romney. He looked presidential, poised, and factually prepared. In a debate that spent the first two-thirds with everyone doing well, Romney not only broke out on his own in the last stanza, he successfully parried some strange attacks from Tim Russert as well. Rudy Giuliani needed a big win in this debate and didn't get it. However, he did do a fine job, showing a little more personal engagement in this event. He looked very cool and confident and...

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The ever-shrinking Republican presidential field meets for potentially the last time as a 5-way contest on Thursday night here in Florida. Broadcast live on MSNBC and streamed on msnbc.com from 9-10:30 p.m. EST, the debate will be moderated by NBC’s Brian Williams. He will be joined by Tim Russert, as well as St. Petersburg Times editor Paul Tash. It is the only debate before the state’s crucial Jan. 29 primary. And there’s a do-or-die feel to it.

Debate among the GOP presidential contenders. Live at 9:00pm EST/8:00 CST

This just in from the Duncan Hunter for President Campaign HQ -- an answer to the question we've all been asking: "Unfortunately, the media elites misrepresented the few votes he received because he was listed on the ballot as having little support. Significantly, the media did not exclude Senator Thompson, who polled approximately the same number of votes that Duncan received in NH. Duncan is the only candidate who has been addressing the tough issues for securing our Nation's future such as border security and preserving our wartime industrial surge capability. The solutions threaten powerful economic interests who own the...

(CNN) -- For months, much of the finger-pointing over negative campaigning in the Republican presidential race has been directed at Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has tangled with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani over immigration, with Arizona Sen. John McCain over waterboarding and with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee over just about everything. But another Republican has embraced the brass-knuckle school of presidential campaigning, with far less fanfare. Like Romney, he began to target each of the major contenders as his campaign struggled to right itself. But unlike Romney, who has drawn return fire from each of his...

The last two Republican debates finally offered the voters a look at the candidates as they are [sans] the You Tube foolishness. The debate was periodically laced with sarcastic innuendo otherwise they were very informative for the first time in this campaign. Fred Thompson as it turned out was every bit the Statesman of the group, I’m not sure the public is ready for a statesman. Statesmen are only crowned as such after their service to the nation is over. Fred Thompson has a long and distinguished career serving his country in a variety of positions. If he doesn’t become...

I wrote a post earlier about Ron Paul being excluded from a debate. Duncan Hunter was also excluded and I commented that anyone who is still in the race deserves to participate in any process associated with the election including the debates. Fox News has decided that they will exclude candidates based upon polling results but they also rely on polling data that excludes certain candidates from the process. Duncan Hunter is such a candidate. If one were to look at Fox's site he is not listed as a candidate and Real Clear Politics does not list him in their...

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — John and Ann Berenberk dutifully watched the umpteenth Republican presidential debate on television on Thursday night and had an epiphany. It was about the candidate they had previously referred to as the tall, silent one. Fred D. Thompson. The last of the candidates to enter the race, Mr. Thompson, 65, a former Tennessee senator, has so far seemed to distinguish himself mainly by a laconic style that has made him_almost invisible beside the others on the stage in past debates, the Berenberks said. “But then last night — we hadn’t even been thinking about him —...

Fred Thompson has raised over $200,000 online since his boffo debate performance last night, says spokesman Todd Harris. For a candidate who is putting everything on South Carolina, the showing could not have come in a better place (Myrtle Beach) or on a better network (Fox) or at a more critical time (just over a week before the South Carolina primary). The debate got front-page previews in both the Charleston and Myrtle Beach papers yesterday, and many conservatives were already likely tuning in to their favorite station. The South Carolina papers had similarly prominent coverage of the debate this morning....

UPDATE: John McCain with Sean Hannity immediately after the debate compounds his error on immigration by giving the impression that the only change needed in McCain-Kennedy is border-security first. Wow. He just doesn't get it. Romney followed McCain and by contrast shined, and spent time talking about the Reagn example and inspiration and the Reagan-Bush legacy. Romney also got the opportunity to talk to Michigan voters. "I continue to feel that you cannot write off jobs," he replied to Sean's question about McCain's "straight-talk" about Michigan's economic woes, and spoke specifically to the auto industry's renewal in Michigan. Assuming that...

The Republican presidential field debated in South Carolina last night. After his win in New Hampshire, much of the press coverage focused on the performance of Sen. John McCain. As the AP reports, "The debate unfolded as one poll showed McCain getting a bounce from his New Hampshire triumph and moving narrowly ahead of Huckabee and Romney in South Carolina." The Wall Street Journal headlines its story "Debate Tests McCain's New Status," and notes Mitt Romney lost no time going "for his main rival in Michigan, Mr. McCain. Mr. Romney noted the Arizona senator has said some manufacturing jobs lost...

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES PARTICIPATE IN A DEBATE SPONSORED BY FOX NEWS JANUARY 10, 2008 SPEAKERS: FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY, R-MASS. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ. FORMER MAYOR RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI, R-NEW YORK CITY REP. RON PAUL, R-TEXAS FORMER GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE, R-ARK. FORMER SEN. FRED THOMPSON, R-TENN. BRIT HUME, MODERATOR CHRIS WALLACE, MODERATOR CARL CAMERON, MODERATOR WENDELL GOLER, MODERATOR

Michigan comes next on the primary calendar, but Republican presidential candidates are weighing their strategies for South Carolina as they briefly detour there on Thursday to take their seats at a FOX News debate in Myrtle Beach. The debate comes as a couple of the GOP candidates — Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani — have essentially given up on the Palmetto State and instead are trying for strategic advantage elsewhere. Conversely, Fred Thompson is staking his entire race on a bravura performance in South Carolina. (Italics mine.)

Behind the Scenes in Myrtle Beach (Pre-Debate) http://blip.tv/file/591283

Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #15 – Myrtle Beach, SC 01/10/08 - Official Discussion Thread Watch the Republican presidential primary candidates debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., live on FOX News Channel and FOXNews.com at 9 p.m. ET.

At 9:00 pm ET Fox News will broadcast the Republican Presidential debate from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. As usual, I’ll be liveblogging it on the Fred File. Hope to see you then.

A conference call with Fred Thompson posted at 3:25 pm on January 10, 2008 by Bryan Be jealous, Fred Heads. I was just on a call with the man himself. I couldn’t get a question in edgewise with all the other bloggers who were on the call, but the sense I got from Fred is that he expects to use tonight’s debate to change the race in South Carolina. So expect the same Fred we saw last weekend, but more of him. He did seem eager to mix it up with the other candidates, describing the race for the GOP...

Fox News will broadcast another debate with the Republican presidential candidates tonight, and will include Ron Paul in this edition. Paul and his supporters bitterly complained about the network's exclusion in their debate last week, but may not enjoy the scrutiny Paul might receive after the exposure of the contents of his newsletter by The New Republic: Following the New Hampshire primary, six Republican candidates will attend Thursday night's debate in Myrtle Beach, state party officials said today. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul...

Fox News (in collusion with the SC GOP) has removed Congressman Duncan Hunter from the GOP debate lineup in Myrtle Beach on Thursday night. Just like Fox did in New Hampshire, they are banning Republican candidates who are on the ballot in South Carolina from the debate. It appears that Fox News has decided that they, not the voters, will choose the Republican nominee.

The South Carolina Republican Party and FOX News Channel have determined in their infinite wisdom (and audacity) WHICH candidates the voters of South Carolina will hear tonight! FOX already pulled this stunt in New Hampshire last Saturday night. For those of us who were really interested in hearing Congressman Duncan Hunter's viewpoints in contrast to the other candidates - TOUGH LUCK. My blood is boiling. As a brand new citizen who voted for the first time ever in the NH Primary on Jan. 8th, I believe it's WAY TOO EARLY in the race for the media to eliminate serious candidates...

Six candidates to appear at GOP debate By Robert Morris - The Sun News Following the New Hampshire primary, six Republican candidates will attend Thursday night's debate in Myrtle Beach, state party officials said today. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee have all accepted their invitations, said Rob Godfrey, spokesman for the state Republican Party. "The stakes couldn't be higher this election, and we couldn't be more excited to...

Contact: Rob Godfrey, Communications Director 803.807.7144 COLUMBIA, S.C. - Excitement surrounding presidential politics in South Carolina continues to grow as South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson today announced that invitations have been extended to and accepted by six Republican presidential candidates to participate in the 2008 South Republican Party Presidential Candidates Debate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "The stakes couldn't be higher this election, and we couldn't be more excited to extend a warm South Carolina welcome to six White House hopefuls who are seeking the Republican nomination to be the next President of the United States," said Dawson....

1. We expect promises of change from Democratic candidates, but it's disappointing to watch certain Republican candidates yield to that superficially seductive sound bite, too. It's like the global-warming freight train, which few politicians have displayed the guts and character not to board. 2. It's disappointing to watch candidates from both parties accept the premise that criticizing your opponents' records and pointing out their inconsistencies and lies is engaging in dirty politics. It is not dirty but obligatory to draw distinctions between you and your opponents. Dirty politics is distorting one's record or spreading lies about a candidate. Why do...

It’s the kind of performance that all candidates hope for. The chance to go toe to toe with your opponents and demonstrate clearly why you are the best choice to be your party’s standard bearer. Though the other candidates turned in respectable, even good performances, at this critical juncture, the weekend and the moment clearly belonged to Romney. In a series of debates held Saturday and Sunday, the five major GOP contenders Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee traded barbs and pushed their campaign messages to Granite State voters. Saturday’s debate moderated by ABC’s preening...

I have search on the internet unsuccessfully to find the videos of last night's debates. I am confined to watching on the internet because of location. If anyone can please help me find links to the entire foxnews debate I will appreciate it.

The buzzword of the debates tonight seemed to be “change.” Everyone seemed to think it was a good thing, but they all seemed to have differing opinions on what it means. Personally, I thought Fred Thompson had a pretty good response on the issue: FDT: Well, you know, we’re all talking about change now, we had a-- some folks vote in Iowa and everybody came out of there talking about change. Change has been a part of every election since the dawn of elections, if you weren’t an incumbent. I think that what is more important is leadership and what...

Mason, N.H. — A day before the New Hampshire primary, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas embarked on his first full day of campaign appearances here since his victory in the Iowa caucus, stepping up his attacks on an unnamed opponent who sounds very much like former Gov. Mitt Romney. “Some people running for president were gone over 200 days their last year in office” as governor, Mr. Huckabee told a crowd of about 400 at a breakfast in Mason, N.H., reminding his listeners of reports that Mr. Romney had spent much of the last year of his single term...

Kathryn Lopez, National Review: Fred Thompson was solid — because he basically is, even if he's not in his element campaigning. We have some conservative alternatives to Huckabee and McCain and Giuliani. And I think conservatives ought to seriously consider the choices before them, and quickly. Jim Geraghty, National Review: Winner: Arthur Branch. Okay, I know he goes by the stage name, “Fred Thompson,� but don’t tell me that just as “Law and Order� comes back to the airwaves with new episodes, we just happen to see a deep rumbling baritone from a big guy sitting behind a desk, using...

nterestingly, Huckabee’s words sound like an issues statement on fellow candidate Ron Paul's campaign website. It's not plagiarism, but their points are quite similar: “Today, too many politicians and lobbyists are spending America into ruin. We are nine trillion dollars in debt as a nation. Our mounting government debt endangers the financial future of our children and grandchildren. If we don’t cut spending now, higher taxes and economic disaster will be in their future — and yours. In addition, the Federal Reserve, our central bank, fosters runaway debt by increasing the money supply — making each dollar in your pocket...

I've been a lurker at Free Republic since the 2004 election, but thought I'd join everyone. I tried my hand at a Republican debate parody. Feel free to add your thoughts. Be nice, I'm new at this ;) Moderator: Hello, and welcome to the Republican Debate. My first question goes to former Mayor Giuliani. Some in your party worry about your pro-choice position and what kind of judges you would appoint to the Supreme Court. What can you say to reassure those voters? Giuliani: I would tell them to look at my record in NYC during 911, and that would...