Mitt Romney seemed not present. Perhaps he will claim, like the second tier democrats, that he didn’t get enough questions.
It seems that the NRO crowd is claiming that McCain won. I remember him and GIuliani. I don’t remember Romney at all. Again, Huckabee did well.
Will think well.
Tags: Debate, Republicans
Now, I think this whole issue is taken as a proxy for the question, "how much will be protect us?" And law and order is a big principle in the GOP. But wasn’t this weird?
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said he would support "enhanced interrogation techniques … but not torture."
Isn’t that just equivocating? "I’m against torture and for it." I understand the "do whatever it takes" answer. I understand McCain’s answer. In general, as the article notes, everyone agreed that torture was bad, but they tried to defend the "enhanced interrogation technique". That position just doesn’t make sense to me.
Now, Romney was much clearer when he talked about doubling the size of Guantanamo.
Tags: Debate, National Security, Republicans
I think that Rudy Giuliani did well tonight. No one really nailed him on abortion, which surprises me. And he really nixed Ron Paul.
John McCain did well too. I think that he really had some good lines. He made a great impression. Without the really extraordinary intervention of Giuliaini on the Ron Paul line, McCain would be the winner.
Mitt Romney did ok. Unlike the others, he really struggled.
Hotline thinks McCain won.
Tags: Debate, Live blogging, Republicans
9:05: McCain gets lucky with the first question on his best issue. He is
9:06: Thompson (is that hair real?) is asked about pressure on Iraq to get out. That’s a different version of revenue sharing. Winning the peace is a good line.
9:08: Romney ducks the question about whether he would leave. Does he not like Kurds….
9:09: Brownback does well with this kind of answer. A friend I am watching this with asks if he is running for re-election for the Senate. Anther call for Federation is a big deal. But calling for bipartisanship is important. "Countries lose war."
9:11: Giuliani. (Coincidence or not?) Calls the Democratic Congress irresponsible. Calls McCain correct. Good move by calling on Fort Dix.
9:12: Tancredo …. DId I notice?
9:14: Ron Paul. The base of the GOP shrunk. That’s a good point. Is he saying that we need the courage of Ronald Reagan because he ran away from Lebanon? That’s weird.
9:15: Hunter. Dude. Commander of Chief is not the same as Chairman of Armed Services.
9:16: Huckabee. Good saying.
Iran
9:18: Gilmore: Bottom lines Iran. That’s good. How far do we go? These are good points. First serious thing I have heard? He even answered the question!
Taxes
9:19: Romney. Why isn’t the tax pledge a flip-flop? He says he didn’t raise taxes. The British Conservatives call $700m in fees stealth taxes. Didn’t he steal the retiring government employees from Rudy?
9:20: McCain: McCain is punchy! Talking about spending. (was that his reason at his time?) Was the "farm" part of that an appeal to Iowa? Applause line. Wow. First applause, even if it is corny.
9:22: Huckabee. How can he talk about taxes? Fair tax is a good answer. John Edwards at the beauty shop line ROCKS! AWESOME!!
9:23: Giuliani. They got Rudy on the line-item veto. Good citation of CfG. Rudy used his government employee line. Too bad Romney already stole it.
9:24: Brownback. Is that energy secure in North America line something about Canada?
9:25: Thompson. Very technical answer. Not that interesting… Right, but not that interesting.
9:27: Paul. Delete! Delete! Delete! Turns out that he cares mostly about foreign policy and ending social secutity, etc.
9:29: Gilmore. Another friend said, "he even talks like Bush." I didn’t notice anything he said….
9:31: Hunter. Here’s the protectionist on China. Hey, Duncan, did you know that China loses more jobs per-capita than China.
9:37: Gilmore. Rudy McRomney. Giuliani on abortion. Well. Huckabee on taxes… Healthare Romney…. He ignored McCain and added Huckabee.
9:38: Giuliani. Electability. Electability. Electability. Working together across abortion.
9:40: McCain. Bipartisanship. "Blood relatives and paid staff" is a good line. Did he answer the question?
9:42: Huckabee: Talking about taxes but not spending. It is good. He is a good speaker.
9:43: Romney. Says he supports an assault weapons ban. The MA blue line doesn’t work. He talks about abstinence and English immersion. But immersion is a flip-flop. Ducks all the questions thought.
9:44: Brownback. Hit with immigration. Isn’t the conventional wisdom that he ducked?
9:46: Thompson.. Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Doesn’t he support research?
9:47: Giuliani. What can he do about abortion?
9:49: Huckabee. "Honesty". "Conception." And he ties it to things. He’s good at this. He is really good at this.
9:50: Brownback. He’s at his most articulate on this. He ties it to the entire life argument, just like Huckabee has.
9:51: Romney. He can’t imagine????? Wasn’t that his whole position? Is "the people not the court" a real answer?
Immigration
9:53: Tancredo. TEE UP! He seems passionate for the first time! He bores me.
9:52: McCain. He does well with tie to Fort Dix. Not a winning position in a primary… Followup is actually helpful for him, I think.
9:56: Romney. Is it amnesty? Is it "reasonable"? He lies, but gets an applause line. Isn’t he just a fraud when he talks about campaign finance?
9:58: McCain. Ducks but talks about flip-flops. And gets a much bigger applause.
9:59. Giuliani. Good deal to switch to security.
10:00. Hunter. He built the fence? Did Al Gore build the internet? Good line about the "slows".
10:02: Paul. Get out of Korea, Nam, and NATO??? There you go.
10:04: Giuliani. Well done. Well done.
Romney wants 30 seconds….
10:06: McCain. Even the audience doesn’t like this question. McCain has a good answer about the details. Big applause in South Carolina….
10:07: Huckabee: Pretty good answer.
10:09: Tancredo. Doesn’t believe in global warming.
Crisis Round
10:14: McCain, interrogation. He said he would "take it upon himself." And then defends his position.
10:16: Giuliani. Enhanced interrogation question. Do whatever it takes. "Shouldn’t be torture, but whatever method"
10:17. Romney: Prevention. Good point. BULLSHIT. Romney is such a silly person. Romney gets an applause line on "double Guantanamo." "Not Torture".
10:20. Brownback. At least he has the balls to set up the proper contrast. US lives versus international opinion.
10:20. Hunter. Does Duncan Hunter talk to himself in his dreams?
10:21. McCain. Plays the military card. And gets the applause.
10:22: Gilmore. Gilmore didn’t have to deal with any issue. I like how Brit Hume says, "but what would you do?"
10:24. Paul. "No one is for the torture."
10:28. Gilmore. He shook things up?
10:29: Romney. Learning from experience. He said he wanted to eliminate the Department of Education? Did he really? A viewer says he did…
10:30: Hunter. Talks like a Panda killer…
Tags: Debate, Live blogging, Republicans, South Carolina
NYT’s Adam Nagourney had this to say:
1) Who will be the most effusive in paying tribute to the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the founder of the Moral Majority and a great power in the evangelical wing of the party? Will Mr. Falwell be to this debate what Ronald Reagan was to the Republican presidential candidates debate 12 days ago at the Ronald Reagan Library? Watch Senator John McCain of Arizona in particular: as part of his overall move to the right earlier in the campaign, he made a point of publicly embracing Mr. Falwell after having criticized him as an agent of “intolerance.”
I don’t think that Nagourney quite gets it right. As many have noted Dobson and Colson have much more influence with today’s voters.
I suspect that this will work as a retrospective. People will talk about the contributions of the Moral Majority and the links with Ronald Reagan. By talking about the partnership people get to state their support for the role of conservative Christians in politics without saying things on the record that are more difficult to quote.
Tags: Debate, Republicans, Social conservatives
Given South Carolina’s social conservatism and Rudy Giuliani’s struggle in the last debate over abortion, you can expect that to be a significant focus of the debate tonight, or, at least, the press’s handling of it.
Today in South Carolina, the State Senate will be voting on an ultrasound bill that I have discussed previously. I suspect that this issue has been pushed at this time to foreground abortion as an issue.This is going to create several pressures on candidates in the debate.
First, Rudy Giuliani will need to express a position that is clear. I think that he settled on that last week, but he has to take it "live" tonight. With clarity, I suspect that he will do fine.
Second, Mitt Romney is in a position to trip over the ultrasound issue. His last public statement on the bill was almost identical with Giuliani’s. Obviously, this is a salient issue for South Carolina pro-lifers, and it could be the next big pro-life issue nationwide. (imagine this getting pushed in state legislatures around the country) Sharing a position on a "live" issue on abortion with Rudy Giuliani is hardly a good place for a "pro-life champion."
John McCain and most of the second tier candidates probably won’t struggle too much with the abortion issue, as such.
It would be interesting to see a new question about "conservative Christians" like there was in the last debate. Obviously, South Carolina is the place to do it.
I will be live-blogging the debate again.
Tags: Debate, Life, Republicans, South Carolina
Mitt Romney tried to dodge a question on embryonic stem-cell research, but Chris Matthews asked the tough questions. Again, Mitt flopped. Last night he said:
MODERATOR: And you won’t take any from these fertility clinics to use either?
ROMNEY: I’m happy to allow that to — or I shouldn’t say happy.It’s fine for that to be allowed, to be legal. I won’t use our government funds for that. Instead, I want our governments to be used on Dr. Hurlbut’s method, which is altered nuclear transfer.
However, he wrote in the Boston Globe (see my previous post), when he vetoed a stem-cell bill:
Some stem cells today are obtained from surplus embryos from in-vitro fertilization. I support that research, provided that those embryos are obtained after a rigorous parental consent process … Known as altered nuclear transfer, this method could allow researchers to obtain embryonic stem cells without the moral shortcut of cloning and destroying a human embryo.
A bill that includes methods such as these and bans all human cloning would receive my full support.
In other words, he said he would fund IVF leftover research. Now he won’t.
Tags: Debate, Life, Mitt Flop, Romney, Social conservatives
I was going to write on this but Deal Hudson beat me to it, and more articulately. Romney’s record:
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney ordered Catholic hospitals to administer emergency contraception to women who claim they had been raped.
Romney’s words last night:
I don’t say anything to Roman Catholic bishops. They can do whatever the heck they want. Roman Catholic bishops are in a private institution, a religion, and they can do whatever they want in a religion.
Whatever they want but follow their conscience….
What changed? Of course, Mitt Romney’s relationship to his religion is, unfairly, being scrutinized. So he changes positions.
Mitt Romney. Everything blows in the wind but his hair.
Tags: Debate, Life, Mitt Flop, Romney, Social conservatives
My 2008 Ticker
