I am off to the Young Republican National Convention in Miami. I will be blogging some of it on-site. Mitt Romney will be speaking, as will Duncan Hunter. There will be a bunch of other exciting events, including a straw poll. The last big Young Republican straw poll last year was 1 vote win by George Allen over John McCain.
Update: Fred Thompson will be speaking. Cool. And I missed Duncan Hunter. Who cares?
Tags: Florida, Live blogging, Republicans, Straw Polls
Details from Mike DuHaime on Rudy Giuliani:
Campaign contnuing to grow:
Anne had platitudes.
Questions:
Ian Schwartz. Asked about McCain’s failure. DuHaime is worried about Rudy not McCain.
Ed Morrissey. Rate of fundraising.DuHaime says that they are increasing from quarter-to-quarter.
Brian Faughn, Influence Peddler and Weekly Standard. Compare with Democrats. DuHaime said that they were two different raced.
I asked about the 12 states that they have staff in. DuHaime would not say. I also asked about expanding the 60k donors and they said that they were confident that they would expand it.
It strikes me that part of the reason that Rudy’s burn rate is so low is that he does not yet have the infrastructure for Feb. 5th in place. He is in great shape, don’t get me wrong, but the campaign is not fully up and running.
It is likely that the real test for him in Q3 will be the number of donors he adds. He has to demonstrate a depth of grassroots support that he has not yet.
Tags: Fundraising, Giuliani, Live blogging
Introductions
Tancredo: MoC for 10 years
Tommy Thompson: Candidate not the actor. Governor for 14 and Secretary of HHS
Sam Brownback. Raised on farm in Kansas, have 5 kids, Senator
Mitt Romney: Family, neighbor and MA.
Giuliani: Likes the motto
McCain: Served coountry all his life.
Huckabee: Give people from Hope another chance
Hunter: I missed it
Gilmore: same
Paul: Champion of constition
Was it a mistake to invade Iraq?
Romney: SUpported the president. Underprepared and underplanned. Didn’t do a great job afterwards. Stabilize the central government. Does that mean that he opposes Biden’s plan federalism? "Null set kind of question" is lame.
Giuliani: No. Says Dems are in denial.
Did Senators read NIE?
McCain: Did not read NIE. Did get briefings. Details. Details. Details.
Brownback: No. Held hearings and had briefings. Need a political plan. He supports federalism.
Should Senators read the NIE?
Gilmore: Yes. Middle East unstable place.
WMUR: What if the surge doesn’t succeed?
McCain: We don’t have the fifth brigade there yet. They will follow us back. We must succeed. They reasked the question. Says federalism doesn’t work.
Thompson: Make the government vote. (Does he have a new toupee?)
Hunter: I read the NIE report. Need reliable Iraqi forces. Withdraw through rotation of Iraqi troops.
Paul: "The sooner we come home the better." Paul got applause.
Huckabee: We underestimate al Qaeda.
Tancredo: Didn’t support the surge. "A Republic if you can keep it." He wants to withdraw. Also got applause.
Iran
Brownback: Supports the Prez on Iran.
Hunter: Dialog with everyone. Iran is moving deadly equipment. Reserve the right to pre-empt. Won’t take nukes to prevent Iran for nukes.
Giuliani: Unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear power. "The Democrats seem to be back in the 1990s." This war is not a bumper sticker. This is a real war.
Gilmore: Work with European allies.
Romney: People are testing the USA. We are not arrogant. We have resolve. "How do we help move the world of Islam to help the moderate Muslims." Need a broad vision.
Immigration
Tancredo: Consequences of the bill passing are "incredible" and "disastrous". Not just the number of jobs we may be losing or kids in our school. We are talking about "whether or not we will actually survive as a nation". "We are testing whether or not we will hold together as a nation,"
Giuliani: Problem with the plan is that it has no unifying purpose. Compromises leave you with the following conclusion: "Is it going to make this better?" Quite possible that it could make things worse. Tamper proof ID card. Database that allows you to figure out who they are and why thye are here. Throw out people who are not in the database.
Question to Romney about flip-flopping and pandering: Z visa is a real problem. It allows people who came here illegally to stay here for the rest of their lives. Every illegal alien gets to stay here. Not fair. Big applause.
McCain: Says Giuliani’s requests are in the bill. This bill satisfies national security challenges. "Our job to do the hard things." Also got applause.
Giuliani: "Say things that are not in the legislation"
Romney: Enforce the law as it exists. Make the Z-visa temporary.
Hunter: When they shut down a meat packing plant in Iowa, people showed up to take the jobs.
Brownback on pathway to citizenship: New path. Get in the back of the line. Exterior enforcement, interior enforcement, and resolve the interior situation.
Thompson: Secure the border. Says it is an "Amesty" bill. Is his hearing aid acting up?
Paul: No fence needed on Canada. "We subsidize illegal immigration."
English the official language. McCain says Native Americans too.
Fred Thompson
Gilmore: Fred Thompson conservative enough? We don’t know if Fred Thompson is conservative enough.
Thompson: Fred will help the party.
Giuliani on abortion: Lightening is striking! Government should not impose its views.
Romney: Says he fought as a conservative. "New Opportunity of the 21st Century."
Huckabee on Evolution: Wonders why someone who wants to be President is asked this. He says that he believes that God was active in the creation process. Says he doesn’t know about 6 days and 6,000 years. He knows that God created the earth.
Brownback: Fully convinced that there’s a God who was involved in the process. Debate faith and reason like St. Anselm did. I love Anselm.
McCain: School decisions should be left to local school boards.
Romney on the Mormon issue: Nothing new.
Paul on Church and State: "Congress shall write no law."
Global warming and energy
Giuliani: There is global warming and human operation contributes to it. Energy independence too. Need a project like the man on the moon.
Romney: Giuliani is right on an Apollo project. When companies make profit, that money should be reinvesting in capital equipment. It is not just the companies, it is the countries.
McCain: Everyone is annoyed by expensive oil. Companies should be invested. Including nuclear power.
Paul on subsidies: No subsidies.
Gays in the military
Paul: Current policy is decent policy.
Huckabee: Already covered by UCMC. You punish them if the behavior is a problem.
Giuliani about the gay linguists being fired: Not the time to deal with disruptive issues like this. "In a time of war you don’t much fundamental changes like this."
Romney: "Don’t ask don’t tell seems to be working."
McCain: Not enough military. It is their judgment. The policy is working. No one thinks that gays and lesbians should serve in the military.
What would you use Bush for internationally
Thompson: George Bush has a great family.
Brownback: Bush’s dad is great. I’m sure the son would be too. More about Bush Sr.
Tancredo: Was told "never to darken the doorstep of the Whitehouse." Would tell George Bush that.
Huckabee: "The Republican Party as a whole deserved to get beat." Katrina, Iraq, borders, etc.
A woman from Medford who lost her son. Bringing troops home
Hunter: Rotate out as he said before.
Brownback: "Getting the situation to a point where we can turn it over to Iraqis." Federalism, again as he said.
McCain: First of all, he gets up. He said he is proud of the girl. "This war was very badly mismanaged." Some of the sacrifices were unnecessary because of the mismanagment. Applause line.
Cynthia from Merrimack. Her husband served in Iraq. What do we do to get the government of Iraq to work?
Paul: Just leave.
Giuliani: Likes the McCain walk around thing. Sacrifice and service are the reasons we are safe now. People can only embrace democracy when they have an orderly existence. Nitty-gritty of putting together an orderly society? And asks about whether success is going to get reported?
Kyra Crusco about whether conservatism can involve conservation
Gilmore: Reduces it to energy independence.
Tancredo: You have a conservative model to work from. TR put the stamp on that.
Doug Hall, town moderator for Chichester. Could buy refills for his drugs for $600 in Spain
Giuliani: Government and employer dominate.d. Health Savings Account. Democrats suggested socialized medicine.
Hunter: But insurance across state lines. This is the AHP that GOP congresses have been dealing with.
Joshua Williamsen, WMUR blogger. What would you do for healthcare?
Thompson: Turn it into a wellness system.
Romney: One of my friends asks if he is dying his hair darker. He talks about small business people being in trouble. He embraces it. Private mandates for private insurance.
Max Latona, St. Anselm Professor, most pressing moral issue
Huckabee: Pro-life is being the womb. We celebrate life. They celebrate death.
Giuliani: Our ideals come from God.
Paul: Acceptance that we promote pre-emptive war.
Brownback: Life baby! And he means a little more than abortion.
Neal Capano. Airline agent. Flip-flopping on immigration
Romney question about English as the national language: Don’t get an advantage to become permanent residents. Asia is our markets.
Tancredo: One language. U2 comes on in the background at my bar.
McCain: "Governor muchas gracias."
John Lewicke. Electrical Engineer. If we do more of the same, why do we expect anything different?
McCain: Spending. Spending. Spending. Which led to corruption. Earmarks.
Giuliani: "You get what you measure".
Romney: It goes from small bore to large bore. "Our projects and services can lead the world."
…..
Erin Gardner. What does it mean to be an American?
Tancredo: Cut from the past.
Huckabee: There are a nmber of people who we should welcome into this country.
Giuliani: Abraham Lincoln defined what an American is. "It is not whether you came over on the Mayflower or yesterday. It is how much you believe in freedom … freedom of religion … the right to vote …" This is good stuff.
McCain: "America is a land of opportunity. It is to share a common goal. It is to be created equal and be endowed by our creator wth unalienable rights." …. "A beacon of hope and liberty. And as Ronald Reagan said, a city on the hill."
Carolyn Gargasz. Rep. from Hollis about keeping moderate Republicans
Gilmore: what did he say? I forgot?
Hunter: "Move away from the Kennedy wing of the Republican Party"
Romney: Model is Reagan. Economic, military, and family values.
Giuliani: You can reach out to moderates by nominating me
McCain: Protect the family. And the battle against radical Islamic extremism.
Tags: Live blogging, New Hampshire, Republicans
McCain discusses Romney’s position on immigration:
Maybe I should wait a of couple weeks and see if it changes. Maybe he can get out his small varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his yard.
McCain refers to Romney’s general flip-floppery, Romney’s gun gaffes, and the illegals who take care of Romney’s yard.
Tags: Immigration, Live blogging, McCain, Mitt Flop, Romney
John McCain opened the call with a discussion of his speech, his discussion with Kyl, and immigration. He notes that immigration is a national security issue. And he also notes that there’s no smaller bill that can get through the Senate.
Ann Althouse asks about the difficulty of running for President and being a Senator. McCain says it is fine.
Jennifer Rubin asks about slowing up the process. McCain says that he wants a cloture vote this week. He also says that he understands people’s response, but that this is the only option. He has pointed out twice that he is with the President on this. Hasn’t the President lost credibility on this?
Michael Goldfarb asks about MREP. I assume that’s some military thing that I don’t understand. McCain says we should spend money on it and have hearings.
Joe Curly asks about something but I missed it.
I ask about Anbar province and about the right metrics in Iraq. McCain says he is disappointed by statements by the Vice President about revenue sharing. He also points out that one more brigade needs to get there.
John Hinderocker from Powerline. He says that the bill is amnesty. McCain responds that probation is not amnesty, and that the other option is deportation or the unacceptable status quo. On the money. McCain says that if someone does not move to citizenship or they have to apply for temporary worker. That is new information for me.
Ryan Sager, NY Sun, asks about the politics of immigration. McCain points out that Thompson has changed his position quite recently. He also said about Romney, "perhaps we should wait for a couple of weeks for him to change his position again." He also said that perhaps Romney would, "take up his varmint gun and shoot the Guatemalans on his lawn."
Ed Morrissey on immigration and details. McCain says that the fence provisions absorb the fence. McCain also says that sensors and UAVs make much more sense, but that fences are necessary in urban areas. McCain also says that he thinks that people should have to pay back taxes.
David Brody from the Christian Broadcasting Network, asks about the politics on the left. McCain mentions that Dorgan is going to try to get rid of the temporary worker program. And that the left is worried about the family issue and prevailing wage related issues.
McCain closes talking about the importance of the support of evangelical leaders like Richard Land.
Tags: Live blogging, McCain
Rudy Giuliani talks about the debate. He said it was better. Challenging questions. He points out that they had time.
Jennifer Rubin, from ABCNews.com (she gets around) starts with a question about the Senate vote on withdrawal. She notes that it was 29-67, with all the Democrats running for President voting in the affirmative. Giuliani says "they don’t get it. I don’t think that understand the nature of the terrorist threat." Again, invokes Fort Dix. (Are the polls in New Jersey moving based on Fort Dix?)
Blake Dvorak, from RCP. Why were you so high, and why has it "leveled off"? (falling?) Rudy says that he doesn’t follow polls and then quotes WSJ and Florida polls. Says competitive in every state. And that he is the only candidate who is competitive in every state.
Phil Klein from AmSpec asks about Israel. Rudy says that the problem is with the Palestinean authority. He says that America gets in to trouble when you aren’t clear about what you want and what you expect. "Right now the ball is in the court of the Palestinian Authority." Then he talks about an accountable government, and stopping terrorism. He talks about criticizing Clinton in the 90s and calls the Clinton approach "a terrible mistake."
Jim Geraghty on blowback and Ron Paul. Should he be in future debates. Rudy compares Ron Paul’s position to the press release of the Saudi Prince. Rudy says that he’s been studying Islamic extremism since the 70s, when he served in the Ford Administration.
Matt Lewis from Townhall. He asks about "torture." Matt drills down on torture. Rudy says that he thinks that he and Romney were in the same place, and they would go farther than McCain.
Bill Bradley from New West Notes. He asks about the difference between torture and enhanced interrogation techniques. He says that there aren’t bright lines. Rudy takes another dig at McCain, perhaps, by saying that this is not about reciprocity, one argument that McCain invoked last night,.
This moved very quickly. The two McCain calls that I’ve been on have been an hour, rather than 20 minutes. And people got to ask their questions. I had one, but couldn’t ask it.
Tags: Giuliani, Live blogging
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
So, Romney mispronounces al-Maliki….
Brownback sounded quite good. He is articulate. Too bad he doesn’t stand a chance.
McCain seems nervous. The Iran-Iraq fumble was a little awkward.
Tancredo. Mr. "Bomb Mecca"
And Giuliani drops the Reagan name…
Romney flip-flops on Osama bin Laden. "of course" except not the other day. My focus group says he looks nervous.
McCain leading bin Laden to the gates of Hell. That’s a good line.
Did someone just dig at Romney’s religion about "divine inspired". But Huckabee has a good line.
Giuliani is on message. He has a good story to tell.
Romney loves America. He loves veto. He calls the US family oriented. Doesn’t he call China family-oriented also? Hunter
Is it me, or are the questions from the public kind of lame?
Giuliani is really struggling with the abortion question. The "code" of "strict constructionism" is not quite what he is saying. And he is struggling with the public funding question…
Brownback on a pro-choice candidate. Is he running for VP?
Is McCain going into the stump speech or taking control?
Was Huckabee’s "Heaven and Earth" line a dig at Romney? Move "heaven and earth" to save a hiker but not kill or capture bin Laden?
Chris Matthews tees something up for Huckabee, but he ducks. But Matthews drills down on him… Nice split-screen.
The second person here is annoyed by Romney’s body language.
Brownback has a nice appeal to Lieberman. That’s clever.
There are good ways to duck questions. And there are Jim Gilmore ways to duck questions… Cut taxes, but "car taxes". He lost the state…
Can Giuliani really duck the "Christian conservative" question? That’s awkward.
Tommy Thompson is wearing his wedding ring… You never know….
Tancredo is pushing the Reagan thing a little far… But who cares.
Do you believe McCain’s dodge of the Giuliani attack? He was Commerce chair, so he has a highly informed dodge.
McCain’s injuries make him look tight. He needs to figure out another way to move in these.
Rudy looks good, but his answers are a struggle. One person I am with has raised money for him and is squirming.
Did Duncan Hunter just acknowledge global warming? That is astonishing. I really do believe that this issue really is moving.
Embryonic stem cell research. Tough question.
Is Romney’s answer a dodge? I think so. But he just flip-flopped from his position. He used to be for funding IVF left-overs.
Brownback has the solid answer.
Has does Gilmore have that answer and unlimited first-trimester abortion? Pretty ridiculous.
McCain tries to shuffle around this. Nice way to tie this to Nancy Reagan. Nice way to mention the difficulty to pro-lifers. Will people buy it?
Giuliani’s answer looks unprincipled. That was awful.
Romney on healthcare. At least he had a good line about Kennedy getting it wrong.
Is McCain’s answer on tax cuts going to fly? Shifting the answer to spending is important. He is on solid ground.
Romney got lucky on taking the tax cut
Gilmore: Car Tax. Car Tax. Car Tax. Too bad you screwed it up!!!
Huckabee talking on tax cuts. That’s silly.
Tommy Thompson at least talks about the real issues.
McCain has a good answer tying it to health care. Speaking as a consultant, I like it.
Ron Paul: Gold Standard. Gold Standard!!
Giuliani: AMT and centrism.
Did I write Duncan Hunter’s answer on what the government does well and badly?
Who all said they didn’t believe in evolution?
Giuliani did well on the Shi’a-Sunni question.
Ron Paul trusts the internet. So do I. Everyone should trust me.
Brownback is good to hit the big ideas issue.
Huckabee lost me at the protectionism…
Tommy THompson has an order of magnitude error on injuries. Oops. Ignorant.
Does it help Rudy to talk about NYC?
This tamper proof ID card is an interesting issue.
McCain handled that really, really well by tying it to the 9-11 Commission. That was really good.
Tom Tancredo is silly.
A friend is shocked by how shiny the goop in Romney’s hair is. "Aliens". Like Battlefield Earth?
Terry Schaivo:
Should Bill Clinton be in the White House?
On Bush difference:
The group I am with agrees unanimously on:
Tags: Live blogging, Republicans
My 2008 Ticker
