I’ll be updating this post live during the debate. WMUR-TV in New Hampshire has live video of the event. CNN Pipeline is available as well.

I expect to enjoy this less than the Democratic debate a few days ago. Some of those folks are freak show weird and I’m not stunned when they want to raise taxes by 100 billion dollars or transform the military into a wing of the Peace Corps. However, I expect more from the Republican class and they leave me disappointed all too frequently.

LiveBlogging: (Most recent at top - scroll down to start at the beginning)

Final Thoughts: Rudy distances himself from the pack, and much like Obama earlier this week, looks the most presidential. McCain almost wins me over with his no holds barred approach on terrorism but the love fades quickly as he moves on to other topics. I was most disappointed in Romney who lacked clarity and credibility in many of his answers. The rest of the field is just noise but noise that holds up better than the corresponding second and third tier folks on the Democratic side. The wildcard here is Fred Thompson. My gut feeling is that only Rudy can go toe-to-toe with him in a forum like this - but he has to show up first.

Update: McCain on Islamic terrorism - “Everything we stand for and believe is at stake here.” and the debate closes.

Update: Tancredo said something about an America in which you don’t have to “hit 2 for Spanish” which I didn’t completely catch but boy did it sound simplistic and crazy. Rudy stepped up, spoke about the importance of legal immigration, and generally looked presidential where the others don’t.

Update: Bush’s biggest mistake - Tommy Thompson says there’s no new ideas and he’s right. Tancredo calls him liberal and he’s right too. Ron Paul points to Bush’s foreign policy but not in a manner than makes sense. Somebody tell him about 9/11 so he can say something relevant.

Update: McCain just gave an eloquent speech on behalf of Hispanic immigrants but the problem isn’t immigration it’s illegal immigration.

Update: Romney is getting getting blasted for flip-flopping by an audience member. He isn’t addressing the charge. Instead, he’s rambling on with diversionary nonsense. That’s unfortunate.

Update: “What is the most pressing moral issue in the country today?” is the question posed by a local philosophy professor. Huckabee is pointing towards abortion but widens the scope to include respect for all life and adds that it separates us from our enemies in radical Islam. Rudy agrees but wants to share our values with the world. Ron Paul is blasting preemptive war and blasts the candidates for considering a tactical nuclear strike on Iran. A country which he claims poses no threat to our security. He made so much sense and then the crazy leaked out.

Update: Tommy Thomspon wants a healthcare system built on prevention - a wellness system. He’s talking EMR too. Does he know how long it’s going to take to realize those savings across the board? He isn’t wrong exactly but it’s just part of the solution.

Update: Rudy is talking about tax cut driven healthcare and blasting the Democrats for their socialized medicine proposals. “Socialized medicine will ruin healthcare in the United States.” The man just keeps kicking ass.

Update: Rudy is speaking to a soldier and making the case for the war against terror, the war in Iraq, more effectively than any politician I’ve seen to date. And he blasted the mainstream media’s focus on negative news to wild applause. I think this will be the winning moment of the night.

Update: Break. Audience participation is next. The first half was a bit dry. There wasn’t much of a showdown on immigration considering the differing opinions on the stage. Styles and opinions vary much more on the Democratic side but they have oddballs like Kucinich so that’s to be expected. Ron Paul might be different but he’s no Kucinich.

Update: Duncan Hunter would pardon Campion and Ramos - screw Scooter Libby. Rudy would consider coming to his defense. Romney, Brownback, and Tancredo seem open to a Scooter pardon as well.

Update: They’re talking about how they would use President Bush if they were elected. Thompson would send him out on the lecture circuit. Brownback wants all the attention so he’d let Bush fade away or perhaps go to Sri Lanka - which is essentially the same thing.

Update: “Dont ask - Don’t tell” is up now. Ron Paul and Huckabee wouldn’t change the policy. Rudy feels like these issues shouldn’t be on the political radar during war. Romney has flip-flopped and now agrees with everyone else. McCain would defer to the commanders but believes that the policy works. Not one of the candidates would support openly gay people serving in the military.

Update: McCain wants to tell the oil companies how to spend their profits. Ugh.

Update: Rudy says “There is global warming” and then he flows into a call for an Apollo like project to ensure energy independence. Romney points to national security justifications for independence as well.

Update: Ron Paul does one thing few politicians do - defer to the Constitution.

Update: Brownback and McCain both had eloquent takes on religion. Unfortunately, Wolf Blitzer is forcing Romney to justify his faith.

Update: Mike Huckabee is preaching. He isn’t speaking in tongues though. That’s good. I agree with him that questions about evolution and religion aren’t important to this race.

Update: Rudy’s discussion of religion and abortion is being interrupted by lightning strikes resulting in one of the night’s funnier moments.

Update: Jim Gilmore - “Rudy McRomney would make a good ticket but it isn’t a conservative ticket.” Great line. So was the next one - “We don’t know what Tommy Thompson is.”

Update: Tommy Thompson - “The people in this country do not believe in this bill.”

Update: Brownback to illegals - “Get in the back of the line.”

Update: Duncan Hunter just blasted the myth that illegals only do the jobs Americans don’t want.

Update: Romney - Enforce the law as it exists and make the Z-Visa temporary.

Update: McCain’s closer on immigration “If someone else has a better idea…” had every other candidate on stage waving wildly.

Update: Romney and Rudy both came out with strong reason to oppose the bill. McCain is, well, being McCain. He’s holding up the bill as a model of bipartisan compromise.

Update: Immigration is up. Tancredo is coming out strongly against the bill. He repeated his promise to go after any Republican who supports it to strong applause.

Update: Jim Gilmore is strong tonight. Both he and Romney leave the nuke option on the table. It’s a silly question really. We have the weapons because there’s always the possibility that we may need them.

Update: Rudy - “This war is not a bumper sticker.”

Update: Shifting to talks with Iran. Brownback calls them the “lead sponsor of terrorism in the world” but wants to talk. Hunter believe in talks with conditions. We have to stop the flow of arms into Iraq and we reserve the right to preemptively strike their nuclear facilities. He would even authorize the use of tactical nukes if needed. Rudy won’t rule out tactical nukes either.

Update: Ron Paul - “The sooner we come home the better.”

Update: Duncan Hunter “I read the report.”

Update: McCain is coming out strong on Iraq. Unfortunately, he pisses me off on virtually every other topic.

Update: Ron Paul just got dissed. Everyone else got a shot at the first question - not Ron. His fans are going apeshit with conspiracy theories right about now.

Update: Brownback can’t give an honest answer on his reading of the pre-War NIE. Weak.

Update: Romney understands Iraq but his answer to Blitzer’s question about the subject is going to be lost on about 90% of the audience. Rudy is much clearer - “It was absolutely the right thing to do.

Update: Live free or die - Rudy wins the introductions.

Update: We haven’t started yet but I feel pretty safe declaring Fred Thompson the winner.

Update: Wolf Blitzer is introducing the candidates to the audience.

Post a Comment