The Official Republican Debates Thread

[Dirt McGirt]

So far, boooooooring.

Tancredo sounds nervous. Giuliani is rambling. Brownback is over dramatical. So far McCain, Huckabee, and Romeny are doing the best.

More to follow.

 

[Dirt McGirt]

Anyone else watch this? Thoughts?

I thought McCain did the best. Brownback clearly distinguished himself as the religious right conservative. Romney and Huckabee did well. Tancredo was all about immigration but didn't shine elsewhere.

I think the people who helped their standing were McCain, Romney, and Brownback (Brownback will get his bump from the South.)

Everyone else won't get that much of a bump.

 

[wiggles]

How are you watching this already? I'm getting that it isn't on until 11pm eastern (8 pacific). I put it on CNN but Anderson Cooper's doing a stupid Larry King retrospective.

 

[Gunny]

How are you watching this already? I'm getting that it isn't on until 11pm eastern (8 pacific). I put it on CNN but Anderson Cooper's doing a stupid Larry King retrospective.

He's got it like that.

 

[Dirt McGirt]

How are you watching this already? I'm getting that it isn't on until 11pm eastern (8 pacific). I put it on CNN but Anderson Cooper's doing a stupid Larry King retrospective.

It's over already. I saw it on MSNBC.

 

[wiggles]

It's over already. I saw it on MSNBC.

I guess they'll rerun it at 8 here. That's what Cooper said.

 

[wiggles]

Meh. They're not showing the debates, just analysis. Gergen, Huffington, John King, and some other guy, hosted by Anderson Cooper. I can't tell whether the analysis is more informative or the debates themselves.

Rudy ate it on Roe vs. Wade. LOLz!!! Big surprise.

 

[no1tovote4]

Rudy's stance on Roe v. Wade was, "If a strict constructionist judge viewed it as precedent it would be 'okay'."

 

[Dirt McGirt]

Rudy's stance on Roe v. Wade was, "If a strict constructionist judge viewed it as precedent it would be 'okay'."

Any thoughts on your boy Ron Paul?

Based on his responses, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the unknowing and misinformed Republicans mistook him for a liberal instead of a libertarian.

 

[wiggles]

Rudy's stance on Roe v. Wade was, "If a strict constructionist judge viewed it as precedent it would be 'okay'."

His stance is that he's pro-choice, especially when running for office in a pro-choice district, but will say whatever he needs to say to get the nomination and hasn't yet figured out how to spin his record.

 

[Dirt McGirt]

Quotes from Republican debate
The Associated Press

Quotes from the first Republican debate:

SAM BROWNBACK

-He said his approach in Iraq would differ from President Bush's. "I'd push more a political solution along with a military solution in Iraq, and here I would push a three-state, one-country solution in Iraq, with a Kurdish state, a Sunni state, a Shiite state, with Baghdad as the federal city. I think we've got to push a political solution, along with the military, to get to a stable situation in Iraq, which is our key political issue of the day."

-He said Congress was right to intervene in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case. "Yes, it should have. And it gave her the right, and the family the right to take that appeal to the court. That's what the Congress did. And her life is sacred. Even if it's in that difficult moment that she's in at that point in time, that life is sacred, and we should stand for life in all its circumstances."

--

JIM GILMORE

-"I see this Iraq problem as part of an entire Middle East issue, and it's sort of a fundamental problem that we're going to have an honest conversation with the American people about. We're going to have to engage in the Middle East, and we're going to have to do it for an extended and a long period of time."

---

RUDY GIULIANI

-He said it would be acceptable if the Supreme Court upheld Roe v. Wade. He also said, "It would be OK to repeal. It would be OK also if a strict constructionist judge viewed it as precedent, and I think a judge has to make that decision. ... I think the court has to make that decision and then the country can deal with it. We're a federalist system of government and states can make their own decisions."

-"The use of military force against Iran would be very dangerous. It would be very provocative. The only thing worse would be Iran being a nuclear power. It's the worst nightmare of the Cold War, isn't it? The nuclear weapons in the hands of an irrational person, an irrational force. (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad is clearly irrational. He has to understand it's not an option; he cannot have nuclear weapons. "

---

MIKE HUCKABEE

-He said he would have asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign earlier than Bush did. "I think I would've done that before the election. I certainly wouldn't have said that we are not going to do it and then, right after the election, done so. But that's the president's call. Clearly there was a real error in judgment, and that primarily had to do with listening to a lot of folks who were civilians in suits and silk ties and not listening enough to the generals with mud and blood on their boots and medals on their chest."

-"The most important thing a president needs to do is to make it clear that we're not going to continue to see jobs shipped overseas, jobs that are lost by American workers, many in their 50s who, for 20 and 30 years, have worked to make a company rich, and then watch as a CEO takes a $100 million bonus to jettison those American jobs somewhere else. And the worker not only loses his job, but he loses his pension. That's criminal. It's wrong. And if Republicans don't stop it, we don't deserve to win in 2008."

---

DUNCAN HUNTER

-"You know, right now, right now, Iran is moving equipment into Iraq that is being used to kill Americans. Iran has crossed the line, and the United States has absolute license at this point to take whatever actions are necessary to stop those deadly instruments from being moved across the line, being used in explosives, roadside bombs, inside Iraq."

-"Right now, the border is 2,000 miles of a very porous area where hundreds of thousands of people come across on an annual basis and where last year we had 155,000 folks who came across from Mexico who were from other countries in the world. Some from communist China, some from Iran, some from Korea. We have to secure the border. That's the biggest failure of the federal government."

---

JOHN McCAIN

-"When the majority leader of the United States Senate says we've lost the war, the men and women that are serving in Iraq reject that notion. And, if we lost, then who wins? Did al-Qaida win? When on the floor of the House of Representatives they cheer - they cheer - when they pass a withdrawal motion that is a certain date for surrender, what were they cheering? Surrender? Defeat? We must win in Iraq. If we withdraw, there will be chaos; there will be genocide; and they will follow us home."

-He said he supports a guest worker program to help deal with illegal immigration. "The status quo is not acceptable. We have to secure our borders. But we also need a temporary worker program, and we have to dispose of the issue of 12 million people who are in this country illegally. This issue is an important and compelling one, and it begins with national security. But we also need to address it comprehensively."

---

RON PAUL

-"The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don't need a national ID card."

---

MITT ROMNEY

-"This is a nation, after all, that wants a leader that's a person of faith, but we don't choose our leader based on which church they go to. This is a nation which also comes together - we unite over faith and over the right of people to worship as they choose. The people we're fighting, they're the ones who divide over faith and decide matters of this nature in the public forum. This is a place where we celebrate different religions and different faiths."

-"You can fight, for instance, to make sure that partial-birth abortion is made illegal. You can fight to have information given to women who are thinking about having an abortion. You can fight to make sure that there's opportunities for people to express their views on this topic openly and near abortion clinics. You can fight for the opportunity to go out and campaign for the rights of those who care about this issue to be heard before Election Day, and the McCain-Feingold law prevents that from happening."

---

TOM TANCREDO

-"There are issues that I believe have not been addressed tonight, not in full, and I believe that they do separate us. And I certainly believe the issue of immigration and immigration reform and what's going to happen to this country unless we deal with this forthrightly - no more platitudes, no more obfuscating with using words like, 'Well, I am not for amnesty, but I am for letting them stay.' That kind of stuff has got to be taken away from the political debate, as far as I'm concerned, so people can understand exactly who is where on this incredibly important issue."

---

TOMMY THOMPSON

-"I think the biggest problem we've got in America is the alternative minimum tax that's bringing more middle-income people in. Let's put it in - let's have the people have a flat tax and have the option of paying whichever is least."
http://www.centredaily.com/131/story/86764.html

 

[Dirt McGirt]

His stance is that he's pro-choice, especially when running for office in a pro-choice district, but will say whatever he needs to say to get the nomination and hasn't yet figured out how to spin his record.

So basically he's Hillary Clinton....but with a dress.

 

[wiggles]

So basically he's Hillary Clinton....but with a dress.

I don't remember ever hearing her say it'd be "okay" if Roe v. Wade were reversed. She's "safe, legal, and rare" lady.
But yeah, Rudy wears skirts more often.

 

[Ninja]

Rudy Giuliani is a fucking libtard in sheep's clothing. If that dumbfuck gets the nomination I'm not even going to vote.

Once again - Democraps: If you would like to win the presidency in 2008, nominate Bill Richardson. He'd win in a landslide. Even I would vote for him.

 

[Avatar4321]

I think Romney probably did the best to put a good foot forward. Tommy Thompson and Ron Paul were downright scary.

 

[Avatar4321]

moving this to the politics forum and mergering it with the threat id created because i didnt know there was one.

 

[Avatar4321]

Any thoughts on your boy Ron Paul?

Based on his responses, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the unknowing and misinformed Republicans mistook him for a liberal instead of a libertarian.

i think the man is scary. Isolationism is not what we need. We definitely need to shrink the government. Buy stop printing money? What are we going to use for currency, notes?

 

[Dirt McGirt]

I don't remember ever hearing her say it'd be "okay" if Roe v. Wade were reversed. She's "safe, legal, and rare" lady.
But yeah, Rudy wears skirts more often.

Rudy looked like a fish out of water trying to explain his abortion stance but I was inferring more to your he was trying to appeal to everyone more than the Roe v. Wade. Hillary is three times the panderer Rudy is.

Rudy Giuliani is a fucking libtard in sheep's clothing. If that dumbfuck gets the nomination I'm not even going to vote.

Once again - Democraps: If you would like to win the presidency in 2008, nominate Bill Richardson. He'd win in a landslide. Even I would vote for him.

Rudy's not that bad. I'd be content with Rudy despite his penchant for women's clothing. If the Dems still have the House and Senate, I will be voting for the Republican front-runner no matter who it is. If they only have one or the other chamber of congress, I'll vote for which ever person most appeals to me.

I think Romney probably did the best to put a good foot forward. Tommy Thompson and Ron Paul were downright scary.

I agree, Romney delivered.

moving this to the politics forum and mergering it with the threat id created because i didnt know there was one.

Thank you.

i think the man is scary. Isolationism is not what we need. We definitely need to shrink the government. Buy stop printing money? What are we going to use for currency, notes?

I agree. He's out of touch with the mainstream and his non-interventionist policy in a time when we're engaged in a war against religious extremism is alarming.

I'm somewhat familiar with his currency position though and anyone that's unfamiliar with it is probably baffled. He's for raising the value of the dollar by reducing the printing of money and investing in gold and other valued currencies. That actually makes sense to me.

The Daily Kos has Ron Paul winning the debate on an online poll so that should tell you something.

 

[no1tovote4]

Any thoughts on your boy Ron Paul?

Based on his responses, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the unknowing and misinformed Republicans mistook him for a liberal instead of a libertarian.

I was happy with his responses regardless if people mistake him for a liberal, but I think that would be hard to do with his stance on an actually shrinking government, abortion, and many others... They'd have to just listen to part of one response and extrapolate everything from it in order to mistake him for a liberal.

I am not unrealistic enough to believe he will get the nomination, but at least people will start speaking of the constitution before just jumping an answer. Like Tancredo with the border. It will draw some of the conversation over to the border, which I believe is one of the more pressing issues of the day.

 

[maineman]

Thompson's true homo-hating colors showed through!