"I changed my position." and other thoughts on today's Republican debate -- Part 2

(Part 1)

Finally back from commercial. I wonder if they were waiting for Tommy Thompson to get back from the men's room...

• A YouTube style video asking about Cheney's abuse of power. McCain says "I would make certain that everyone knows there is only one president." Pow!


• Giuliani: War, war, Islamic war, terrorist war. Did I say war? He'd go back to the Reagan-Bush model.


• Mitt pandering to the pro-Bush crowd. They've made us safe. Too sugary sweet.


• Brownback said something. I wasn't paying attention. I was talking about laundry. I doubt I missed much.


• Huckabee is in favor of the fair tax. No more drug dealers, prostitutes when we have the fair tax. What the hell? Does the fair tax eliminate the need for sex and weed? Will they become legal as long as they're taxed?


• Tom Tancredo actually has a good argument on this. He's right that the current tax code is just a way to get people to do what the government wants them to do. I'm guessing that he is not consistent with that argument when it comes to non-tax issues.


• Brownback wants an optional flat tax? Why would I want to opt to pay a tax?


• What was your greatest mistake? Hunter, contemplating running for Congress as a Democrat.


• Paul says he isn't forceful enough. Cop out.


• Huckabee's biggest mistake is getting fat. At least that's a real answer.


• Mitt Romney's biggest mistake was running as a pro-choice candidate. Oh brother! He can talk about it all he wants, but the abortion issue is not going away.


• Giuliani refuses to answer, but gets away with it because he makes a funny joke.


• McCain got himself put in a Vietnamese prison. I'd say that qualifies.


• Brownback doesn't say he loves his kids enough.


• Tommy Thompson gave all of his relatives breast cancer. No, wait. He wasn't supportive enough.


• Tom Tancredo took 30 years to find God.


• On another note (and the final question), Tancredo will restore hope to the office of the president.


• Tommy Thompson would open up the East Wing. Has it been boarded up? I don't get him at all.


• Brownback would rebuild the family. Apparently he thinks Jenna and Barbara are bad kids or something.


• McCain loves America. Doesn't answer the question.


• Giuliani will also restore hope. And not be like the Democrats.


• Mitt has made a pigs breakfast of his answer. Something about the Gettysburg address and strengthening America or something. These guys have lost the sense of the question, which is what would you restore to the presidency.


• Huckabee will work for the people and put up a citizen of the month photo. Probably give them a special parking space too.


• Paul would restore openness to the government and would not use executive privilege to cover up.


• Hunter would restore economic patriotism. That means nothing. Talk about a bunch of hooey. And he keeps talking about his son in Iraq. How about just running on your record, not on your son's back.

Well, that's enough of that. I thought Giuliani won, in the sense that he controlled the discussion. Romney recovered from his tough start, and seemed fairly presidential. Ron Paul also did well. Of the upper-tier candidates, McCain was ineffective. He looks like a man whose time has come and gone. Tommy Thompson was so bad, it's almost sad.

Democrats have a debate with Keith Olbermann Tuesday night. See you then.

Tags: Election 2008 Republican Primary Mitt Romney Sam Brownback Mike Huckabee Tommy Thompson Duncan Hunter Ron Paul John McCain Tom Tancredo Rudy Giuliani

"I changed my position." and other thoughts on today's Republican debate -- Part 1

You're looking live at Des Moines, Iowa, where the Republican candidates for president are....OK, who's kidding who? This debate was held at 9:00 am in the East, 8:00 am in Des Moines. No one watched this debate live. It's a Sunday morning, what were they thinking. The hell if I'm going to get up early to watch these nine goobers debate. I recorded it and am now turning it on about 8:30 pm.

• This is the first Republican debate in Iowa? What have they been doing for eight months.

• These guys all look like they are still half asleep, except for McCain, who appears to have had a bunch of coffee.


• And away we go...Sleepy Sam Brownback, what's the deal behind your robocalls? Well, Mitt is a loser, I said so, and my ad is true.


• Mitt, are any of those facts untrue? Pro-life. Pro-life. Pro-life. I won't answer your question, I'm pro-life. Mitt isn't doing well, he's stammering. "I changed my position." No kidding. That will be the punch-line of any number of commercials. He's going to wish he hadn't said it that way. It is the perfect sound bite.


• So Mitt, since you've said that a candidate should speak for himself, why did you say these things about Rudy Giuliani? Tough job being the front-runner, eh Mitt?


• Giuliani defending his pro-choice position well, saying it's about keeping government out of personal decisions. That's the only way to go if he's going to neutralize this question.


• Tommy Thompson looks like a bullfrog. Hey Tommy, Is Giuliani a good Catholic? No, but let's talk about issues, George, not about each others attacks.


• For what it's worth, George is off to a good start if the debate is supposed to be a "Gotcha!" exercise, but he's not yet asked a candidate to explain their own position. Every question has been couched in "this guy stands for this, is that right?" That's a lousy way to run a debate.


• McCain isn't as awake as I thought he was. That's what happens when Tommy Thompson speaks. That and the dog starts barking.

• Softball to Ron Paul, how do we get out of Iraq? ABC knows how he's going to answer, and they are going to use his strong anti-war answer as a foil for the rest of them.


• Oh, and why is Duncan Hunter talking about about Russia and the Berlin Wall? "I was there when we did Central America." So was David Vitter. (Tip your server and try the veal. I'll be here all week).


• Mike Huckabee is the only one who sounds grounded. I don't agree with him on much, but he sounds like he's reasonable.


• Sam Brownback looks puffy. Too much sun maybe? Not enough sleep?


• Looks like the one black Republican in Iowa got a good seat right behind Stephanopolous and where the cameras can see him.


• McCain thinks that if the Iraqis can come together to celebrate soccer, they can form a nation. And that is why he's past his prime.


• Romney with a good line: "In one week, Obama has gone from having tea with our enemies to bombing our allies." A wax figure of Ann Romney nods in agreement.


• Tancredo is pissed that he hasn't had a question yet. And now he's yelling. I'd do just as well not hearing him again. He apparently thinks we haven't pounded the Iraqis enough. I get the idea that if he were president, he'd say "go ahead, kill them all. Let me know when you're done."


• Tommy Thomson looks like a milk jug. Michelle says he looks "like a caricature," but she can't put her finger on exactly what.


• He's still talking. I need a nap.


• Paul: "We can achieve much more in peace, then we can in these illegal unconstitutional wars."


• McCain just said he was "one of [the war's] greatest critics." Is he senile? Has he been paying attention to himself for the last four years?


• Huckabee wants to give the people the same health care plan that congress had. John Kerry ran on that platform last time and lost. Nice to see that's back on the table.


• Tommy Thompson says: "The problem is, Governor Huckabee is correct." I say the problem is, Tommy Thompson looks like a beanpot.


• Duncan Hunter says it's not the government's job to provide "womb to tomb" health care. And he blames the immigrants.


• These guy depress me. "More market forces in health care" is another way to


• Oh look, here's Obama's head on a platter. Take a swing...Rudy agrees! Wow, someone agrees with a Democrat. Mitt doesn't, he's going back to the meet with our friends, bomb our enemies thing. I don't think it's a bad thing for Obama to have all of these out-of-touch Republicans criticize him for being out of touch.


• George finally asks a good question. So Bush wants to spread democracy around the world, and all of these Middle Eastern nations keep electing radical enemies of the US. What do you think of that? Huckabee talks about something else. Paul calls


• Giuliani says Democracy is more about rule of law than about elections. That is what it's all about right there. That is why, no matter how progressive Giuliani sounds on some issues that I cannot imagine voting for him. If he has to choose between rule of law or elections, he thinks "rule of law" comes first. And the rest of them do too. Good grief.


• Mitt Romney wants to "move the world of Islam toward modernity." I'm sure they appreciate that. Not at all condescending and paternalistic there Mitt, huh?


• Tommy Thompson is completely incoherent.


• Whoever had Sam Brownback in the Ronald Regan sweepstakes, come up and cash in your ticket. I don't think he realizes that Egypt is already a democracy.


• Huckabee with a strong answer on infrastructure. Giuliani has decided that he's going to talk about the "liberal Democrats" in every answer. He knows that he is soft on conservative issues, so his strategy is obviously to look more conservative by talking about the Democrats each time.


• But...I think Giuliani is winning the first half. He seems to be setting the tempo. A number of the other candidates have been piggybacking his ideas, he seems like the leader on the stage.

Time for a break. More after the commercial.

Tags: Election 2008 Republican Primary Mitt Romney Sam Brownback Mike Huckabee Tommy Thompson Duncan Hunter Ron Paul John McCain Tom Tancredo Rudy Giuliani

"The stockpile does a great job" and other thoughts on tonight's debate

Well, it's the Republicans again, this time on Fox News and from South Carolina. Let's get right to it...

• One good thing about John McCain...if he were to become president, he would be a perfect fit for Disney's Hall of Presidents. He moves his arms as though he's an animatronic figure.
  
  
• Does Tommy Thompson realize that we're fighting in Iraq, not Ireland? He keeps referring to "Prime Minister O'Mallekey."
  
  
• Sam Brownback is going to hurt himself if he keeps banging his pinkies on the table.
  
  
• I like the bell, by the way.
  
  
• OK Rudy, if the terrorists are already here, then the argument that they will follow us here if we leave Iraq is irrelevant. Don't you see that you're arguing against yourself?
  
  
• It's interesting that Chris Wallace asked Ron Paul if he was running for the nomination of the wrong party. There was a time when Libertarians were more closely tied to the Republicans. Now people like Paul are asked if they should be Democrats.
  
  
• Jim Gilmore looks like he's wearing his Masonic ring.
  
  
• Oh, cut it out Mitt. You didn't "raise taxes" but you hiked fees across all state agencies. Call it what you will, but it's the same thing.
  
  
• Oh, ha ha! John Edwards at a beauty shop. Hee Hee. Did you get those cufflinks at Wal-mart, Governor Huckabee?
  
  
• For what it's worth, I'm distracted by cufflinks. They bother me. I've always seen them as a sign of elitism.... Giulaini has buttons on his cuffs, so does Brownback. Gilmore, Huckabee, and Thomas have cufflinks.
  
  
• Tommy Thompson: "The stockpile does a great job" but there are inefficiencies in "the stockpile." What the hell is he talking about?
  
  
• Ron Paul: buttons. He speaks with the most conviction of any of the candidates. With his brand of libertarian conservativism, he could be a factor in New Hampshire if he had any money.
  
  
• What a weaselly answer from Gilmore. He suggests that his opponents aren't real conservatives, then refuses to name who, suggesting that we'll have to go to his website tomorrow to find out. Grow a backbone, man.
  
  
• Tom Tancredo gives me the opportunity to run to the fridge...
  
  
• Commercials? Who goes to commercial during a debate?
  
  
• Mmmmmm, Frozen orange juice.
  
  
• Huckabee just said he was the first governor in Arkansas's history to reduce taxes. I'm guessing that's a bit of hyperbole there.
  
  
• Mitt: definitely cufflinks, if there was any question. He's talking too fast in attempting to argue his conservative credentials. He sounds like he's lying, or at least unsure of how his answer will be received.
  
  
• Brownback just stepped in it. He had a chance to align himself with Reagan on immigration and in trying to do so, he used the "A-word." You can't call immigration reform "amnesty" if you're for it, and you certainly can't accuse Reagan of being for it.
  
  
• Auuugh! Giuliani just told a crowd of white Sons of the Confederacy that he couldn't see how anyone could be in favor of owning slaves.
  
  
• Brownback thinks having an abortion would be worse for a rape victim than being forced to carry a child borne out of evil. Unbelievable.
  
  
• Giuliani is not very funny. Every attempt at humor has fallen flat. He needs to dress up like a woman or something in order to get a couple of laughs.
  
  
• There Hunter goes again saying he "built the fence" in San Diego. I've gotta say I don't believe him. I think I'm going to see if there are any pictures of Hunter building the fence.
  
  
• And I just missed Ron Paul's point on Iraq. Let me rewind...Ah, he just said that we were attacked on 9/11 because of our presence in the Middle East. Giuliani takes the opportunity to demagogue, and misquotes Paul. He did not say we were attacked because of our attacks in Iraq. But at least Giuliani got his sound bite. That will probably be the lead bite on all of the news shows tomorrow.
  
  
• McCain is still pandering on the Confederate flag issue.
  
  
• Tom Tancredo gives me the chance to put eye drops in. My allergies are acting up. And another commercial, how convenient.
  
  
• Cool, an essay question. Let's hear how they answer.
  
  
• Giuliani: Every method they could think of? So in other words, you wouldn't use techniques as outlined in our military and intelligence procedures, you'd tell our people to use "every method they could think of?" Scary.
  
  
• Gilmore frequently avoids answering the question.
  
  
• Tancredo doesn't see the irony about using any means, including torture, to save the US as the last best hope of Western civilization.

And apparently the debate ran long, because the DVR just shut off. Ah well, can't imagine I missed much. I thought Fox did a much better job that MSNBC did a couple of weeks ago. I thought they kept up the pace and spread the questions around. I also thought that they had some appropriately tough questions. I was especially impressed by Wendell Goler. Perhaps the Democrats should reconsider their decision not to appear on the network.

Tags: Election 2008 Republican Primary Mitt Romney Sam Brownback Mike Huckabee Jim Gilmore Tommy Thompson Duncan Hunter Ron Paul John McCain Tom Tancredo Rudy Giuliani

"I don't want to be president of a sad nation..." and other thoughts on tonight's debate

Tonight it's the Republicans' turn. Where the Democratic debate was pretty tame--the candidates essentially agree on most of the issues and are just arguing around the margins--the Republican debates could be much more entertaining. These guys run the gamut from pro-war to anti-war, pro-choice to pro-life, anti-immigration to proposing paths to citizenship. You name it, and these guys disagree. Hopefully the sparks will fly.

Just to get my biases out on the table again: I am a Democrat who supports Bill Richardson at this early juncture. The chances of me voting for one of these guys is very slim, but I'll be watching just the same.

And now live from the Reagan Library, it's Chris Matthews...

• Tommy Thompson got the first "good grief" from Michelle as the most odd looking candidate.
  
  
• Rudy Giuliani tosses in a "Shining City on a Hill"
  
  
• John McCain thinks the war is on the right track, terrorists "will follow us home." Democrats are for surrender.
  
  
• Thompson says we should get out if the Maliki government asks us to. He also is apparently for federalism. He thinks the civil was will end if they split into the 18 United States of Iraq. Seems naive.
  
  
• Mitt Romney gives Reagan a big smooch. We need to stay in Iraq now so we don't have to go back.
  
  
• Sam Brownback suggests we're partnering with a number of moderate Muslim regimes. Mentions Egypt and Pakistan. Matthews wants to know why the people in those countries don't like us. Just five minutes in, he's already doing a much better job than Brian Williams.
  
  
• Men with suits and silk ties vs. soldiers with mud and blood on his boots. Nice visual by Mike Huckabee. I'll bet he uses that one in each of his speeches.
  
  
• Jim Gilmore with another Reagan smooch.
  
  
• Ron Paul wants "non-intervention." You know, he could have hammered the rest of these guys. He ended up giving a good answer about historical reasons for non-intervention.
  
  
• McCain can't be excited about having Fred Thompson mentioned as the context for his question. He refuses to answer the question of whether or not Iran has committed acts of war.
  
  
• Looks like Tom Tancredo doesn't want this question. Something about the 12th Imam and bombs, no answer to the question. Boy he doesn't sound like he has the first idea what he'd do here. Maybe he'll just build a fence to keep the bad people out.
  
  
• McCain claims that Iran was so scared of Reagan, they released the hostages two minutes after he was inaugurated. What a crock of baloney. The Iranians had decided to release the hostages before he was released, they held them until the inauguration to stick it to Carter. (Fourth smooch of the night).
  
  
• Romney getting a question about his Osama faux pas last week.
  
  
• McCain says he will follow Osama to the Gates of hell. Many of us agree.
  
  
• Amend the constitution to allow foreign-born Americans Romney no, Brownback no, Huckabee no, Gilmore yes, Duncan Hunter no, Thompson, no, McCain maybe (only if he endorses me, probably his most honest answer of the night!), Paul no (Chris Matthews: "Oh God!"), Giuliani yes, Tancredo no.
  
  
• Romney can't come up with one thing he doesn't like about America? And another Reagan smooch. What a gasbag!
  
  
• Just tell us if you think global warming exists or not. The rest about being good stewards, etc. is a good answer.
  
  
• Does Tancredo have a plan to address shortage of organs? Weird question. Tancredo again has no idea what he's talking about.
  
  
• Duncan Hunter is a compassionate conservative who wants to show it by bombing people on the other side of the world.
  
  
• Roe v. Wade repealed good or bad: Giuliani: OK either way, ugh! Take a side, man!
  
  
• Gilmore says he supports abortion during first trimester, with limits. Good for him for not fudging.
  
  
• Thompson against Roe v. Wade because he wants to leave it up to the states, not to dump it altogether.
  
  
• Romney says he changed his mind because of cloning. Another Reagan smooch. Is it a flip-flop? Filibustering.
  
  
• Brownback with another Reagan smooch, would be able to support a pro-choicer if a Republican.
  
  
• Giuliani trying not to say he favors funding of abortions. Matthews has to go back at him three times before he stammers out an actual position. This is a perfect example of why Matthews is so much better at this that Brian Williams was with the Dems. He doesn't let them weasel out of many questions.
  
  
• McCain with what sounds like a closing statement. "I don't want to be president of a sad nation..." John McCain. He'll turn that frown upside down.
  
  
• What the...? Huckabee compares hikers stranded on a mountain with adolescent suicide bombers. Says the "culture of life" is what separates us from the Muslims. OK, sparky.
  
  
• Thompson thinks businesses should be able to fire homosexuals. Ooooh -boy.
  
  
• Romney: we don't choose a leader based on which church they go to. At least that's what you are hoping for. He's wearing a shirt with cuff links. That's always bugged me. I don't know, but I think I'm more comfortable with people who wear shirts whit button cuffs.
  
  
• Brownback: "Senator Lieberman, a Jew..."
  
  
• Duncan Hunter: "I built that fence." One board at a time, I'm sure.
  
  
• Jim Gilmore doesn't want to talk about Karl Rove. I don't blame him.
  
  
• Giuliani is going along to get along. He says he thinks the rise of the religious right has been good for the party. He doesn't think that, he's lying.
  
  
• Looks like Matthews has thrown his hands up and said "the hell with this." Tells Thompson to talk about whatever he wants.
  
  
• Tommy Thompson: "I'm a reliable conservative, I've vetoed 1900 things." I guess that says it all. Vote for me because I'm against everything. Another Reagan smooch! A big one.
  
  
• If I follow Brownback correctly, the best way to address the political scandals of the last six years is to cut the number of children born out of wedlock and clean up the language on records. Huh, didn't know Abramoff, Foley, and Cunningham were gangsta' rap-listening bastards...
  
  
• Another Reagan smooch by Tancredo. Has anyone said a centrist is necessary to win? I haven't heard anyone say anything about centrists? What station is he watching?
  
  
• McCain needs to stop pointing and pounding his lectern. I don't know who told him he needed to be gruff in order to look like a leader. He is coming across as an angry old man. A Reagan smooch.
• And another wet kiss from McCain. His first cut will be to defense. Huh?
  
  
• Too early to give the president a grade on Iraq? What have you been watching the last four years, Huck.
  
  
• Thompson smooches Reagan while evading a question on race.
  
  
• Tom Tancredo, who else should be the nominee if it's not you? Ronald Reagan! (just kidding.)
  
  
• Duncan Hunter didn't watch "An Inconvenient Truth" and he wouldn't admit it even if he did.
  
  
• Ron Paul, awakened from his nap, can't come up with a critical decision he's ever made.
  
  
• Jim Gilmore's answer to mothers in prison who leave kids behind is "we need to uphold the law" or some such pablum. Please, just a little nuanced thinking would be appropriate, unless you think most Republican primary voters are moronic automatons (don't answer that).
  
  
• Stem Cell research: mushy answer from Romney. Brownback, no. Gilmore, no. Huck, no. Hunter, no. Thompson, mushy. McCain, yes, and an unrelated smooch to Mrs. Reagan. Paul, no, because it's not constitutional. Giuliani, Yes. Tancredo, no.
  
  
• Romney defending the Mass. health-care plan. He's repeating himself. Market, market, market. Now he wants to cut capital gains taxes to zero. I'll bet he does.
  
  
• The problem with McCain's plan to give a $3,000 tax credit for people to buy health insurance is that it would essentially be a huge government giveaway to big insurance companies.
  
  
• Duncan Hunter isn't as clever as he thinks he is. The best thing about the government is the ability to bomb al Zarqawi. Har Har.
  
  
• Giuliani is hoping that he's correct about the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims. He doesn't look like he's sure.
  
  
• Gilmore with a Reagan smooch.
  
  
• Giuliani refuses to come up with a weakness. I don't think that flies with people. We don't expect our candidates to grovel at our feet, but be honest. We can all tell you what your weaknesses are, can't you see them yourself?
  
  
• A national ID card, another bad idea. Hey, something I agree with Tancredo on.
  
  
• Mitt Romney with a "Gang of Three" reference, Clinton, Pelosi and Reid. There's a blast from the past. He ran against a "Gang of Three" in 2002 when he was running for governor. I believe it was Tom Finneran, Shannon O'Brien, and Robert Travaligni.
  
  
• Duncan Hunter with a Reagan smooch in reference to Schiavo.
  
  
• Ron Paul ends by saying he'll "never abuse habeas corpus." Now there's something I can get behind.

Tags: Election 2008 Republican Primary Mitt Romney Sam Brownback Mike Huckabee Jim Gilmore Tommy Thompson Duncan Hunter Ron Paul John McCain Tom Tancredo Rudy Giuliani