GOP Debate Open Thread
There is another Republican debate tonight on Fox News (8pm EST). I've missed the last two or three, so I may sit down and live-blog this one.
The candidates that will be participating are: Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo and Fred Thompson.
WINNERS & LOSERS:
Winners - Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee and McCain
Giuliani, in my opinion, won the debate. He managed to hit Clinton pretty hard and he managed to voice his support for some issues that conservatives care about, such as school choice and private Social Security accounts. Romney is still managing to spin his position changes well and took his shots at Clinton as well. Huckabee is managing to hide his past record and getting along by being humorous. I'll give the guy this, he is good at communicating a message, but that message belongs to someone else and is far different from the populist crap he espouses on talk shows and what his past record is...but the crowd responded to him. McCain had one of the best reactions from the audience this evening. He managed to stay on point and took some shots at Romney and Cinton.
Losers - Paul, Tancredo, Hunter and Thompson
I'm a Ron Paul supporter, but every time he speaks...I cringe. He manages to turn every question, not matter what subject into a rant about our foreign policy. I don't disagree with him at all, but he is preaching to an audience that doesn't want to hear him. Tancredo just isn't clear. We know he is anti-immigration, but he has trouble communicating his opinion that or any other topic. Hunter needs to get out of the race. The guy is either intellectually dishonest or just doesn't understand economics. Thompson is simply not the savior that conservatives wanted. The more they find out about him, the less they support him.
DEBATE LIVE-BLOGGING:
[7:56pm] Fox News is going through the pre-debate focus group, all of whom are saying that they want another Ronald Reagan.
[7:58pm] They just gave out the text voting information. I'm going to go ahead and declare Ron Paul the winner of that. It's just a hunch I have.
[8:02pm] Brit Hume is getting it started along with Carl Cameron, Chris Wallace and Wendell Goler, as well as a welcome message from the Republican Party of Florida and Gov. Charlie Crist.
[8:04pm] The candidates are lined up like this: Tancredo, Paul, Huckabee, Giuliani, Romney, Thompson, McCain and Hunter.
[8:06pm] First question goes to Giuliani, basically asking him if he is a conservative. Giuliani answered the question very well, but avoided the questions about gun control.
[8:08pm] Romney defends his past stances on abortion and other issues.
[8:09pm] Fred Thompson is basically saying he is more conservative than Giuliani and attacks him on immigration and his past support of Mario Cuomo, a liberal Democrat.
[8:10pm] Giuliani: "Fred was the single biggest obstacle to tort reform."
[8:12pm] Thompson in defending his record on tort reform: "Local issues belong at the state level."
[8:12pm] Giuliani defends his record on immigration and his record on crime.
[8:13pm] Glad to see they are bring other candidates into the debate, but they are still playing the "who's more conservative" game.
[8:13pm] McCain had the chance to take a shot at Romney, but touted his experience and said he is running on his record.
[8:14pm] Romney: "Senator McCain is an American hero."
[8:16pm] McCain: "Governor Romney you've been spending the last year trying to fool people about you record."
[8:17pm] Tancredo, Paul, Huckabee and Hunter have still have not been asked a question.
[8:18pm] Carl Cameron asks Ron Paul about gay marriage and a proposed Constitutional amendment banning it. Dr. Paul has voted against the amending it, saying that marriage is a religious ceremony and that the states should be handling the issue and the federal government should stay out of it.
[8:20pm] Romney: "We need to have a national standard for marriage."
[8:22pm] Giuliani said that if several states, maybe five or six, begin to allow gay marriage then he would support a Constitutional amendment.
[8:24pm] Huckabee is pushing hard for the social conservative vote.
[8:26pm] Cameron asks about Thompson's past lobbying for Planned Parenthood. He said that it was part of his private law practice and wasn't an issue. He says that he went to the Senate and has a pro-life voting record.
[8:27pm] McCain urges all factions of the part to come together and support the nominee, a clear message to James Dobson an