The CNN South Carolina Debate

haners

and it’s all just been a shell game the past two decades. There’s only so much hypocrisy a man can take before he says “to hell with you and your kind.”

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

Go back to your Workers of the World 5th column meting.

ctredstater

I thought “everybody does it”

I thought – “it depends on what the meaning of the phrase open marriage is”

I thought – “there won’t be any red states or blue states – just red, white and blue states”.

I thought – - –

I’m confused

(Love the “call of the Obama-loving RINO”)

haners

If Newt is the nominee, I will vote for him, because I’m ABO first. But if he loses, I’m out of politics for good.

sigmasix

Hey, at least Gingrich pushed Clinton back to the center in the 90′s.

OCBill

Exactly what was your first clue?

OCBill

Exactly what was your first clue?

http://www4.webng.com/rickbull/lostlucky/ rickbull

for the first debate moderator to have his liver eaten by Newt Gingrich in the first MINUTE of the debate.

WillWong

Was my eyes tricking me?

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

Once in a while we talk people off of the ledge.

Good on you.

bluerose75

Your childishness is sad! Go live under a rock!! I am so sick of this pious BS from people like you. Just because you do not like a personal mistake Gingrich made and has admitted and sought forgiveness you get on your high horse and lecture the GOP faithful again with the same boring “we are different from them”…well guess what you are the type person who will live in a MINORITY status and then sit in your church and complain how bad our country is because you lecture the GOP about being above that and then allow the election of people like Obama! Newt is a man not God..so get over it I am so sure you have NO SIN!!

I want a man that can help with jobs, taxes, the economy, defense, judicial appointments and more. Newt is not perfect and SO WHAT!

greyeagle

Another stupid debate run by liberals. The RNC and the GOP Elite made a huge mistake this year. It will cost them in the long run. I will certainly not waste my time watching anymore debates.

loneranger2012

For the next year it is not go to get any better. The Liberals in the Media wants us out of Politics. There more of them than there of us!

http://www4.webng.com/rickbull/lostlucky/ rickbull

.

http://lukos.com Ed54

Is not a “personal mistake”. It is a major character flaw.

The GOP purports to defend family values. If Newt is the nominee, we won’t be able to do that for a very long time.

bcochran1981

with fava beans and a nice chianti, that was his still beating heart washed down with a bottle of Jack.

Aaaannddd that’s another standing ovation for the Speaker.

bluerose75

And since Marianne knew about the affair why did she not seek a dicvorce? She knew….so what gives Ed? Family values is a broad spectrum. People like you act like you are so perfect and YOU ARE NOT!! Jesus was put on the cross buddy and he was perfect!! Get over it and this crap that Newt is fallible and if we nominate him that somehow means the GOP does not represent family values. If I am not mistake buddy one of the MAJOR TENANTS of being Chrisitan is to FORGIVE!! or is that selective based on your bias?? This is what makes me furious at people like you…something 14 years ago…Newt clearly no longer acts in that fashion has ADMITTED his mistakes….has asked for forgiveness and yet pious people like you have the nerve to cast your phony righteous blanket over the GOP.

WillWong

Yeah, i can still see the embarassed look on his face much like Juan Williams but fortunately Juan had a few moderators around him. John was by himself….no where to turn to….looks pretty nsked out there!

snowshooze

Much appriceated.

Common_Cents

No wonder Gingrich is plump, people keep serving up their livers.

snowshooze

nt

paladin1

since GovernorPerry left this race. None of the above is not feasible so I think, after this debate, I go with Gingrich. I sure miss Governor Perry!

tngal

brought out the Fritos. Man, we were about to get snacks. Ah well, after Newt ate a moderator’s body part for the first question the rest of the debate was just so-so.

Silly moderator. he should have known Newt had all day to plan the attack for a question he knew was coming tonight.

http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

a long and painful recovery from the well deserved, first class ass ripping he got from Newt. At least he’ll never have to worry about hemorrhoids.

Heh.

Xasteius

All except for Wolf.

fightnright

if he becomes our candidate.

The O. would think he’s so above *needing* to, and knowing the full danger of it, his minions might create some crisis event necessitating his absence from (at least) the majority of them. This administration has never paid attention to protocol or even common decency, so it wouldn’t be stepping over any lines for them

And of course the MSM would cover Obama in the ‘crisis’ – full front page style.

snowshooze

Worthless.

Common_Cents

30 seconds into the debATE.

snowshooze

But I had my heart set on Perry.

Common_Cents

A brilliant move. why?

1. there will be more media at obama campaign stops, they will stick around to cover Gingrich

2. it will make obama look like a chicken, a fool, obama will be ridiculed

3. Gingrich will get the last word in on every stop

4. independents will stick around to hear Gingrich

5. obama will eventually be shamed into debating gingrich

6. Gingrich gets to slap down any pro-obama media talking heads who challenge him

downfall would be maniac obama supporters might stick around to cause trouble, just need good security

Don T.

and I will say this: I want to vote for someone that I will not be ashamed to see everyday in the White House, that I will not wake up every day wondering what odd thing he has said or done, and that will allow me to be able to look myself in the mirror each day. I am glad that Newt has found God and has gotten some measure of personal redemption and forgiveness with his God, his Church, and his family. But that does not mean he is worthy to be president.

Can’t we vote for someone we will be PROUD of? Can’t we vote for someone who will not become the focus of the election? Newt’s candidacy troubles me for these reasons. I don’t know what others may do, but I do know what I will do, and it does not involve voting for Newt.

usedtobelib

Too many debates, nothing new in any of them. CNN has to be the worst, esp. with John King. IQ doesn’t even reach average, I don’t think.

The only “news” was the opening-Newt’s rant. It will benefit him with those who were going to vote for him; it will be seen as diversionary and disingenous by those who are bothered by his character.

So, question is, did he win over the “on- the -fencers”? We’ll have to wait to see.

With others in country watching, non South Carolinians, I think Newt looks pretty bad, esp. as they watch the details pour out–that he was trying to impeach Clinton at the same time he did this to his wife.

Someone said it best on the live chat, captured what many see when they listen to Newt: if you hate Obama and anyone who lands a punch on him, you love, you’ll stand and cheer for Newt a few times in a championship round, for sure.

If you’re a voter who doesn’t hate Obama, but doesn’t like the results of the last few years, and, like most, you blame both Dems and Repubs, you won’t like Newt because he comes off as a smart ass. He won’t get you those votes. (and that is ignoring his personal problems.)

GOP voters have to weigh how many people can be won over by Romney or by Gingrich, either by sheer weight of ideas or by temperament, background, personality.

snowshooze

I ain’t thrilled. It takes an effort.

fightnright

after 4 years of lies, coverups, and thuggery, it’s hard to believe that Obama has any sense of shame in him at all.

despondent1

…was utterly blatant. At least 4 times, the TV picture cut out Ron Paul while showing all the other candidates.

The Moderator deliberately shut Ron Paul out – to a point where he was booed by the audience for not giving the Congressman a chance to speak.

It’s obvious…big media is scared to death of this guy. That’s making me like him even more!

pttx333

this election, there weren’t many who had even heard of him. Most everyone knows who he is, what he is about and have heard his message. He now has a much larger audience and will carry on with his conservative message in his humble, genteel and straightforward way.

I’ve cried almost all day but must look at the bottom line. Perry is still the 3-legged conservative with all the creds, record and character to go with it. Do you know there are still trolls coming here today to bash him? Now why would they do that? They still fear him! There is no other explanation.

Jack_Savage

Wish I could embed:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/newt-gingrich-rips-john-kingcnn-for-opening-debate-with-%E2%80%98open-marriage%E2%80%99-question/

It was even better than I thought.

snowshooze

Did RS kick my contact to you?

avagreen

No other explanation!

I mean………what other purpose can be filled by this action? What………..

JSobieski

nt

mbrat42

is just as much at fault as Newt is. She had an affair with a man she knew was married but wants to whine when the same is done to her.

Also, I miss Perry, and we are screwed.

pttx333

n

furiouschads

Wooden
Inevitable
Electable (I don’t like him but normal people will vote for him.)
Privileged
Well funded
Moderate (in his party?s view)
From Mass.
Francophone
French-lover
Flipflopper

snowshooze

And I pick Erick.
None other fit for the job.
Cut the BS and go straight to the core.

runner12

on Fox today questioning if Perry should have got out when he did. They commented that he may have been better off waiting until the interview with Newt’s ex came out. Of course, this was all after he had withdrawn and was said by the very people who tried to marginalize him at every turn.

How disengenuous can you get?

Jack_Savage

And therefore, I’m going to bed now.

Common_Cents

Gingrich should point out that we need to nominate a bulldog to take on obama face to face.

JSobieski

even better than Perry, but things just never seem to work out.

WillWong

I am guessing John King but had to read your post a couple of times!

rdm42

Ron Paul Marginalizes Ron Paul, by being a foreign policy wacko.

snowshooze

I think he is a loon.
But as this unfolds… he looks better every day.
Romney or Paul…between the two…in terms of damage control…
Which ?
Romney, I suppose, but not by a lot.

trevorb

Gingrich won’t have that problem. He’s got a nasty side and I’d rather he point it at president Obama. Should be fun watching him chewed to little pieces.

Common_Cents

runner12

As a Perry supporter, I feel your pain regarding being ignored. It was a virtual media blackout and Perry had no chance of rebounding after his so-called debate miscues.

With regard to Ron Paul. I find myself agreeing with him on his limited government positions quite strongly. I think very highly of his son Rand and would vote for him in a heartbeat. But Ron Paul’s foreign policy ideas are widely outside the mainstream of conventional thinking and are downright dangerous to this country. Added to this, Congressman Paul has had strong ties to those who are anti-Semetic and who engage in rather bizarre conspiracy theories.

The bottom line is that Ron Paul’s negatives are so glaring that they simply crush his one positive. I strongly encourage you to research him completely before throwing your support to him. I know the candidates left are not very appealing, believe me I know. But they overall are better than Paul.

bluerose75

I think Newt showed backbone compared to whimps that normally surround the GOP. Do you really think any Democrat has a passion to go out and vote for Romney? Come on! Newt comes off like any NORMAL person would when they are impuned right before a primary vote, on a debate over a well known issue caused by a HIT PIECE by ABC! I mean for crying out loud I want someone that will show some emotion not like Romney who likes a piece of ply wood with no passion. Newt will inspire the base! But he has commen sense ideas that will play with independents. Newt comes up with solutions and ideas and you know what I like that he put Jon King in his place. He said something millions of conservatives have wanted said…..”the media protects Obama and will destroy any GOP candidate.

You clearly do not likie Newt so you could not see the forest for the trees….I wish Perry could have articulated his ideas better because he was my choice but I am sick of elites like you talking about character and other issues when I want to hear about jobs, taxes, judicial appointments, defense and the economy.

You need to weigh this who will get the base to vote…Gingrich or Romney…and with all his millions Romney can still not break out!! He is not a conservative…he will never bring the base out and without that the few crossover votes Romney may get MEANS NOTHING!

pttx333

g

snowshooze

I have a Viet Nam Vet working for me, and he claims to know other Veterins whom were in the same prison camp as McCain.
They told hin McCain sang like a sparrow.
Yep… this is pure third hand gossip.
Nice guy’s come in last.
Newt is neither…
I ain’t in love with him. But he can gut Obama. And that is a good thing.

snowshooze

I requested RS to send my contact info to you.
But they are busy.

bluerose75

Follow your Rule#6 and end up like John McCain brainiac!! Ignore the people you need to hit the pavement, call the phones and get others out to vote see what happens with your ignorant Rule#6.

You worry about the moderates and like Rush says fail to see how you must appeal to the conservatives. Moderates like you are mush! Romney is already doing your Rule#6 and boy he has ignited a passion for him that will carry the day!!…LOL!!..NOT!

daveoconnor

Romney didn’t throw medals back during an anti-war demonstration.
Romney made his money, he didn’t marry it
Romney has given a lot of money away, Kerry very little
Kerry wasn’t electable as it turned out
And what’s wrong with being well funded? Would you rather wage 2012 underfunded?
Kerry ran against George W who no matter his free spending was much more conservative than BO
Do you think Kerry and Romney would pick the same folks to sit on the Supreme Court?

Jim

…but that has got to be, by far, one of the most thorough reamings of the mainstream media I have seen in a long time!

marktx

Rick Perry did the honrable thing today by dropping out of the race. Governor Perry did so because he knew he had no chance of winning in South Carolina and he didn’t want to play spoiler for Mitt Romney.

It’s time for Santorum to follow Perry and exit the race. Polls show Santorum with no chance of winning in South Carolina – or even finishing a close second. At this point all Santorum can do is split the conservative vote which would allow Romney a victory.

If Santorum cares about what’s best for the party, he will do what Rick Perry did and leave the race.

runner12

Perry has withdrawn, but Newt’s take-down of John King was epic. CNN hurt any shred of credibility they might have by opening the debate with that question.

I am not saying that the topic should not have come up, but the wording of the question was just unprofessional and not appropriate in a Presidential debate. Those questions can be asked in a one-on-one interview or at a press conference.

The best line was when Newt went after the double-standard set by the media when it comes to Obama vs. GOP candidates. Their hypocrisy is disgusting.

http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

If the House Leadership had any balls they’d throw him out of the Republican Caucus. The sob is not a Republican in addition to being a loon. It really grates on me that he’ll likely be allowed to speak at the convention, he should be completely shut out of the process.

snowshooze

I am lost as how to agree more.

GregInFla

This was the first debate I watched from start to finish.

Or from start to anything. It had just three candidates, plus RP when King acknowledged his presence, which allowed more debating.

pttx333

Figured that was it. Nope, haven’t heard a thing. Will contact you when I do!

Jim

I am sick and tired of the idea that someone is electable, and therefore should be the nominee. When you put a strong conservative, with a strong message and passion for limited government, against a failure like Obama we will win. When you put a mushy, all-things-to-all-people, John Kerry-esque Massachusetts moderate against Obama we lose.

A strong message delivered with conviction is electable. A focus-group guided “safe” campaign/candidate is not electable.

Reagan proved this in 1980…and we keep forgetting it year after year with losers like Dole and McCain.

traversecityconservative

I don’t really care who the president is as long as it’s not Obama…as long as there’s no cap and trade, as long as there’s no Obamacare, as long as the spending is cut and the debt is lowered…as long as energy production gets going and coal plants get running…as long as there is more help on the border to fight illegal immigrants…as long as corruption is stopped in the Justice Department…We all have the same laundry list. I don’t care about the journey or who the conductor is. I just care about where I’m going. You can all bitch about each other’s candidates if you want but they all have substantial baggage. All the whining and moaning is ridiculous. None of us really has a candidate worth a crap. So, as usual, we get to choose our own death – electrocution, run over by a train, drowning or strangulation. No one’s coming in at the last minute to save us.

marktx

By trying to censor RP, it would look as if you are trying to hide some of his views because you don’t agree with them. That’s what liberals do.

Better to let the political process play itself out. The majority of the voters aren’t as dumb as you might think.

marktx

If the economy had been as bad as it is now, and had Bush been the incumbent, Kerry probably would have won.

trickamsterdam

If he wasn’t being ignored, he’d actually be more marginalized than he is when he’s being ignored.

Think about it….Newt or Romney (or Obama) tomorrow says they want to legalize heroin….can you even imagine?

It’s the fact that people don’t take Paul seriously that keeps him being taken even semi-seriously.

Not to mention he’d be 83 by the end of his first term……LOL.

The thing I’ve never been able to get past w/ Paul, is that he’s so clearly unelectable…R nomination…..and the General Election, even more so.

Because of that, it’s almost like….who cares if the ideas are crazy or sane? It’s irrelevant. Neither the people who love him nor hate him look at him as a true R anyway….

He and his ideas get so much attention and his actual effect on the actual election(s) are almost zero. Politics are strange.

cheetah2

glad to see you here pttx333.

snowshooze

No, we have to pay attention. We cannot afford to ignore him.
The way things are going, we are almost completely out of control.
Ok…we are out of control.
To ignore a threat.. is to present a weakness.
We have to rub him out.
Just as a matter of business… nothing personal.

snowshooze

But… I observe…
Our President, Obama.

http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

It’s not going to happen because the leadership lacks the balls and the spine. Ron Paul is not a Republican. Thankfully he’ll be gone after this election and he retire to the home with Jimmy Carter.

Paul’s view are not just wrong, they’re toxic. The guy is a bigot, a racist and an anti-Semite. He would happily stand by and let Israel be destroyed to the last Jooooooooooo. His followers are uneducated, ignorant idiots. They consist of a small percentage of “interested” people who will vote Republican anyway, a larger group of true believers who won’t show up in the general because they’ll only vote for Paul and finally a large group of disaffected Democrats and utterly stupid college kids who are anti-military. They’re Obama voters.

I’m perfectly happy to say “Hell yes I’m going to censor a bigot and racist.” Let him go start his own damned party. And I used that particular adjective on purpose.

clowngirl

At least one looked like everybody in the building- the other may have been partial.

Newt showed he can handle his baggage and won’t let anyone use it to derail his campaign.

Romney, on the other hand, showed that even non-issues like the routine request to release his taxes can become problems in his hands.

And he still hasn’t come up with answers on Bain that would hold up in a general election.

Thought he took a fair amount of damage tonight – particularly on abortion.

snowshooze

In a Presidential debate. Newt was correct to admonish him.

JSobieski

Paul supports moving most criminal issues to the STATES where they belong.

Murders, rapes, assaults, etc. are all prosecuted under state laws.

He is in that respect a 10th Amendment guy—let the states do what they want.

This is NOT the same as legalization. It is saying there shouldn’t be a FEDERAL prohibition.

He hasn’t committed that I can see on what states should do.

http://www.planettron.com NickDeringer

The Powerline guys have an interesting take on tonight’s debate.

Romney won SC Primary tonight

nabell87

My best friends father was two cells down from McCain in the Hanoi Hilton. He does not speak about his experiences there hardly ever. I do know one thing though, he has a great deal of respect for John McCain. The truth is, McCain had the choice to come home early as his father was a big-shot; however, he chose to stick it out there with his brothers in captivity. I do not support John McCain’s policies or political stances, but I think it is uncalled for to so naively stomp on his honor in that fashion.

marktx

…tell us how you really feel.

trevorb

also lost because it was discovered that he considered our soldiers thugs and war criminals.

snowshooze

I am not at odds with you at all.
But.. reality strikes.
Ron Paul has no business here, but there he is.
Whaddya??

trevorb

I was told that everyone ended up breaking; there’s only so much torture people can endure. Everyone has a breaking point and considering the kind of people the communists were, there was no limit to what they’d do.

txindependent

And, Perry for VP!!

marktx

n/t

clowngirl

You speculated on why people would still come onto RedState just to bash Governor Perry.

He showed himself to be a patriot today (as always) and some have posted that he wouldn’t consider the VP slot — I hope that if Newt has the sense to offer it to him that the 2 of them could come up with some way to make the job worth his time.

snowshooze

So I noted it as third hand info. Possibly I should have never said anything.
Judgent call there. Take it at face value.

Green_Lantern

I play hockey a couple nights a week, and during the games we frequently question each others heritage and issue terroristic threats. After the game we shake hands and occasionally have beers together.

We do the same thing on this site. I bet haners is “good people”, just blowing off some steam.

marktx

The chatter coming from numerous media insiders is that Marco Rubio is first on the short list to be the VP nominee. And it won’t matter if Romney or Gingrich is on the top of the ticket. The party establishment will be pushing for Rubio.

freedom555

When it comes to thinking on his feet, making the most of each opportunity to distinguish his point of view….and making relevant attacks on his opponents, Santorum wins.

swi2522

its called principles before personality
anyone of the republicans can defeat obama
newt and i have issues with him is willing to get into the street fight with the dems and the media and he has the intellect to make them look like the idiots they are
remember liberals are cowards. need proof look at how they will not critisize muslems for fear of reprisal

sulmak

nt

pttx333

reasons. The main things I remember about him during that election were his out-of-touch elitism: standing that stupid little dinghy (with yachts in the background), thinking he looked like the average man, wearing deck shoes, shorts and a blazer; a lying sob when he threw his ill-gotten medals from ‘Nam over the fence (they were fakes); when he showed up at a little gun shop in some little town wearing what he thought to be hunting clothes, then asking “Where can I get me a huntin’ license?” : he spent just a few months in ‘Nam, lied about his injuries to get medals, threw his ‘Nam buddies under the bus, etc. He is a lying hypocrite who thinks he is better than anyone else, trust me. He is a “kept man” who marries only very wealthy women and thrusts his nose up in the air every bit as high as b.o. He is, bottom line, a fake, phony empty suit.

I lived through that period of time and many years before that time. How old are you? 21?

marktx

Maybe he wins in a court room – but this is a political debate. Winning technical points like a prosecutor doesn’t move voters emotions. And the fact is, Santorum didn’t move anyone’s emotions tonight. He looked stiff and argumentative. Nor did he show a clear positive message for the future. Instead he tried to tear down his opponents.

The Santorum campaign is finished.

http://lukos.com Ed54

If you want to consider other things more important in your personal decision who to vote for, that’s your business. If you think Newt has good character, you are a fool.

snowshooze

Otherwize…no contest.

pttx333

c

lquist1

on SOPA/PIPA. He was the only one of the 4 that didn’t unequivocally oppose this. Sure, he’s opposed to this PARTICULAR piece of legislation, he has to say that after the big outcry over it, but this “there’s nothing that says the internet is guaranteed free and open” (I’m paraphrasing) stuff bothers me. I make my living online, and in my view, any government involvement in the internet no matter how well-intentioned will result in us losing our freedoms online. Unfortunately, Rick doesn’t seem to understand that. He seems to believe that there’s a place for the govn’t to get involved with this issue. In my view, that’s not good.

clowngirl

Substance is important – but so is presentation and the theatrical aspects of debating/ being President.

There’s no way Santorum could beat Obama, he comes off as far too negative and too dull.

He made some good points though and, to some extent, I’m glad he’s still debating as he scored big (I thought) against Romney on abortion.

bob08034

…Newt won tonight’s debate in his first four words. “No. [full stop] But I will.”

Listening to the audience response, I believe that was true in the auditorium too. I think we’re sick of hearing about what candidates do with their private parts.

For me, Gingrich and Paul were first and second. Romney and Santorum were 5th and 6th. The people who weren’t there took 3rd and 4th.

Santorum had the best finish. If his whole campaign was like his last 90 seconds, he’d probably be doing a lot better.

Romney was Romney. OK, but nothing that really makes me say, “Hey, he can do something good.”

My wife kept saying, “He’s so cute!” in response to Ron Paul. I don’t even want to try to figure that out…

And y’all who are counting Gingrich out — Here in the South we tend to have a thing for glory in battle, lost causes, and fighting the good fight. If we’re going to lose anyway I’d rather see someone who will take it to Obama and at least present the option in a way that makes me think, “Yeah, that could work.”

Unlike 4 years ago, I’m not showing up in the polls, because we had our land line disconnected. Last time I responded to dozens of polls. Expect things to be skewed as a result. I don’t know in what direction, but there will definitely be an unexpected result (in polling) due to certain groups of people opting out of traditional telephones.

http://lukos.com Ed54

You know, the first one, the one he cheated on and divorced when she had cancer? Was it her fault too?

snowshooze

Stop the maddness…

daveoconnor

I forgot about the “Where can I get me..” episode.
Thanks pttx333! I need a laugh this day.

trevorb

but I still think it was more for what he did after his service in Vietnam, with the way he attacked our soldiers. I’ve heard most Vietnam Veterans loathe the man.

http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

if Newt is the Republican nominee who are you going to vote for?

paladin1

but Governor Perry is gone now.

conservnca

I couldn’t watch. Wouldn’t it be something if there was a protest vote in S.C. on Saturday and Perry won? I think he only suspended his campaign, so he could kick it back into gear and with the momentum that would cause sail right through FL.
Stranger things HAVE happened!

http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

it’s not my decision. I’ll just have to live with whatever the eventual nominee decides. But make no mistake about it, Ron Paul is every bit the stain on the party that David Duke was. The correct solution is the same.

marktx

Kerry was an elitist, that’s true. But so was GW Bush. The fact is, when challenging an incumbent, in most elections the state of the economy is the primary factor. And in 2004 the economy was considered in pretty good shape.

Look back at recent elections. Most incumbents were reelected when the economy was on the upswing, and most incumbents lost when the voters perceived the economy to be bad.

in 1980 Reagan won because the economy had been in recession the previous year with high inflation.

in 1992 GH Bush lost because the economy had been in a recession the previous year.

in 1996 the economy was in good shape, Clinton was reelected.

In 2004 the economy was good, and GW Bush was reelected.

In November 2012 the election will be decided on how the voters perceive the economy. If there is a significant improvement, Obama will have an excellent chance of getting reelected.

Pttx, do you have any other political questions I can educate you on ?

stumpy

Romney has no core. If you can’t forgive Newt, then Romney’s a baby killer for supporting abortion.

Santorum is a big government guy. He believes we need “conservatives” to make government choices, not to get out of our way.

Perry ie out. We have best of bad choices left and its Newt by a mile.

lquist1

go after Romney. I thought he scored pretty good on Mitt over both abortion and Romneycare. He also hit Newt pretty hard on his lack of focus. I think Santorum is doing what he thinks he needs to do. He sees the opening, with Perry out and perceived Newt baggage to be the “anti-Romney.” But clearly he does not have the organization and money for a long haul campaign, and a belated Iowa victory will only carry him so far. I doubt he’ll be around much past Florida.

snowshooze

And I ain’t no happier than you about it.

bob08034

Perry has as much chance of winning on Saturday as Obama.

The parallels to Bush were too strong. Governor. Texas. Accent. I almost fell off the couch when he ran the ad talking about being a pilot. It wasn’t so much hearing him say it as looking up at the screen and seeing him in a photo that looked just like Bush. If you put the two photos on my desk I couldn’t tell them apart.

It’s time for a change. Bring back the insiders. We need people who know how things work.

marktx

I too caught Santorum taking both sides of the SOPA issue. On one hand he claims he opposes the bill, yet on the other hand he supports the underlying justification for the bill.

Could it be that Santorum was playing to his audience at FOX news who’s leader Rupert Murdoch supports SOPA ?

lineholder

Native South Carolinian myself, although I live north of the border (NC) now. You know…Bev Purdue…yeah, I miss you guys, bob.

I pretty much so expected that the folks in SC would respond to it in the way you’ve described.

Lucas Black

I just watched the Mrs. Gingrich #2 interview. Wow, that was a bust. Nothing new said – only that ‘open marriage’ bit that they already leaked. And she got attacked by the interviewer as well and she didn’t look credible at all. Nothing will come out of this.

pttx333

looked so macho on that damned dinghy and in those hunting clothes – straight from France, I’m sure. He and Miz Tereza (not Teresa, mind you, that is tooo common) made me absolutely ill every time I laid eyes on ‘em!

SteveM

…for agreeing to these formats and for not having an adult take a look at the questions beforehand, or at least putting some kind of accountability mechanism in place.

Good for Newt in ripping King’s head off. He deserved it. JK looked like he wanted to pee his pants.

These debates with these loaded questions are a boon for Obama. Instead of talking about him, we’re expending energy on ex-wives and frickin’ tax returns.

This election can easily be *won* and it can easily be *lost*. The primary should be about the issues. Not the salacious bullpoop. These “let’s get the candidates to eat one another” reality shows don’t do our side any good.

stumpy

Obama will claim “scheduling” conflicts or something. The media will give him a pass.

SteveM

And that’s being kind. The man is a mental midget “I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it”, an opportunist, a moron, and a jerk.

pttx333

different animals. Can you imagine Kerry on 9/11? I can’t. Can you imagine him driving a pickup wearing jeans and cutting brush? I can’t. W was brought up in a wealthy family, that is true. But there the similarity ends. W has at least worked for a living in his life. When has Kerry? He marries well, doncha know.

I know precisely what has happened during all those years. My first vote went for Goldwater against LBJ – the snake. What does that tell you?

Yes, this election will be on the economy, jobs – and I pray, out national defense! The social stuff will have to wait until a less urgent time.

trevorb

can’t believe he came as close to winning as he did. Granted, Bush wasn’t a real strong candidate, but someone like Kerry…

formotioncreative

It’s tough making the transition here as well. I posted the endorsement video on FB with the following excerpt from his speech: (copy, paste and share; too many people don’t know how genuine he is)

“…and Newt is not perfect but who among us is? The fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek God and I believe in redemption. It’s a central tenant of my Christian faith.” Gov. Rick Perry

Moving on with enthusiastic support for Gingrich and banking that his exceptional talent and ambition will to be the driver of the restoration of this great nation. Geniuses historically are challenged in their personal lives.

My daughter likes him a lot and I think he’ll be able to reach out effectively to many, many young people.

jakeofalltrades

He’s like an anit-bs-otic.

Common_Cents

I think it finally will tamp down much discussion of Gingrich’s personal baggage in the future.

A big revelation is that she also said there was nothing to Newt’s ethics charges.

She seemed pretty fair and just wanted an apology.

ABC said they sat down with her for 2 HOURS and that’s all they got?

ABC- FAIL

eruthk

I honestly do not believe this smug self-righteousness comes from church people. Lots of us respect and like Newt Gingrich; even if he is not necessariy our first choice, it is likely he is our second or third choice. Lots of us have made the same sort of mistakes, especially in the marriage department, and have had our “come to Jesus moments” about this. And we remember what a force for good Newt was during the Clinton years. Please please please don’t think this comes from church people. This poison much more likely comes from the fawning mormon Rombots, Paulbots and Obots.

GregInFla

nothing surprises me anymore about SC and politics.

lineholder

LOL, could you imagine a “blog” debate…Romney, Gingrich, Santorum and Paul with Tbone and becker as moderators? That would be a hoot, wouldn’t it?

GregInFla

why not? After all those strange footbal bowl game titles…

GregInFla

why not? After all those strange football bowl game titles…

jakeofalltrades

awesome!

http://travismonitor.blogspot.com Freedoms Truth

Funny how that part didnt go viral.

eruthk

Clinton was not impeached for his affair. He was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice. And he lost his law license by the way.

lineholder

The interview ended…what…every bit of 16 minutes ago? Give it another hour or two at least, LOL.

Common_Cents

He has shown time and again, any time he is confronted a bit he has a glass jaw and fumbles his answers.

He cannot give a straight answer on nearly anything. I’m glad this is coming out now. Either he shapes up or he will get beat.

Gingrich is showing he has the right mettle to take down obama.

The ex wife stuff should be largely past him as well as she vouched for Newt in the ethics scandal. A lot of Gingrich’s baggage has largely been neutralized.

Don T.

I liked Perry and wished he would make it. But that’s over.

I can only say that I have seen and heard Santorum in person, and I have seen and heard Newt in person, and Santorum wins hands down in terms of personality, warmth, and sincerity. Unfortunately, Santorum does not show this side enough in the debates. He needed a game changing outing, and this was not it.

While Santorum is still a choice, and while he is still what I would consider in the running, he will have my vote.

But, of course, in the end, I will vote ABO. If it is Romney, or Newt, I will vote for the GOP nominee. And then hope for better days.

marktx

The point was made about “electability”. Democrats voted for Kerry in the primaries because he was perceived to be most electable among the field of candidates. Howard Dean would have lost by a far bigger margin to Bush than Kerry. The fact is, because of the strong economy in 2004,the democrats wouldn’t have won no matter who their nominee was. But of the candidates that ran, Kerry was their best bet to keep the loss respectable.

And this year, polls have consistently shown that electability does matter to a significant percentage of voters. That’s the main reason the Romney campaign exists – even though his record as governor was crappy.

stumpy

doing hit pieces on ABC News trying to derail his campaign. #1 has a right to complain. #2 went swimming and now is complaining about getting wet. Plus the timing is obviously designed to wrap it up for Mitt in SC.

Notice how all frontunners get the Media/RomneyPAC cavity search. Rimney only got a scan and Obama went inthe back door.

pttx333

I voted for W both times, cheered during the first 4, disappointed in the second 4 when he turned into a squish. But KERRY? Is there no bigger loser on the planet?

Did you read my blast at mark upthread from here? That lit me off like a rocket – what he said!

http://travismonitor.blogspot.com Freedoms Truth

on how his wife said there was nothing to Newt?s ethics charges.

(where’s the sarcasm tag?)

http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

self-righteous stupidity. We had him on the ropes and could have destroyed the liberal line on issues for a generation but the moralists in the party had to push an impeachment that everyone knew would never be affirmed in the Senate. And in the process we allowed Clinton the opportunity to show how he was being picked on by moralist Republicans. And it worked like a charm.

Clinton’s impeachment is the dumbest thing Republicans have done in 50 year that I’ve been watching politics.

lizzie

and the calculation was they needed a Veteran to run during wartime.
and Howard Dean screamed in Iowa…

I did watch/listen to tonite’s debate.

I would much rather be bored into a coma by John Kerry than by Mitt Romney.
Once in a while , Kerry says something insightful, and is more human.

This above comparison is “dam%ing with faint praise”

Romney (man of the streets – rofl) is going to have to release his tax returns for the last ten years – preferably Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. He got reamed on that. Santorum got lucky that his computer is in Pennsylvania and that everyone thinks he is muddling through, but I wonder…

What are they hiding? and that includes Dr. Paul, altho I guess he has a home vault filled with Kruggerands.

lineholder

Nah, it ain’t gonna’ happen.

deVere

But he acts nervous whenever the subject is brought up, and as things are going it may cost him the Presidency.

GregInFla

then it’s the supporters’ fault, not the candidate, for not being that organization. The excuse is a copout.

Rapunzel46

There was not one candidate on the stage tonight who can hold a candle to Governor Perry, both in pressence and now, it seems, even in debate skills, I knew he improved the last months, but tonight I realized just how much he improved. I will truly miss him in this race and the country blew a chance to elect a very good man — in all respects — President.

lizzie

1) Daniels was Bush43s Budget Director – no one from Bush43 dare to run.

2) Private sector was Eli Lilly, Big Pharma

3) Grandparents were from Syria. Does not matter if they were Syriac Christians escaping persecution (Turkey expelled their indigenous Syriac Christians after they expelled all the indigenous Greeks in the 1920′s.)
Syria is not an easily understood immigrant story.

4) Daniels great speech that included pushing “social issues” aside in a time of grave fiscal peril

ok, 5) I’ve seen/heard him on book tour interviews. Not sure he could have survived the Faux Game Show debate format.

ok, 6) short and balding although I think he is kind of Coolidge-y.

and I bet the divorce and re-marriage story would have been absolutely brutal.

definitely VP contender, but only on a ticket with Perry.

Based on tonite’s debate, I expect a lot of people are already missing Rick Perry.

pttx333

It also gives one the opinion that dems are really, really dumb if they thought Kerry was the most electable. Howard Dean is almost as loony as Ron Paul.

And what a sad, sad state of affairs when this country dropped to the level of wanting an American Idol or rock star. Do not look at the core principles/values of a candidate or at his record. Oh, no, that won’t work! Shallow, shallow, shallow people in this country – indeed!

Rapunzel46

They are as bad as all the other’s now, they did this to Rudy in 2008 — nope, Rudy wasn’t perfect but he was a darned site better than the other choices — and now this year same thing, marginalized and ignored Perry……. I am beyond sick of Dick Morris mocking him, if I ever saw that smug toe-sucker he would get a piece of my mind.. oh and tonight he was just in love with Romney’s debating skills — which were beyond lacking in what I saw, ROmney has a glass jaw and Obama will TKO him in the first debate.

JSobieski

Rule #6 means that you shouldn’t attack candidates by attacking their supporters. I.e. you attack candidates, you don’t attack voters. You are a walking example of why such a rule is needed, because otherwise thinking people will get sucked into swatting braniac flies like yourself.

We all need to be on the same side in November.

At least everyone who read and apply a basic level of context.

The “Rules” were designed to facilitate debate without corsening discourse between people supporting different candidates.

Reagan NEVER insulted the voters—but of course, he never met you and your room temperature IQ.

Rapunzel46

was right up there with the last ABC debate asking Romney if birth control should be banned.

http://www.AmericanThinker.com Hammer2008

This SOPA and SIPA must not stand. And FWIW, we all seem to be letting Speaker Boehner completely off the hook. He’s becoming a caricature of the must-resist-the-urge-to-vote-anything-but-present Barak Obama.

This all is like a bad, very bad version of the Bachelorette (there, I said it, sue me). Gone is my comparison to Candidate speed-dating some five months ago.

As I moved into to Cain’s camp after attending RSG’11, even though I was fully impressed by Texas Gov. Perry, I found myself jumping off that CainTrain about 10 weeks later. I then only glummed onto Gov. Perry because I didn’t want to be caught looking myself in the mirror knowing western South Carolina was but a 25 minute sojourn across the Potomac of the South.

Flipping a coin (when I wasn’t tying my darndest to BlogJack our RedState’s CoverItLive debate coverage), flipping a coin essentially between Newt and Rick, I kept wanting it to come up Rick… then this utter crap about SOPA and regulating the internets business and I chucked that coin a good distance.

Tomorrow when I wake up, should Senator Santorum’s campaign phonelines listed on his website or his Million$MoneyBomb actually work as in not “mailbox full, the owner of this mailbox” needs a bigger bleeepin’ mailbox or “please continue to hold, your call is important to us, (we really need your Million$MoneyBomb donation)…” but we can’t be bothered to even at least clue you in on how long you’ll be on hold…. Organization peeps, mmmmKay?

It’s time for a beer, also known as the adult beverage of bedtime cocoa.

Peace out Big Tent conservatives. It’s looking like the next big bubble isn’t an economic sector, but the current democrat and republican parties. Either that or not to expect the next Great Conservative POTUS until around 2028-2036***.

jakeofalltrades

We’ll see if that beating manifests.

JSobieski

after SC in 2008. In part, I think I emotionally braced myself differently this time around—I didn’t let myself get emotional about Perry because I just didn’t want that bitter taste at the end

wonkish1

Numerous sources have said that McCain broke under torture. I think he even admitted it at one point hence the numerous people saying that.

But both of you are right. McCain broke under torture and talked and after he also asked to stay there until his men were out. They are mutually exclusive things.

jakeofalltrades

Everyone is to blame! Yay!

jakeofalltrades

JSobieski

Daniels is better suited than any other option to take Obama on healthcare and to make this a referendum on Obamacare.

Daniels implemented the kind of ideas that Paul Ryan can just talk about. No politician knows the numbers better than Daniels.

In a nuts and bolts election about the economy, Daniels is the good part of Newt without the bad parts.

The fact that a lot of people who complained about the truce comment are now going to be choosing between Newt and Romney shows how short sighted they were.

snowshooze

As it wasn’t established fact. However, given the source..I assigned high Personal credibility.
Ok. I need a policy here.
I trust the source. Should I offer the information as third party… or just keep shut.
Again.. I give this source as high a credibility as can be given… aside of first hand observation.
And based on the value I place on the source, I felt it worthy of sharing. I stand with that still.
Awww… heck.

Hooah_Mac

If you denigrate his service, you end up on my bad side. As far as him talking – everyone talks eventually. In briefings about conduct as a POW, they emphasize that if you break, all is not lost, and you can regain yourself and not keep talking.

McCain broke, he admitted that, but everything he did while wearing the uniform, including his time as a POW, was marked by honor. You don’t have the right to try to take that from him.

dajeeps

He is a depressing candidate and doesn’t inspire me or instill confidence that our best days are still ahead under a Santorum administration. And that is, of course, a side from our problems didn’t start with Obama, and they won’t end just by getting rid of him and carrying on from where Sanatorum left off in 2006. He has plenty of big government under his belt with recent enough tenure in Congress to be part of the problem rather than the solution.

I was watching him on C-SPAN today as he was giving a speech to the Republican Leadership Conference. In it that speech, he said something about returning America to one wage-earner households. It miffed me, not because I’m not in agree that the family unit needs to be fostered, is at the heart of what society is and kids need parental attention. I do agree with that. But the societal shift away from that that we went through in the 60s and 70s was because of government interventions in other areas that left adverse economic effects on the family and the only way to impact the choices people make about work and life-style, and the economic realities that have to deal with is to roll those interventions back. Yet he doesn’t talk about it in those terms; he talks about using government to accomplish that shift rather than it being a natural consequence of having a highly productive economy where moms can stay home with the kids and the family unit can survive economically.

It’s stuff like that that leaves me rather uncertain about whether Sanatorum would actually help the current situation or just simply trade one set of problems for another.

jakeofalltrades

People do it all the time.

tealady69

Well said bluerose75. He’s the only guy who is willing to take on the media. The others are all so timid with exception of Paul. I’m an evangelical Christian, independent and if Newt just continued his past lifestyle that would be a different ballgame. But he realized the error of his ways (as most of us do as we get older and wiser), made a commitment to a faith in Christ, asked forgiveness and moved on. Hey look at David in the old testament…he had Bathsheba’s husband killed on the front line so he could have her. Did he pay the price..sure did the rest of his life. Hee realized his errors and asked for forgiveness and repented the rest of his life. He sought redemption and got it.. AND his bloodline is where Christ came from….

Newt’s the man!

WillWong

Part of the process of grieving and healing is to acknowledge the truth! For your sake, you should do so asap. Gov Perry is a good man with a good track record but his debating skills is not the best, not even close! He himself admitted as much that he is not a debate person.

bs61

Woohoo!

I don’t know how I missed that there was another debate, so you’re on right now in repeat!

johnjohn23

Isn’t this the same kind stuff we’d come to expect? Gingrich tries to act holier than thou about his personal life when he tried to bring Clinton down on the same issue, and we lost the majority because of it. Same thing with climate change. Same thing with an individual mandate.

Just like nominating Romney is going to act holier than thou about healthcare when he did the same thing Obama did, and we will lose the issue there too.

Santorum at least seems constant on social conservatism but in the end he’s a big gov’t guy – you’ll notice he never talks about the debt and ultimately, whether it is abortion or manufacturing or whatever, the federal gov’t has the answer to him.

Ron Paul is right on federalism and liberalism a lot, but he’s just so wrong on foreign policy and when he’s wrong on domestic stuff, he is WAY wrong.

Just very disheartened right now. I’m disheartened after debates a lot, and there are A LOT of debates. I live in IL so its not like my state matters, and frankly I wonder if I’m even stepping outside for either the primary or on election day. What’s the point?

krish

Let us say Romney wins the nomination. Ron Paul runs as the independent!

Then we have a situation: who would you vote for?

A. Marxist

B. Massachussetts Liberal (the only moderates are those Republican House members who fooled all of us again! Giving Obama permission in August & casting a fraudulent vote that meant nothing!)

C. Libertarian with the right ideas on fiscal/monetary principles but wacky on other issues

Choice C is looking pretty good – at least our books will be balanced!

clowngirl

he was probably worse overall in the last debate but I thought he took a real blow on abortion through RomneyCare via a tag team of Gingrich and Santorum.

Thought Newt did a good job of pointing out how many ways Romney didn’t live out his supposed pro-life views and was disappointed he didn’t get to follow up and rebut Romney’s bogus answer until Santorum called him out on not making sure that there was language preventing abortion from being added in by the courts.

Not sure if he was correct in saying Romney knew the courts would add it in and he could pass it off on them – but if he didn’t know he didn’t bother to talk to more experience pro-life legislators to find out.

Either way it’s clear he wasn’t committed to pro-life issues.

Thought that came across clearer tonight that probably ever before.

Thought Newt could’ve done a little more with a few answers — but that’s just judging him by his usual extreme excellence. He was still the clear winner.

Thought Santorum seemed frustrated by how capable Newt was in answering his attacks. he really couldn’t catch him off guard. And Newt almost always managed to showcase his own stellar record on something.

Not the Speaker’s best debate but still pretty darn good — and he showed that he can perform no matter WHAT the circumstances.

Actually — I think a lot of it wasn’t Newt’s fault. Santorum really sucked the energy out of the crowd — and some of the questions were things that had been answered pretty thoroughly already.

Also a lot of Santorum’s attacks were unoriginal and predictable —

Which made a lot of the debate pretty boring which hurt everybody I thought.

krish

I liked Rick Perry (he looked bad because of GW Bush could not put two sentences in English before a camera!) – when he attacked Romney, it looked really cool doing it!

Unfortunately, Santorum comes across as a whiner! He loses his cool while attacking others – he is not comfortable doing it & he looks very awkward even though he had some good points….he does not stand a chance against Obama in debates …..

Newt is the man…we need somebody who relishes debates & can put Obama in a spot in a direct fashion!

krish

I am sure there is nothing bad there but it does reveal an important insight in to Romney!
Look at all the people in this country who feel guilty about their money & not paying enough taxes – Hollywood liberals, extreme left (Marxists), Buffett, wall street liberals….. they are in the liberal or ultra liberal camp!
Romney first instinct is always the liberal response …hence the guilt complex!

jakeofalltrades

are gonna be swayed by the Newt’s cannibalistic cardiotomy of the late John King.

minister_of_war

It’s a sad state of affairs in America when a candidate for public office gets a standing ovation for having a 6 year extra-marital affair.

I’m not sure why people stood up & cheered loudly for Gingrich attacking the questioner for a very valid question about Gingrich’s infidelity on the day when his ex-wife of 18 years tells ABCNews in an interview that Gingrich asked to have an open marriage.

Does anybody here think that Obama’s campaign wouldn’t use information like this to completely obliterate Gingrich with female voters in a General Election?

Women voters relate to other women who have been cheated on because so many women have been the victims of unfaithful husbands. And if they haven’t personally been victims of adultery: their mothers, sisters, or friends have & they share this pain with them.

But Gingrich cheating on his 1st & 2nd wives won’t even be the worst of it for most voters. Gingrich’s serial hypocrisy on this issue is the real thing that General Election voters will reject. It’s that fact that Gingrich tried to impeach Bill Clinton for carrying on an affair with Monica Lewinski at the same time he was cheating on his 2nd wife with Calista. And the self righteous speeches by Gingrich at the time about Clinton being morally corrupt will be played over & over & over again. It doesn’t help that two days after Gingrich asked for a divorce from his 2nd wife so he could focus more on his mistress that Gingrich gave a speech at a conference on “The Demise of American Culture.”

Gingrich is a man with no core.

jakeofalltrades

And if you look at the RCP SC daily time graph, it seems likely that Romney and Newt share a sizeable fraction of supporters, because they have interlocking crest and trough.

Change Jar Conservative

Ron Paul will use his votes in a brokered convention to force Rand as the VP.

Now that’s one that I hadn’t seen coming.

Tbone

Yep, some other guy’s unfaithful wife.

Maybe yours.

jakeofalltrades

Listen closely. The female voices are cheering him the loudest.

WillWong

Clinton was impeached for Perjury and Obstruction of Justice, not adultery!

hweila

he’s dropped to such a low proportion of the votes that he’s no longer picking up delegates. At 5% or less, Perry and Huntsman had hit that point. So long as he stays at 15% or above, Santorum will have no reason to walk away until the first of April when the winner-take-all contests begin.

One thing I don’t think most of those calling for Santorum to drop out realize is that Santorum leaving will likely benefit Ron Paul as much or more than any other single candidate, as he has an extremely strong record on opposing abortion and will pick-up that chunk of single-issue, social conservative voters. They disagree with him on other issues, which is why they presently back Santorum, but if it becomes Gingrich v. Romney v. Paul, then for those voters it will be Paul.

Santorum dropping out right now means nothing but more delegates for Paul and a much bigger chance of him somehow winning the nomination on the 2nd or 3rd ballot.

WillWong

I don’t think people really care about his tax returns. The damage is already done! We already assumed he is hiding something! Big mistake! Even his sidekick Christie said that he should release his tax returns immediately. Romney is so tone deaf…..

WillWong

Does not appear presidential at all. Refused to address Newt as the Speaker several times! Tried to claim credit for achievements done in the House while Newt was the Speaker. I don’t care how he tried to claimed credit….the record shows that Newt balanced 4 budgets, reformed entitlement and led the republican takeover of both chambers in 1994!

But one record will forever belong to him….losing his own senate seat by 17%.

Endorsing Arlen Specter in 2004 will go down as his worst act of judgment ever!

And has he ever apologize for any mistakes? None! Not for endorsing Arlen, not for all those Big Government votes!

Interesting during the debate, when Newt acknowledged he made a mistake and changed his way, Santorum kind of rolled his eyes in frustration…..seems like in his mind all politicians are the same!

acat

Just how long does he think he can stay in?
Can he exceed Huckabee’s mark?

His record appeals only to a subset of the religious right, he bought his Iowa win, he bombed in New Hampshire, and his star has been crashing back to earth ever since.

He desperately needs a strong showing in South Carolina, also a religious right State – this cat visited Heritage once, in its’ heyday – but the polls keep showing his chances of getting one keep sliding.

Probably his best bet is to beg Romney for the veep slot, but if Willard has half a brain, he knows he needs that to stay open as a potential sop at the convention.

Mew

arthurjake

He inherited it. But whatever one of his ancestors made it and he turned it into a greater amount. More power to him. My problem with him the way he governed Mass makes him about as far left as Obama.

SoFiMil

Being charitable to all 3 candidates

A – 0
B – 2 – social and defense (albeit a shaky and unstable fiscal and social leg)
C – 1 – fiscal (albeit strong pro-life)

Not thrilled with Romney, but Ron Paul is a sane whiney racist.

I can deal with stupid fiscal and naive foreign policies, but will not tolerate evil (e.g., abortion and for all intents and purposes self-admitted racism).

SoFiMil

Dubya had decency and honor, even when I disagreed with him. Rick Perry and Tim Pawlenty would have made a great Commander in Chief. Kerry would have received the same lukewarm response that our brave service members give Obama.

SoFiMil

Doubtful,but not unmaginable. Not disagreeing with you at all. Laughing with you, not at you.

I miss Gov. Perry too! It will be interesting if Perry’s election results are below, at, or above the polling numbers before he suspended his campaign.

Justin_Case

of Gingrich taking on King and the rest of the media for not focusing on the very important issues of our day. Romney said as much when asked to respond.

If character issues are so important, then why hasn’t the media gone to the trouble of providing some investigative insight on Obama’s drug use and his friendships with Rezco, Wright, and Ayres? The standing O was also in recognition of the double standard that has been inflicted on us by supposed impartial “jourOlists”

Say what you want about Gingrich, but the man knows how to stand up for himself AND he knows how to fight back-which is something that has been lacking in the GOP for a long time.

http://www.planettron.com NickDeringer

Newt’s divorce papers will be far more interesting than Romney’s tax returns.

Do you hear that sound? It the sound of Evangelicals and women voters deserting Newt’s House of Ill Repute. I think Romney should wear a “Share Me” tee shirt to the next debate.

SoFiMil

.

SoFiMil

Good for him for being smart with his money and putting it in a tax shelter. Bad for him for being unprepared for this softball question.

maybenexttime

The news media won’t undo Newt…

Newt will undo Newt. He always does. The news media doesn’t force him to sit on a couch with Nancy Pelosi, or call Paul Ryan a right-wing social engineer, or cause a GOP Congress to fine him for ethics violations.

He won the battle last night against John King and CNN for sure, but you can bet another Gingrich Gaffe is lurking somewhere down the road…and he won’t be able to blame the media when that happens.

pttx333

W is and always was a class act. Kerry? What a joke! All I could do whenever Kerry opened his mouth was roll in the floor laughing like a loon at his self-important, pompous a$$ self! Kerry hates the military just like b.o. – the feelings are mutual.

pttx333

a family dynasty … hence Rand. And that leads me to believe that Rand is no different – I’ve seen videos of him parroting his loony father.

tngal

the blam stick. He’d be in full-on Whack a Pol mode within the first two minutes.

stumpy

Many forget about David. The personal redemption for Newt is key. Without that, most of us would disqualify him.

minister_of_war

According to Newt’s self righteous rant during last night’s debate: “To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question for a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine!?

Well, maybe in Gingrich’s world of morality that’s “despicable”, but in my opinion something more “despicable” than that is cheating on two different wives with two different women while preaching about family values everywhere you go.

I don’t think that Gingrich’s attacks on John King will help Gingrich at all in the long run because they show how little contrition Gingrich actually does have for his previous sins.

And one question for you, how long do you think it will take before a President Gingrich has a young intern hiding under his desk while he’s meeting with some foreign head of state.

APA Guy

nt

pttx333

q

jaykali

It was funny listening to John Gibson this morning call Erick irrational in his hate for Mitt Romney. I tend to agree with Mr. Gibson who certainly qualifies as a RINO to this audience.

WillWong

and here is why…….

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/romney-newsmax-release-taxes/2012/01/20/id/424920

deVere

nt

clowngirl

I thought he inflicted more damage to Romney (particularly in the tag team with Newt on abortion)

I actually thought Newt defended himself pretty well — and even enhanced his stature in responding to some of the attacks from Santorum..

But in watching him I was impressed only to the point of thinking things like “he’d be a useful surrogate” he did a good job of being relentlessly negative.

But he came off a primarily negative. The only times I thought he seemed likable was when he sounded humble talking about how he was honored to be part of the final 4, and talking about how grateful he is for God’s forgiveness.

I think Rick Santorum is probably actually a nice guy — but that isn’t coming through. He seemed like he was frustrated and jealous of Newt’s success — particularly when he said he deserved as much credit for the Republican Revolution as Newt Gingrich and accused Newt of being afraid to be controversial.

I haven’t seen anybody saying this — but, to me, that registered as a huge mistake by Santorum. He looked like a boy versus a man — so proud of himself for taking on one instance of corruption that Newt didn’t prioritize and dismissing half a dozen high profile instances of Newt doing so.

And calling Newt “Congressman Gingrich” (previously) and not even really giving him credit for what he did in 94 — it just seems like he can’t give credit where it’s due.

Newt came off as much more positive and Presidential. When he had an opportunity to rip Santorum he instead spoke of his positive qualifications (with the fact they overshadowed Santorum’s being implicit and obvious)

I also thought it was effective when he pointed out instances when he got legislation Santorum wrote or wanted passed — pointing out he didn’t do it without him.

Justin_Case

if he could think of something more despicable,I’d wager that he would see cheating is a worse light than John King’s question. However, I will take him at his word that he has repented of his transgressions after asking God’s forgiveness.

Gingrich doesn’t require your forgiveness, so your opinion really does not matter.

There are many verses of Scripture that come to mind. One is the parable of the adulterous woman.

As for your question about Gingrich and the future possibility of a young intern, you actually reveal the self-righteous side that Jesus addressed in the adulterous woman parable.

In order for you to be correct, Gingrich would have to participate in an additional “despicable act”.

I would not wish that on anyone.

trickamsterdam

Which was about Rep Paul being unelectable…can you imagine him trying to explain that in soundbites?

BTW, I’m sure Pres Obama would love to talk about legalizing heroin for nine months. Anything to keep from talking about the economy.

But on topic…could the policy actually work?

Possibly, if you had very good extradition laws that were respected by all the states, so that if a dealer sold in a state where it was still illegal (which, btw, would be all of them) he or she would be sent there.

But his lack of message-discipline there (and elsewhere) is a part of the problem though…that policy would have no chance of passing if he were to be elected President, but he’ll devote the same amount of time and seriousness to it, as some of his other ideas that might.

As a college professor, that makes you “adaptable” and even “a cool old dude”. As a Presidential candidate it makes you a bit of a joke (despite the good organization, and fairly solid electoral results).

http://www4.webng.com/rickbull/lostlucky/ rickbull

the one who gave the interview and accused Newt of asking for an “open marriage” was the very same woman who was, before she married him, cheating with him on his first wife. She has no self-righteous ground from which to speak. This is another reason that women voters will have no sympathy for her. She was also “the other woman.”

hweila

I get the strong impression that Santorum isn’t running because he wants power, but because he has a real agenda he’s fighting for. The more delegates he has, the greater his power at the convention to dictate parts of the Republican platform, and the bigger the audience he could end up with when speaking.

But it runs even past just one election cycle, the longer Santorum stays in, the more states he builds up a network of supporters in, the greater his name recognition becomes, and the better he chances become for a future. Until he drops firmly down to single digits, I’ll be very surprised if he goes anywhere.

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

The CNN South Carolina Debate

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