Republican Debate in NH-1/7

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/

Watch here.

Already had a few notable movements. Ron Paul is having a great day right now. He had a smackdown on Gingrich on avoiding military service (I was married with two kids and I went) while Gingrich sounded absolutely pathetic in resonse to him. He also noted the disproportionate punishment of minorities in our justice system and reform of drug laws.

[Frank]

There's football on! Why do you hate America?

[BobLibDem]

Originally Posted by Qin Shi Huangdi

[url="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/"]http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/[/URL}
He also noted the disproportionate punishment of minorities in our justice system and reform of drug laws.

That's funny, his newsletters used to focus on the disproportionate number of crimes committed by minorities.

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

Originally Posted by BobLibDem

That's funny, his newsletters used to focus on the disproportionate number of crimes committed by minorities.

Its not like this rhetoric is going to win GOP votes and certainly not in your mind.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Qin Shi Huangdi

Already had a few notable movements.

Damn! Sorry I missed that!

Originally Posted by Qin Shi Huangdi

Ron Paul . . . also noted the disproportionate punishment of minorities in our justice system and reform of drug laws.

Which party's nom does he think he's running for?!

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

Santorum was beginning to make a good point on the necessity of staying in Afghanistan but than it immediatly degenerated into "Obama doesn't recognize the Islamist threat" crap.

Rick Perry wants to send back troops to Iraq. Try getting Iraq to do that...

[Lord Feldon]

Originally Posted by Qin Shi Huangdi

Rick Perry wants to send back troops to Iraq. Try getting Iraq to do that...

Well, we did send them in the first time without asking...

[Fear Itself]

Rick Perry thinks Iran has warp drives:

"We are going to see Iran move back [into Iraq] literally at the speed of light."

[monstro]

Did anyone catch the slip of Ron Paul's tongue, when he said he was the only Democrat to talk about racial injustice?

He sounded kind of desperate and weak. I kept wincing whenever he said "the blacks."

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

Finally the ABC people are getting to the economy rather than divisive social issues (at least they could have done abortion)...

[Chefguy]

They're sure showing their true colors of bigotry, fear and hate. Keep them wimminfolk and homoseckshuls in their place, dadgummit. The states should decide on gay benefits, but the fed should pass laws that make it nearly impossible for those rights to be acted upon. One man and one woman has been the way it's done for 3,000 years; just because we as humans have been fucking things up for that long doesn't mean we should continue to do so. A constitutional amendment to take away rights rather than grant them: nice. The face of the Republican Party has never been as ugly as it is now.

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

They're sure showing their true colors of bigotry, fear and hate. Keep them wimminfolk

?

and homoseckshuls in their place, dadgummit. The states should decide on gay benefits, but the fed should pass laws that make it nearly impossible for those rights to be acted upon. One man and one woman has been the way it's done for 3,000 years; just because we as humans have been fucking things up for that long doesn't mean we should continue to do so. A constitutional amendment to take away rights rather than grant them: nice. The face of the Republican Party has never been as ugly as it is now.

Gay rights wouldn't have been even an issue twenty years ago.

[Euphonious Polemic]

Originally Posted by monstro

Did anyone catch the slip of Ron Paul's tongue, when he said he was the only Democrat to talk about racial injustice?

He sounded kind of desperate and weak. I kept wincing whenever he said "the blacks."

No, no. I'm sure he said "the blaaa's" or "the bly's" or something like that. Go and listen to it another hundred times.

[John Mace]

Wow, they did another one this morning. I have Meet the Press on a series recording on my DVR, so I got it and am watching it now.

[Fear Itself]

Rick Santorum says there is no middle class in America.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

Rick Santorum says there is no middle class in America.

No, he didn't.

I assume it's not an accident that Romney and Santorum have the middle podium positions, that Gingrich and Paul flank them, and that Perry and Huntsman are banished to the netherworld of the end positions. I really don't like the idea of giving the front runners a 1-up on the others.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally Posted by John Mace

No, he didn't.

I assume it's not an accident that Romney and Santorum have the middle podium positions, that Gingrich and Paul flank them, and that Perry and Huntsman are banished to the netherworld of the end positions. I really don't like the idea of giving the front runners a 1-up on the others.

Debate rules place the speakers by position in the latest polls. This has been true for all 1,672 debates this year.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Exapno Mapcase

Debate rules place the speakers by position in the latest polls. This has been true for all 1,672 debates this year.

I figured that, but I don't like it. It's probably necessary in order to assure that the current front runners participate, but it's still a crappy rule since it tends to reinforce the status quo instead of creating a level playing field.

And it almost made me feel sorry for Rick Perry.

[The wind of my soul]

Originally Posted by John Mace

I figured that, but I don't like it. It's probably necessary in order to assure that the current front runners participate, but it's still a crappy rule since it tends to reinforce the status quo instead of creating a level playing field.

Which is why nearly every candidate has both been in the center and been on the edge at some point in the past year?

[Locrian]

When are we allowed to send questions via online/email to GOP debates??

I suppose for Santorum questions, we send them to answersingenesis.com and they edit them.

[you with the face]

Why did Perry's head look ultra small compared to the rest of his body?

Santorum's impassioned plea that we stop talking about the middle class made my eyes catch a sprain. Seriously? Ain't no one buying the whole "we're all in this together" lie, not even you, so sit down somewhere.

[John Mace]

He thinks we should say "middle income" instead of "middle class". Next, he's going to remind us to not split infinitives.

Santorum, as scary has his politics are, is certainly well spoken. But I still think these debates would be a lot less interesting without Ron Paul. Gotta love that old crank for that!

[Balance]

Originally Posted by you with the face

Why did Perry's head look ultra small compared to the rest of his body?

His handlers forgot to re-inflate it. If they don't keep it pressured up, his skull will collapse into the void.

[jtgain]

I gotta say that Perry was pathetic. For two reasons:

1) The question about what he would be doing if not at the debate. He says at the shooting range. AT TEN FUCKING FIFTY PM on Saturday night? Sure. Way to suck up to the gun owners. I'm a gun owner. It didn't work.

2) Put troops back into Iraq. Absolutely. I'm sure such a position has vast swaths of support in the middle percentages of one point.

He was dead after Iowa. Last night was the last scene of Night of the Living Dead when they killed his zombie.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by jtgain

Put troops back into Iraq. Absolutely. I'm sure such a position has vast swaths of support in the middle percentages of one point.

What I found scary about that is the assumption that we (or he, as president) could do that even if we wanted to. Uhm, the Iraqis kicked us out, bub. We agreed to leave. We don't get to just barge back in because we don't like what they're doing.

[Grumman]

Originally Posted by John Mace

What I found scary about that is the assumption that we (or he, as president) could do that even if we wanted to. Uhm, the Iraqis kicked us out, bub. We agreed to leave. We don't get to just barge back in because we don't like what they're doing.

If I can, I'm going to submit a follow-up question to this. The reason the Iraqis kicked us out was because Obama was not willing to sacrifice the soldier's immunity to Iraqi law, which is something the Iraqis considered a deal breaker (and rightly so). I'd like to hear if Perry would be willing to make that compromise to get US troops back in to Iraq.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by John Mace

What I found scary about that is the assumption that we (or he, as president) could do that even if we wanted to. Uhm, the Iraqis kicked us out, bub. We agreed to leave. We don't get to just barge back in because we don't like what they're doing.

Did he give any sort of indication that he would ask for the Iraqi's opinion on the matter? 'Cause, y'know, believe it or not, there is still a large swath of the population of this country that believes that "we wanted to" is a valid justification of the invasion of Iraq. It would not surprise me for one second if Perry is one of them.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Frank

Did he give any sort of indication that he would ask for the Iraqi's opinion on the matter? 'Cause, y'know, believe it or not, there is still a large swath of the population of this country that believes that "we wanted to" is a valid justification of the invasion of Iraq. It would not surprise me for one second if Perry is one of them.

No. That's just it. Some of these guys don't even think it's a question that has to be asked. It's an indication of a mindset that I find really scary. Huntsman and Paul were the only ones with sensible answers. And Huntsman was brave enough to say that Afghanistan is going to hell in a hand basket, and the best we can do is gracefully exit.

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

Originally Posted by John Mace

No. That's just it. Some of these guys don't even think it's a question that has to be asked. It's an indication of a mindset that I find really scary. Huntsman and Paul were the only ones with sensible answers. And Huntsman was brave enough to say that Afghanistan is going to hell in a hand basket, and the best we can do is gracefully exit.

Afghanistan is the main area I disagree with Governor Huntsman. Afghanistan is not Iraq, and Afghanistan is a war that deserves to be won.

[Chronos]

About the podium positioning, it's really not all that different from the practice of seeding in sports tournaments. We're not supposed to be making it fair; we're supposed to be figuring out who the best one is. Given that someone's going to get an advantage from being center stage, it should be the person who seems most likely, given the available information, to be the best.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Chronos

About the podium positioning, it's really not all that different from the practice of seeding in sports tournaments. We're not supposed to be making it fair; we're supposed to be figuring out who the best one is. Given that someone's going to get an advantage from being center stage, it should be the person who seems most likely, given the available information, to be the best.

It's not a huge deal to me, but I just don't like the media (and it's usually they who are hosting the event) to stack the deck. There are tons of these debates, so a random selection would treat everyone fairly. Or, rotate based on the last debate.

OTOH, it's soooooooo nice not to have to listen to Michelle Bachman anymore!!

[jtgain]

Also what game was Gingrich and then Santorum talking about? Gingrich said he would be watching the college basketball championship. Santorum corrected him and said football.

What college football championship was on Saturday night?

[Frank]

Originally Posted by jtgain

Also what game was Gingrich and then Santorum talking about? Gingrich said he would be watching the college basketball championship. Santorum corrected him and said football.

What college football championship was on Saturday night?

The NFL playoff game between New Orleans and Detroit was on at the same time as the debate.