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Republican Debate – Tampa, FL

Republican Debate – Tampa, FL

No Tweets of the Night (or cigarettes).  It just wasn’t that good for me.

Endgame assessment:  Very boring, strange debate.  Romney scored points at the start by going after Newt; Newt brought up history of Romney attacking others from 2008.  Newt did not take the bait and get angry.  Seems like it was a strategic move now that he is frontrunner not to appear angry.  Not sure how it all plays out.

Santorum was out of the discussion most of the night until the very end when he went after Romney and Newt.  Not sure it was enough to get him votes from others.

Probably good for Newt that Romney releases tax returns tomorrow, will focus on strategies he used to minimize taxes — legally.  Tax return probably is hundreds of pages.

That the crowd was told not to cheer or clap hurt Newt.  It was like debating in a morgue.

Will be interesting if it moves the polls.

At the fourth break:

Again, boring.  Newt dominated the time (I think) and was given a chance to espouse his growth plans for the economy and the space coast in Florida.  But there were no fireworks.  This cannot be good for Santurum.  Very biased question to Newt why the Bush tax cuts didn’t work, and Newt responded they helped at a difficult time after 9/11.

At the third break:

Another really boring segment.  Have no idea what just happened.  Some immigration talk, but not real enthusiastic.  Everyone endorses english as unifying language, Dream Act but only for military service.  Something about beets and sugar cane.  Not sure I’ll be able to come up with tweets of the night. BTW, on Fox Fred Thompson endorsed Newt.

At the second break:

Boring.  Not much to write about.  A lot of foreign policy stuff.  Newt gave strong answer on Americans historically not seeking war, but commitment to freedom of the seas (re Strait of Hormuz).  Santorum not a big part of the conversation so far, that could hurt him most because he needs to stand out.  Big story of night is that NBC apparently admonished crowd not to clap or cheer, so there’s stone silence in the room.  That hurts Newt.

At the first break:

Romney attacked Newt pretty vigorously on speakership, ethics, Freddie contract.  Newt responded somewhat passively at first, then more vigorously.  Not sure who won that encounter.  My impression was that Newt deliberately was not taking the bait.

Fair amount of discussion of tax returns to be released by Romney.  Some suggestions, indirectly, that may have low rate.  Romney repeated the anti-capitalism line of defense.

On Freddie contract, Newt gave a pretty vigorous defense.  Mitt made misstatement that Newt said he was hired as a historian.  We’ve already debunked that here.  I think Romney got the better of the exchange.

Before the start:

About an hour ago, Newt’s former company, the Center for Health Transformation, released a copy of a 2006 Freddie consulting contract.

All polls point towards Newt being in the lead.  The latest, released tonight, is PPP, showing Newt up 5:

PPP’s first post-South Carolina poll in Florida finds Newt Gingrich with a small lead.  He’s at 38% to 33% for Mitt Romney, 13% for Rick Santorum, and 10% for Ron Paul.

Gingrich has gained 12 points since a PPP poll conducted in Florida a week ago. Romney has dropped 8 points. Paul and Santorum have pretty much remained in place. Their favorability numbers show similar trendlines. Gingrich’s has increased 8 points from +15 (51/36) to +23 (57/34). Meanwhile Romney’s has declined 13 points from +44 (68/24) to +31 (61/30).

This could be key in many ways:

Newt is drawing out new voters.  With the 11% of the electorate that didn’t vote in the 2008 primary, he leads 40-30. Meanwhile Romney is having trouble holding onto the folks who voted for him in 2008.  37% are supporting someone else this time, with 19% of them moving toward Gingrich.

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Comments

I hope Newt brings up the Massive Medicare and Medicaid Fraud by the Romney/Bain company which resulted in the largest fine in history.

StrangernFiction | January 23, 2012 at 8:23 pm

Romneycare, Romneycare, Romneycare (especially it’s taxpayer funding for abortion). Hitting Romney on this is the key, so hopefully that will happen tonight.

There is a missing page on the linked consulting agreement. It is the one describing the scope of services to be performed. Anyone have a link for the complete version?

Starting out strong. Good answer.

Romney is not the real opponent, Obama is! As an independent who detests Newt, the only reason I would vote for him is to see him pound Obama and his protective liberal press.

What I want to see is a Newt pounding Obama and his protective press. He does this, I’ll start saving my vacation time to campaign for him.

Romney can’t challenge anyone from the right. He has no room to stand there.

Midwest Rhino | January 23, 2012 at 9:20 pm

Britt Hume on O’Reilly still preaching for Mitt. Says he is the only one that has three strong showings. But Newt didn’t have all those millions in PAC attack ads. Hume says Gingrich has the highest negatives by far, higher than Ron Paul. Says the only reason Newt got up is cause the Romney attacks stopped when they thought he was dead. He thinks the attacks are legit.

I think Hume is wrong. The earlier discussion on Newt’s ethics vindication that was never played in the media is an example. Hume is sold out not so much for Romney .. but he shows deep hate for Newt. We’ve discussed the other attacks … Hume seems to harbor some deep ill will.

But Hume admitted that Gingrich’s economic plan is (perhaps) better than Romney’s … but says maybe we’re not voting on that. He admits to other weakness in Romney … but Newt must be destroyed … weird world.

    Henry Hawkins in reply to Midwest Rhino. | January 23, 2012 at 10:49 pm

    I saw Hume too. His hatred of Gingrich isn’t voiced directly, but it is nonetheless palpable. Wonder what that’s about.

      Google information about Hume’s son.

        WarEagle82 in reply to MAB. | January 24, 2012 at 4:05 am

        DC is such a twisted little world…

        Midwest Rhino in reply to MAB. | January 24, 2012 at 10:44 am

        wow .. thanks … it seems Romney camp may be trying to spread the story, behind the scenes of course, keeps it alive longer.

        It would look like Armey was the one, since it happened after the coup was aborted, and when Paxon was going after Armey. But it still might explain the angst Hume displays. And it is now politically expedient for Romney camp to spread rumors with Gingrich added. Revisionist history at its finest.

        Gawker on Hume’s son and rumors

Someone remind Romney he needs to give reasons to vote FOR him, not just repeat attack talking points.

That was literally the worst 30 minutes of debate I have ever seen. This is why the gop should tell nbc and the rest of the ‘mainstream’ media to take a hike. No policy discussion, no useful topic, just pointless bickering that must have Obama smiling. Which was nbc’s goal of course.

Midwest Rhino | January 23, 2012 at 9:39 pm

good job by Santorum on exposing Democrats blocking Fannie/Freddie reform … masses still blame Bush

whole thing is to prop up Barry by nbc.

Mittens is doing very well, Newt not so much, Ron Paul makes sense, no foreign policy questions yet, sweatervest santorum made an execellent point of pointing out dem’s involvment blocking reform to freddie/fannie.

Excellent answer by Santorum about Cuba.

Something about the camera angle makes Romney look very bad. Angry.

Could we have a Vice President Paul? He’d be strong on fiscal sanity and keep the candidate in check on Constitutional issues, but the President could filter out his foreign policy. He’d also help rally the youth.

    Darkstar58 in reply to AMWJ. | January 23, 2012 at 10:15 pm

    Nope, unfortunately its a horrific idea.

    Because, seriously, anyone even remotely involved in politics realizes Paulbots would be lining up to become a martyr and take shots at whoever the President was.

    Its sad that its the case, but we also all know it is…

      But what if Paul’s on the President’s side, sounding off his fiscal policies like he does very well? You have to admit, as every other candidate has over the debates, that Ron Paul is right on most fiscal issues, like the Fed, and that he does well in explaining his side. With him on as side, he can continue his crusade, and the “Paulbots” will be working for whoever wins.
      He’d be like Cheney: knowledgable on one key issue, as opposed to the President who must have a workable knowledge of all of them.

    WarEagle82 in reply to AMWJ. | January 23, 2012 at 11:16 pm

    Paul will NEVER be president or vp. He is mad as a hatter and it should take a rational human about 10 minutes of reflection to figure that out. If you haven’t gotten there by 15 minutes consider professional health care while you can still get it…

This debate is boring and Williams shifts the topics too quickly to allow any dialogue to develop.

Santorum also talks too much. Shut up Santorum.

“BTW, on Fox Fred Thompson endorsed Newt.

Sarah basically did as well. She wouldn’t come out and actually say it, but anyone with half a brain knew exactly what she was saying…

    Kerrvillian in reply to Darkstar58. | January 23, 2012 at 10:51 pm

    It was a strategic move. Romney represents everything anti-Palin, as did Thompson.

    I don’t know if the SC outcome changes the future enough to keep Romney from being the nominee but it really doesn’t matter. Neither can muster the support to defeat Obama.

    No, she didn’t endorse. She was simply stirring the pot.

man … they give different folks a few seconds on different topics … candidates seem to be pretty concise about their position, but it seems like moderators are trolling for gaffes

For me, only two people (in this campaign) that have “walked the walk” with regards to problem solving and that’s Herman Cain and Mitt Romney.

All the others are career politicians or Washington insiders which I consider a detriment to unseat the anointed one.

Time will tell…

huskers-for-palin | January 23, 2012 at 10:32 pm

Quote from my brother: This sucks, change the channel.

Newt bewilders me sometimes. He now has his foot on Romney’s neck and doesn’t seem to realize it. I’ve noticed a pattern through this race: after he pulls ahead or takes ground by forcefully making his case, he then rhetorically ratchets down, loses impetus, turns relatively passive. Maybe there’s an intelligence to this ebb and flow I’m missing. But Romney is reeling right now. Finish him.

    Snorkdoodle Whizbang in reply to raven. | January 23, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    Newt needs to take Reagan’s advice to heart – ‘always run like you’re 10 points behind’.

Very stupid debate, no questions about Obamacare with all those senior voters, etc.

“BTW, on Fox Fred Thompson endorsed Newt.” Don’t care.

Williams forget to ask about Elian Gonzolos also. What an utter joke of a “reporter” is.

    Snorkdoodle Whizbang in reply to alex. | January 23, 2012 at 10:51 pm

    “BTW, on Fox Fred Thompson endorsed Newt.” Don’t care.

    Blue collar conservatives do. “The Fred” is a big deal on the rank and file GOP side.

Besides 9/11 … there was the stock market bubble bursting, Enron brought down, (while Clinton profited from the market bubble and all those capital gains), and wars were started.

They made fun of Bush for telling people to go shopping, as citizens recoiled from the terror attacks. But Obama instead spends trillions on his favorite friends, instead of building an economy that encourages people to go shop.

But Bush was no fiscal conservative, except in comparison to Obama. It seems candidates can’t talk entitlement reform if they want to get elected. The elephant in the room will paint his toenails red and hide in the strawberry patch till after the election.

    WarEagle82 in reply to Midwest Rhino. | January 23, 2012 at 10:48 pm

    Bush really did “pre-socialize” the economy. Bush increased spending significantly over his 8 years in office.

    He spent so much that I seriously considered NOT voting for him in 2004. He had abandoned any pretense of fiscal conservatism.

    Obama simply trebled down and spent even more.

    We need to reign in the federal government and Romney will never do that. The only problem is I don’t expect Gingrich to do that either. Paul might want to cut spending but Congress will never work with him. I am not certain of Santorum but he is my best bet though he is weak in several other areas.

    I wish I had a different perspective on this but this is how I see it…

      WarEagle82 in reply to WarEagle82. | January 23, 2012 at 10:49 pm

      oops. *rein in*

      Midwest Rhino in reply to WarEagle82. | January 23, 2012 at 11:50 pm

      If we get the funding crisis so many think is coming … tough decisions will have to be made. These could well be radical.

      I don’t like conspiracy theories, but our debt and actions like Corzine “stealing” a billion of client money to support his leveraged gambling habit are real. Europe has major problems, as do we. These problems are too complex for a campaign. But till the election, they’ll try everything to prop us up. Wild times.

      Hope Change in reply to WarEagle82. | January 24, 2012 at 1:03 am

      WarEagle82 — if you would watch Newt’s speeches, really hear Newt speak for himself, you could make a better determination whether you think Newt is serious about reining in the federal government. To me, it is crystal clear that that is practically the basis of the plan.

        WarEagle82 in reply to Hope Change. | January 24, 2012 at 4:11 am

        This Newt seems to believe so. But there are several Newts. And I wonder which one will show up after election day should one of them win.

        I have been watching this guy for a long time. I have listened to this guy for a long time. What he says and what he does are all too often totally different things…

Definitely no fireworks here.

I’m leaning more towards Romney, like Newt, but Romney’s a stronger general election candidate.

ABO, whatever candidate. ABO.

    WarEagle82 in reply to alex. | January 23, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    I don’t see how anyone can still believe Romney is the stronger candidate at this point. How do you support this conclusion?

      Republicans are not the only ones who vote in the general. Independents will not support Newt as much as they will Romney. Will they support Newt? Perhaps, but I’d rather have a candidate that puts all the focus on Obama, and not much on himself.

      Romney’s got flaws, Newt’s got bigger ones. I’m a reg. independent, I’ll vote for either, my family, while they cannot stand Obama, they don’t like Newt either, they will vote for romney, but need lots of convincing to vote for newt, I’d rather spend that energy defeating Obama than defending Newt.

        Justin in reply to alex. | January 23, 2012 at 11:05 pm

        Got any current poll data to support your claim?

          alex in reply to Justin. | January 23, 2012 at 11:24 pm

          http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/america-hates-newt-gingrich/326161

          Fox News, 1/12-1/14:
          Obama, fav/unfav, 51%/46%, +5
          Romney, fav/unfav, 45%/38%, +7
          Gingrich, fav/unfav, 27%/56%, -29

          CBS/NYT, 1/12-1/17:
          Obama, fav/unfav, 38%/45%, -7
          Romney, fav/unfav, 21%/35%, -14
          Gingrich, fav/unfav, 17%/49%, -32

          PPP, 1/13-1/17:
          Obama, app/dis, 47%/50%, -3
          Romney, fav/unfav, 35%/53%, -18
          Gingrich, fav/unfav, 26%/60%, -34

          I’m not a fan of romney or newt, I’m even less of a fan of Barry. the negs for newt are very high, this is just numbers from a conservative paper, of course they can be turned around, but do repubs want to spend more effort defending newt or defeating obama? I don’t know.

          I don’t like newt, but I’ll willing to vote for a piece of lint to defeat barry in november, but like I said I have independents in my family that loathe barry, who will vote for Romney, but need more convincing to vote for newt, and some may sit it out, at least that’s what they say now.

          so, I know its not popular here, but that’s why I lean towards romney, he may lose too, but at least with him, the effort to have to re-image his image is not as much for newt. I like newt’s ability to fight back, but he’s not the most organized candidates either, he didn’t get on VA, his own state.
          an

          Darkstar58 in reply to Justin. | January 23, 2012 at 11:35 pm

          Such polls are fairly meaningless.

          Very few people who will actually vote have heard Newt speak about his ideas. Remember, just because we watch all the debates and such – most of the country could care less at this point. The only thing many know about Newt is what is repeated, endlessly, by news stations. If he becomes the nominee, they will hear his words and his plans; allowing them to make up their mind for their selves.

          Meanwhile, Obama and Romney have strong numbers because everyone on every news station talks about Obama being “tough to beat” and Romney being “inevitable” and “the only serious candidate”. People hear such things and just automatically repeat them, even if they haven’t paid attention to politics what so ever since the 2008 election.

          Head to head match-ups matter a little more, but not completely because an incumbent should probably be running +10 or so if he stands a chance to win to account for all those who haven’t heard of the other side. H2H polls will also be skewed slightly by Mitt, Newt, Paul and Rick supporters who will occasionally answer Obama when asked about the other candidates – makes their just look stronger and all

          The only thing that really matters is Obama’s policy marks (which are running about 35%/65% most of the time) and the Candidates who win/lose primaries & the number of delegates they are holding (this is less important this early, but will still indicate who is about to fall off the radar completely)

          Justin in reply to Justin. | January 23, 2012 at 11:51 pm

          Interesting considering the polls show Romney losing to Obama as well. If the arguement is that Cons will rally around Romney, why wouldn’t they rally around Newt. Same goes for Moderates. But the flip is that Romney does so poorly with Cons, how many would stay home or just vote for Congress and local offices? Would it offset his supposedly mythical Moderate gains?

        WarEagle82 in reply to alex. | January 23, 2012 at 11:06 pm

        I fully expect that Romney would “pull a McCain” in the general election and fail to go after Obama. And the results will be disastrous.

        Obama with his eager MSM allies will tear Romney apart with vicious attacks on every front.

        Romney doesn’t have a history of winning elections. Teddy Kennedy beat him badly in 1994. Teddy won by 17 points.

        Obama will only have to repeat the same attack ads and Romney will fold like a cheap suit.

        I don’t like Newt and I don’t like Romney. But frankly, I suspect Romney is terribly vulnerable in the general election. I hope we don’t get to prove it…

        MAB in reply to alex. | January 24, 2012 at 12:42 am

        Check the stats for SC… If I recall correctly, more independents voted for Newt.

    raven in reply to alex. | January 23, 2012 at 10:53 pm

    “but Romney’s a stronger general election candidate.”

    Prove it.

    Darkstar58 in reply to alex. | January 23, 2012 at 11:07 pm

    Romney’s 4 years in office:
    – Romneycare (after 30+ years of Dems trying to pass it)

    – Cap & Tax (Romney bragged: “Massachusetts is the first and only state to set CO2 limits on power plants.”)

    – single highhandedly allowed Gay Marriage (while Dems complained they should ignore the completely unconstitutional court hearing Romney cites as the reason)

    – gave Planned Parenthood 5 Billion to build abortion clinics

    – gave free abortions through Romneycare

    – forced Catholic hospitals to give out birth control

    – Planned Parenthood placed on Oversight Committee

    – one of tougher gun laws in country made permanent and vague

    – 3/4 of judge appointments Democrat or agenda-driven Independents (Romney bragged: “(I have) not paid a moment’s notice to nominee’s political leanings.”)

    – ensuring sanctuary cities get state aid

    – Raised taxes from 9.3% to 9.9% overall over his time

    – Doubled corporate tax rate

    – 100s of new “sin” taxes, consumption taxes and carbon taxes (including increasing gas tax, internet sales tax, tax on hunting licenses, etc)

    – so much regulation, state only saw 1.4% growth while the Country as a whole witnessed 5.4% over the same time

    – 47th in gob creation

    – State budget up 37.5%, from $23,011,620,000.00 to $31,649,416,000.00, leaving a Debt per Capita of over $15,000

    …so I ask; if you want anyone but Obama, why would you consider voting for someone who Governed LEFT of him?

    Besides, Romney cant win an election – he’s never done so in the past. Sure, he was handed the Governor job in MA (yet still managed less then 50% of the vote), but he blew 20 years of Republican Governor Control with such horrific polling that he wasn’t even able to think about running again.

    Remember, he’s the guy who got blown away by the guy who got blown away by Obama – and he’s lost support since then, despite having every Establishment benefit you can imagine on his side…

      Good job.

      WarEagle82 in reply to Darkstar58. | January 23, 2012 at 11:10 pm

      Obama must be jealous of that record!

      The charge of the RINO brigade!

      There are so many reasons to not support Romney…

      Hope Change in reply to Darkstar58. | January 24, 2012 at 1:13 am

      Thanks, Darkstar58. Good synopsis.

      Hope Change in reply to Darkstar58. | January 24, 2012 at 1:20 am

      plus, Romney’s staff bought their hard drives and destroyed all evidence of the processes they followed and decision-making. Who does that?

      Romney really is Obama-Lite. The more I know, the more grateful I am we have Newt. I am thrilled Newt is running.

      I think Newt will win.

      If Newt wins, we’re going to have a chance at low tax rate, prosperity, bringing manufacturing home.

      I’m seriously looking forward to the chance to actively go toward things I believe in, instead of watching in horror as the socialist useful idiots and worse ruin our economy, schools, private sector and public life.

        “I’m seriously looking forward to the chance to actively go toward things I believe in, instead of watching in horror as the socialist useful idiots and worse ruin our economy, schools, private sector and public life.”

        Great sentiment, well said.

huskers-for-palin | January 23, 2012 at 10:44 pm

Romney a stronger GE candidate?

No question Brian Williams is one of the most boring men in America (and the two local journos were total lefty meatheads — Terry Schiavo! The Everglades?).

Still, there was plenty of conflict that will be played big in the reportage on this debate.

Boring and we should stop letting the alphabet networks run these debates. I also think people are debated out!! Stop for a bit. Give everyone a break and then come back with good moderators!!

Just saw a blurb about Warren Buffet’s railroad winning because of the cancellation of the Keystone pipeline. I suppose more will be forthcoming on this topic, no?

Oh goody, now we get to hear the talking heads praise Mittens.

Where do they get off stating that the tax cuts ;didn’t work’ as if it was an established fact?

Upcoming Jen Rubins tweet: “My man Mitt has his best night ever!!”

Oh goody, 4 Obots now come on NBC to tell Americans their astute analysis.

Just call all the repub candidates “racists” and be done with it.

Another episode in the never-ending “War of the Pots and Kettles”.

huskers-for-palin | January 23, 2012 at 10:54 pm

Yawn. Status quo…..in betting terms, it’s a push.

I was doubtful at 1st, but Newt ultimately pulled away with the debate towards the end with more inspiring answers.

Newt and Paul did the best, by actually talking about real ideas.

Romney and Santorum seemed desperate and just get on my nerves when they talk.

This debate was a real disappointment. Romney put things right away on a sour note with his litany of nasties against Gingrich. When he saw that wasn’t going to be taken, he began to reiterate his memorized talking points, sometimes completely off-topic. Gingrich had no opportunity to shine, and it probably was his worst debate. He was in a tough spot, trying to keep the high road versus the sniping from Romney, who has little of substance to say in favor of himself, lest he open the door to something. He pandered over and over to the poor little folk — “people are hurting” — to the point it started becoming offensive (and also repeated his joy at forcing Ted Kennedy into housing debt). Santorum was himself, and probably did well for his base, and won himself some support. There was won decent moment when Ron Paul seemed to partially endorse Gingrich. I do not think this debate is going to help Gingrich. I hope I’m wrong.

    janitor in reply to janitor. | January 23, 2012 at 10:59 pm

    Just to clarify. Romney’s pandering. The people are hurting. Blah, blah.

    Dynamism in reply to janitor. | January 23, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    It won’t help Newt much IMO, though it won’t hurt him either.

    He will pick up some Cuban votes for his “Cuban Spring” idea. Also his ideas for a revitalized space economy in FL will pick up some support. All in all, the dynamics won’t change much.

    All in all the debate was a wash. Mitt was trying to pick a fight which he didn’t get to have, while Newt clearly wanted to talk about the bigger issues at hand and focus on the message of upending Obama and the Left.

    But I think given the conditions (no applause, Williams’ lame moderating, etc.), the debate was about as best it was going to be.

I missed the debate, but the important thing is that my home town Detroit Red Wings beat St. Louis to hold on to the league lead, and my exile town Carolina Hurricanes won as well, moving to… well… 29th in the league.

We’re 29th!
We’re 29th!
We’re 29th!

Channel surfing during period breaks I caught a little bit of Coulter on O’Reilly. Man, she was screeching so loud I turned the channel. Coulter and O’Reilly at the same time is literally impossible to watch.

Romney confuses being “strong” and incisive with aggression and dominance linguistically. Yes, he did look angry. He came across in that grilling of Newt on Fannie/Freddie at the beginning with his ratatat delivery as just being, well…a p–z. In retrospect, Gingrich, to paraphrase, tried to answer, was not given time, and sort of did the “oh hell, I’m not bothering with this further” thing–will put answers up on website.

Next debate should be on FOX, and the moderator should be the Professor!!!!

“…the crowd was told not to cheer or clap …

Gee, I wonder why

Also, I’d like to know who was in the strictly invited crowd. Awful with no audience response.

A night full of “gotcha” questions from the loony left NBC moderators – all designed (they thought) to make Republican candidates look bad. Truth be known, liberals will never understand conservative concepts and thinking, so they were merely preaching to their own choir, which was not tuned into this debate.

    Midwest Rhino in reply to gad-fly. | January 23, 2012 at 11:21 pm

    yeah, it seemed to me they felt they had some gotchas, and with the lightning rounds, candidates had to be alert.

    But mostly they responded well, and even got to bash and contrast themselves with the failure Obama. They might not convert the moderators, but they may reach others. Talking to most of these liberal moderators is liking talking into a shotgun, where they are just looking to get better aim. 🙂

Saw on the Fox ticker that Romney has at least $500,000 invested in Fannie and Freddie, I hope he didn’t profit while the people of Florida were suffering. Jerk

Brian Williams started out in attack mode, IMAO! What Williams showed is that he’s fully in the tank for Obama and everything Socialist. This had to be the worst showing of a debate amongst the more recent ones. The journalists, including the one chosen by FNC for its debates shows, generally do not know the issues, can’t explain what the important factors are in this coming election, can’t explain what point they’re trying to make and certainly can’t frame intelligent points for the candidates to explain.

If nothing else, these debates are a waste of time yet they apparently should serve a purpose other than boost the ratings of CNN and perhaps of MSNBC too.

Who won the NBC Florida Debate? ABC and CBS.

NC Mountain Girl | January 24, 2012 at 1:40 am

At another site the Romney troll was dissing Fred as a dumb actor and how Romney’s supporters were people with real political substance. They cited Ann Coulter and Governors Christie and Haley. Hello. Ever heard of the Watergate hearings? Or the Ragghianti wrongful termination suit? Fred was playing political hardball when Coulter was thrilled about her first training bra and Nikki Haley was still in diapers.

TeaPartyPatriot4ever | January 24, 2012 at 2:49 am

If the audience wanted to clap and cheer for Newt, they would have, as these deabte was about the people, not the media controlling the people.. They would have responded by clapping and cheering spontaneously, if there was somerthing to cheer about, which there obviouslty wasn’t.

Just a lot of policy stuff back and forth, like you said,

Romney was sure to try and get back at Newt, for making him look bad, by being so good, articulate, and poweful in all the deabates previsouly..

Romney’s a boring piece of warmed over oatmeal, compared to Newt’s fire hot cbowl of chili on a cold day..

TeaPartyPatriot4ever | January 24, 2012 at 2:50 am

If the audience wanted to clap and cheer for Newt, they would have, as these debates are about the people, not the media controlling the people..

They would have responded by clapping and cheering spontaneously, if there was somerthing to cheer about, which there obviouslty wasn’t.

Just a lot of policy stuff back and forth, like you said,

Romney was sure to try and get back at Newt, for making him look bad, by being so good, articulate, and poweful in all the deabates previsouly..

Romney’s a boring piece of warmed over oatmeal, compared to Newt’s fire hot bowl of chili on a cold day..

DINORightMarie | January 24, 2012 at 6:37 am

Mercifully, I went to bed before this debate, so I missed this snore-fest.

From your excellent brief summaries, and the comments, I surmise my decision was a good one.

Looks like Newt should create an ad against Romney using @ldwaddell’s information – that could be a killer for Romney, IMHO.

Also, this is proof positive that the MSM is unable to “moderate” a debate for the Republican Party. At the very least, NBC should be banned or boycotted from any and all “moderation” for the remainder of the election cycle by Republicans.

If what I’ve read is true, NBC only allowed invited guests to attend, and told the audience how to react, thus curtailing any crowd effect – essential in any real debate of ideas.

Looks to me like NBC, the oldest network in our nation, sadly, is bucking for the top propaganda spot for the media merge that they hope takes place should Obama win another term.

(Remember all that talk early on about the “media” bleeding red ink, losing money; that the NYT and many other papers were in DESPERATE NEED of “bailing out” – but, after TEA Party push-back against MSM bias, it died down. I predict the lib MSM kicks it back up, using it as a fake, manufactured “crisis” as an excuse to create a “centralized-media” (read: propaganda bureau), and take over full control media. Crazy? Perhaps. But it sure smells possible after last night’s debate. Yet another reason to prevent a second Obama term, IMHO.)

DINORightMarie | January 24, 2012 at 6:43 am

Suggestion for a “tweet of the night”: (h/t gatewaypundit)

http://www.sulia.com/source/S-36681/

This is Melissa Clouthier’s sulia thread – which is linked to twitter, I believe……

The “tweet” I nominate:

Melissa Clouthier:

No applause helps Mitt. It’s like enthusiasm communism. When we all have excitement none have excitement. That’s this debate. A dispirited bunch of salesmen who get the same whether they sell their wares or not.
[emphasis mine]
about 8 hours ago
Appears in Florida Primary, All Politics & Causes

Apparently Romney donated $36,000 to Nikki Haley during her campaign. Thats one way to get the governors endorsement.

Professor, I must say that I’m very disappointed in your debate assessment of this round.

If anyone is looking for a more objective summary of the debate, I recommend you go to The Algemeiner’s Republican Debate Blog.

http://www.algemeiner.com/

    Henry Hawkins in reply to MerryCarol. | January 24, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    “Closing statement: There were no outstanding performances, and if anyone’s opinion matters, it would be University of Virginia Center for Politics director Larry Sabato’s, who tweeted: No A’s tonight. Romney B+ (closest thing to winner), Newt: B (okay but didn’t shine as usual), Santorum B- (grade upped at end), Paul C.”

    ————————————-

    Not much different than what Mr. J said. (?)

I did not think it was boring. Cheering or no cheering we always learn more about the candidates. This year is so very different from previous primary seasons. It may be hard on the candidates but it sure is alot more enlightening to hear debates than canned stump speeches.