I only watched part of it. Wednesday night is taxing for my DVR. Who won that one? I saw poor Rick Perry. I just feel sorry as hell for that guy. He is really out of his league and he needs to go home. Watching him was painful. It made me want to take back all the snickering I had done about some of his stunts.
Has Huntsman come up in the eyes of the party faithful?
Did Herman Cain redeem himself after a grueling week of sex harassment accussations?
Is Michele Bachmann still able to hang in there? That woman is tenacious. I will hand her that.
Rick? Ron Paul?
Perry is out…Herbie Cain never had a chance and that’s it. The rest will continue to supply us with comic relief until Romney wins the nomination by default.
As vulnerable as Obama is, are these the best that the other guys can offer? Looks like they’re falling over each other to nominate someone who will lose. It defies logic.
Perry…wow, that was tough to watch. Cain isn’t going to survive the attack that the evidence now points to was an easy hatchet job from the left. It’s a shame it had to happen that way for Cain. There is one guy up there, though, who can tear Obama to shreds in a debate with both hands tied behind his back. Let’s wait and see if Republicans can wise up and nominate him. I wouldn’t count on it. My guess is Romney will get the nomination, and that just might open the door for Obama. That would spell the end of America, but at least we’d be moving in a direction!
I don’t think the attack on Cain is coming from the left. Why would it come from there? That doesn’t even make sense. Cain is not a threat to Obama.
Cain himself said that Rick Perry was responsible for the attacks on his character, not “the left”. Further, he has made it clear that he is not going to quit the race.
I have a secret wish for Ron Paul to win, but ultimately expect our nominee to be Romney. That’s fine with me because we need someone with a strong background in business and job creation to get the economy moving again. I think Romney will do that.
Having Santorum, Bachmann, and Huntsman up there right now is like giving trophies out in a kid’s baseball game for showing up.
Paul is valuable because he doesn’t let the other politicians move left. He’ll be sure to remind everyone of libertarian values.
Perry: Sad.
Cain: Held his own, didn’t advance.
Gingrich: move up a little….needs to stop the history and become more passionate
Romney: his to lose
So..how’d I do? I didn’t watch the debate. They are useless.
I think that the attacks on Cain by the media are from the left. But, the GOP establishment is helping push him off the cliff. They are terrified that Cain will get the nomination since he is outside the power structure. The good ol’ boys don’t want an outsider telling them what to do.
It wouldn’t make sense to folks who call Fox news “Faux News” simply because they cover stuff you don’t want to know about. The fact that Starry is on your side should be your clue that something is amiss.
I don’t understand why they don’t realize that Huntsman is the one who’d be
difficult for Obama to beat. He has the background, the skills, experience with China, our economic enemy, the looks, a beautiful family (and lots of’em), clean record …
Is he out because Obama sent him to China? What a shame!
From your beloved Fox News
Cain Camp Accuses Perry Campaign of Leaking Sexual Harassment Claims
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/02/cain-camp-accuses-perry-campaign-leaking-sexual-harassment-claims/
@punchak
He’s out because no one knows who he is and he’s bland. If this had been ten years ago…he would have been a standard bearer. But now, the conservatives want more aggression is advancing the standard down the field.
@punchak
I agree. Huntsman could draw in moderates and independents. For that reason the party faithful won’t nominate him.
What Cain apologists don’t realize is that most women in this country have probably been subject to sexual harassment in one form or another and never report it. Smear the women at your peril. Two of these women have gotten settlements from their employer because of something they say Cain did. Why pay if it isn’t true? He should have insisted at the time that he would fight the allegations. His stories change as often as Romney’s positions.
Perry is toast. Bachmann and Santorum are the entertainment. Newt showed his arrogant side and why he is unelectable.( People have to at least find a presidential candidate personable.) Cain can’t offer anything other than general slogans. Paul is of interest only in his potential as a third party spoiler. Romney appears to me as an earnest Miss America-like candidate who is saying whatever it takes to get the crown. This has really become just an entertaining “Survivor” season and we’re waiting for a few to get the boot off the island.
Oh, and I have to say the moderators were the best yet. They demanded answers to their blunt questions. Too bad these folks couldn’t have been in charge of all the debate questions from the beginning.
@Cargosquid
I bet its a lot more than that.
Why are you so resistant to Huntsman? He has credentials and is a conservative.
Noted Romney’s nasty attack on ALL Federal employees. Shame on him.
Where did that happen, Big Dog? re Romney?
He is getting more and more unlikeable, in my mind.
The CNBC commentators were laughable for the most part. Most of them seem to think that government creates jobs and recoil in horror at the thought of Government getting out of the way, on the same day that we heard of the “Christmas Tree Tax” to be used to set up a Christmas Tree government agency.
Again, always interesting to see liberals analyze Republican politics.
@Moon-howler
I’m not resistant to Huntsman. I’d vote for him, so far. He just hasn’t said anything interesting.
@Censored bybvbl
What did Newt do that you feel was arrogant? I didn’t watch it.
He initially refused to answer a question, hectoring the moderator, because he thought it required more time for an intelligent answer. He went into this knowing the time limitations – the same for everyone. Although he usually supplies more details than most of the other candidates, he comes across as a know-it-all relying on his experience as an historian. (History has never prevented people from making the same mistakes, is usually written with a slant, and is taught by thousands across the country.) Basically, Newt can’t speak for ten minutes without telling everyone how much more he knows than God. He’s got too much baggage and ego to be electable and he proves it during the debates.
@Cargosquid
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/mitt-romney-federal-workers_n_1082196.html
M-H, Just Google “Romney attacks Federal workers” — he continued this theme
last night. Romney has his facts wrong, but he doesn’t seem to care
as long as the Tea Party eats it up.
http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/002322.htm
M-H, Apparently, if you really follow Romney’s desire to bring Federal pay
in line with the private sector, many Fed employees could get a big raise.
Huffington Post. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Bureau of Labor Statistics. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
@SlowpokeRodriguez
Slowpoke Rodriguez – Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!
LOL at Perry. To paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson, did you see what GOD did to him?
That’s interesting….why do you mention that?
@Censored bybvbl
It’s an awfully big building!
@SlowpokeRodriguez
Because that’s where the data that public employees’ wages are falling behind the private sector’s came from. The Huff. Post didn’t pull the info from a place we’re banned from discussing – but you’ll have to dig to get the reports.
Ron Paul was wonderful in that exchange! I don’t see a front runner in this bunch. I personally like Ron Paul the best but then he has the wacky legalization of marijuana and the notion that we are somehow to blame for 9/11. I don’t get that youtube video from Huntsman’s daughters, to me it trivializes his campaign. I suppose it’s too late now for anyone else to enter the race?
He was sort of fatherly. I think he is beyond strange….Ron Paul that is. Actually, so is Rick Perry.
@Censored bybvbl
That’s a tough one. I never thought of Government salaries as being that high. I suppose if you manipulate your samples enough, you could get that Government workers make more than private sector. I don’t know how easy it is to really get a fair comparison between the two. Take lawyers, for example. I doubt that Government lawyers make as much as private sector ones. I couldn’t tell you that I know that many $150k + government workers.
Btw….does anyone else get a “Look into my eyes…you are now under MY control…” kind of vibe from the pic that Moon used. I swear it looks like Ron Paul is trying to hypnotize Perry in that pic.
The Force is strong in this one.
Sure Cargo, blame me. LOL LOL LOL Yes. You are on to something.
I’m not sure I could tell you why Huntsman is going nowhere. I will say, though, if you don’t like our current front-runner, just wait a month……maybe he just hasn’t had his turn yet. I would like to hear more from him. What’s happening in the Republican party is funny right now. “We have Romney, OK”…….now we’re going to going to look at ANYBODY other than Romney. Romney will get the nomination only because he’s what we’re left with after we’ve given everyone else a look.
Ol’ Newt is steadily climbing…tortoise vs hare….well, rock….Romney’s not moving forward or backward from about 25%
@Alanna
Alanna – Ron Paul never said we were to blame for 9/11. That’s an assertion some made based on his views on foreign policy and the US role in the world. He advocates a foreign policy of minding our own business. We can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman and when we try it creates a lot of animosity on the part of other countries who don’t like us telling them how to run their affairs. That doesn’t mean he thinks the US is to blame for the 9/11 attacks.
He does have some wacky ideas, but they are mostly consistent from a Libertarian perspective. Abolishing the Fed and going back to the gold standard are complete non-starters, but I think he realizes that. He has acknowledged that he would like to do both but understands it’s not going to work.
OK, I admit I like Ron Paul. However, I’m realistic enough to know that Romney will still be our nominee and I can support him. That seems to be a common sentiment among many Republicans. For some, it’s I really like Cain but can support Romney over Obama. I really like Bachman, but can support Romney over Obama, etc.
@NTK
When you say ‘really like’ do you mean as human beings or their politicis?
@Moon-howler
Something of both I think. Ron Paul is the only one of the candidates who has a clearly thought-out philosophy and world view that he adheres to, as opposed to the others who bend what they say to some degree or other based on what they think voters want to hear. You know what you are getting with Ron Paul. I think he is the most intelligent of the entire lot, including the Democrats and Obama.
I know I’m diverging from most Republicans here, but I like his view of foreign policy very much. He is non-interventionist, abhors the idea of nation-building that dominated the foreign policies of both the Bush, Jr. and Clinton administrations, and he understands that we can no longer afford the foreign policy we’ve been pursuing. It’s time to recognize that other nations can figure things out for themselves. We’re better off negotiating and trading than bombing. That’s very much the notion of foreign policy that Washington and Jefferson advocated (even though Jefferson did intervene in Libya as did Obama).
Some of Ron Paul’s views on economics, such as abolishing the Fed and returning to the gold standard give him a regretable “crackpot” tinge but even he has acknowledged that those things won’t happen. Overall, I like his Libertarian views of reducing the size of government and keeping taxes low. As long-term MH readers know, one of my pet peeves is conservatives who support the government getting in bed with big corporations, making policy policy on the basis of campaign contributions, screwing the little guy, and justifying it by saying they believe in the “free market.” Corporatism is not the free market. It’s as bad as big government intervention in the economy and many (most) conservates and Republicans ignore that fact. I’d like to hear Ron Paul talk more about that subject, but what I’ve heard so far convinces me that he’s the best of the lot running.
@NTK I agree about corporationism.
As for nation building, I have to say case by case. Would that the south had had some nation building. Think of the problems that would have been staved off.
How about Germany and Japan. Were we better off doing nation-building? I think so. It was in our best interests. I think would be very opposed to investing much in Afghanistan.