They BOO Ron Paul at Republican Debate
Title news first. Ron Paul received boos from the crowd at the Republican presidential debate. The only boos of the night, further evidence that the latest Zogby poll is representative when it says that 47% of the general population would never vote for Ron Paul, the highest number for any of the Republican presidential candidates.
His unpopularity is only topped by those that would never vote for Hillary Clinton, which is at 50%, Kucinich 49% and Gavel who ties with Ron Paul at 47%.
The top three are Democrats and then you have the Democrat in Republicans clothing...Ron Paul.
Ron Paul was repeatedly booed for comments on the war such as “over 70% of America wants the war over.”
Paul's rhetoric is very unpopular among Republican conservatives.
As the LA Times points out, Ron Paul is not the only Republican that has caught flack for anti-war rhetoric.
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — The Crystal Coast Republican Men's Club faithful were all smiles as they gathered at a restaurant to listen to their candidate for North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District.
But the warm reception wasn't for the Republican who since 1995 has represented this stretch of coast from the Virginia state line to the sprawling Marine base at Camp Lejeune. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., a soft-spoken, deeply religious man who two years ago turned against the Iraq war, was not there.
The GOP activists dining on fried fish were cheering Joe McLaughlin, a county commissioner and retired Army major who has launched a hard-charging bid to dispatch Jones in next year's primary by highlighting Jones' votes against the war.
Across the country, other Republican lawmakers who have broken with over the war are under fire from party loyalists.
In Maryland, Rep. Wayne Gilchrest -- who like Jones has backed Democratic proposals to set a timeline for withdrawing troops -- faces a well-funded Republican challenger. So too may congressmen in Florida and South Carolina who opposed the president's increase of troop levels.
Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska faced a primary challenge from the state's attorney general, who got into the race as Hagel escalated his criticism of the president's conduct of the war. Hagel announced last month that he won't run for reelection next year.
More examples:
In Florida, Rep. Ric Keller was labeled a "white flag Republican" by talk-show host Hugh Hewitt after he voted in February for the nonbinding resolution opposing the president's troop surge. Keller potentially faces two primary challengers, even though he has opposed every Democratic withdrawal plan.
There is talk of a possible primary challenge to South Carolina Rep. Bob Inglis. He also voted for the nonbinding resolution in February but has remained loyal to the party line since.
Gilchrest, a Vietnam War veteran who has represented Maryland's conservative 1st Congressional District since 1990 and strongly opposes the war, is trying to fend off a challenge from a state senator who has targeted Gilchrest's war votes and won the backing of numerous GOP officials, including former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich.
Ron Paul shows he has no understanding of the "base" of Republican supporters, which is why he will not get near to winning the primary.
Back to the debate itself... some say McCain shined, others are very impressed with how hard hitting Fred Thompson was.
The transcript can be found at NYT and after going through it, a few comments stood out.
Many who have read this blog before, know I lean towards Fred Thompson, but I like Rudy Giuliani also, for different reasons and I have not personally decided who I will be endorsing.
This exchange between Rudy, Mitt and Fred did stand out from the beginning of the debate.
WALLACE: Gentlemen, good evening. You have all been arguing at long distance over the last week or two about who was the real Republican, who was the true conservative. I hope you will all be willing to discuss this directly with each other tonight.
Mayor Giuliani, Senator Thompson says that you're soft on abortion, that you're soft on gun control, and that you've never claimed to be a conservative.
Who is more conservative: you or Fred Thompson?
GIULIANI: I can't comment on Fred. I can tell you that George Will wrote a couple of years back, toward the end of my time of being mayor of New York City, that I ran the most conservative government in the United States in the last 50 or 60 years. So I would think that was a pretty good indication of the things that he was drawing on. I brought down crime more than anyone in this country -- maybe in the history of this country -- while I was mayor of New York City.
GIULIANI: I brought down taxes, $9 billion, cut them 23 times. I balanced the budget that was perennially out of balance; removed $2.3 billion surpluses -- deficits and replaced them with surpluses.
So there were many -- I drove pornography out of Times Square. There were many, many things about my governing of New York that particularly in that environment -- one of the most liberal cities in the country -- I had more success than anyone ever thought I could have with a city council that was 45 Democrats and, I think it was, six Republicans -- then it went down to five at one point.
GIULIANI: So I think that was a pretty darn good conservative record. I think, in every case, you can always find one exception or two to someone being absolutely conservative or absolutely this or absolutely that, but I think I had a heck of a lot of conservative results.
WALLACE: Governor Romney, Senator Thompson says that you run to the left of Teddy Kennedy in 1994, that you were proudly pro-choice, as recently as 2005, and that his philosophy doesn't depend on geography.
Who is more conservative: you or Fred Thompson?
ROMNEY: You know, this is a critical time for our nation and fore our party. We have to decide which direction we're going to head. And, in my view, we're going to have to bring together the same coalition that Ronald Reagan put together; conservatives fiscally, conservatives from a military standpoint and conservatives socially.
ROMNEY: And I believe that a candidate -- and all of us here are Republicans, all of us are trying to put together that same coalition, but it's essential that the strength of the house Ronald Reagan built is going to lead us to become the successful nation that we've always been, and our party to be successful.
Because we're not going to -- we're not going to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House by acting like Hillary Clinton.
Now, I'm proud of my record. Not just of the words, but of the record of the governor of Massachusetts. Like Mayor Giuliani I had a tough state to be running in. I was a conservative Republican in a very Democrat state. My legislature, 85 percent Democrat. We face a $3 billion budget gap. We solved it without raising taxes, without adding debt.
We solved the problem in health care in our state not by having government take it over, the way Hillary Clinton would -- with private free-enterprise approaches.
My approach, I believe, is best for our nation.
(APPLAUSE)
WALLACE: Senator -- Senator Thompson, have these two guys convinced you that you're wrong and that, in fact, they are both consistent conservatives?
THOMPSON: Well, we've got an hour and a half.
Maybe they can work on it.
(LAUGHTER)
But, they...
(APPLAUSE)
Actually, Mitt, I didn't know there was any room to the left of Ted Kennedy, but maybe there...
(LAUGHTER)
In fact, I didn't know there was any room to the right of him, either, but maybe...
(LAUGHTER)
I was conservative as soon as I put down Conscience of a Conservative when I was in the college.
I came back to a little home town of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, started the first Young Republicans Club.
In eight years -- in eight years in the United States Senate, I fought for tax cuts, a balanced budget, and welfare reform, all of which we achieved, and I also fought for judges who would abide by the Constitution and the law and not make it up as they went along.
(APPLAUSE)
All that time, I compiled a 100 percent pro-life voting record. Now, both of...
(APPLAUSE)
They're only giving me a minute here. So both of these gentlemen have done some good things in their respective jobs they've had.
But you mentioned Mayor Giuliani first. Mayor Giuliani believes in federal funding for abortion. He believes in sanctuary cities. He's for gun control. He supported Mario Cuomo, a liberal Democrat, against a Republican who was running for governor; then opposed the governor's tax cuts when he was there.
So I simply disagree with him those issues. And he sides with Hillary Clinton on each of those issues I just mentioned.
They came out swinging, which is good, it keeps the audience lively.
McCain had a statement too that struck a chord from the crowd:
WALLACE: Senator McCain, if I may -- Senator McCain, you didn't like it much when Governor Romney said recently that he spoke for the Republican wing of the Republican party.
Who's more conservative: you or Mitt Romney?
MCCAIN: I think it's pretty obvious that that statement was a paraphrase of Howard Dean's statement about the Democrat party.
The fact is, I'm running on my record as a reliable conservative of 24 years. And the indicators of that, obviously, is that I've fought wasteful spending, I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I've been involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism.
I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training.
I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time. For 20-some years, including leading the largest squadron in the United States Navy, I led. I didn't manage for profit, I led for patriotism.
There are 21 pages to that NYT transcript, I have only highlighted a couple things that instantly struck me about the candidates I lean towards.
After reading all of the transcript, I would have to say Thompson and McCain came out ahead, in this debate.
There will be dozens more debates before the 2008 elections, any politicians from either party can stick their foot in their mouths at any given moment and blow their chances, so it is still too early for me to to determine who I will endorse.
Some other reactions to the Republican Debate last night:
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog:
Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
* Rudy - 24%
* Fred Thompson - 19%
* Mitt Romney - 16%
* John McCain - 12%
* Mike Huckabee - 8%
Rudy Giuliani is now supported by 24% of Likely Republican Primary Voters while Fred Thompson is the top choice for 19%. Mitt Romney is the favorite for 16% while John McCain is at 12% and Mike Huckabee has 8% support. (see recent daily numbers). No other candidates attracted more than 2% of the vote.
This poll did not include Sam Brownback for the past three nights of polling.
The Tygrrrr Express gave a great rundown on the whole debate, calling it a "Relevant Republican Debate and ended with this:
Fred Thompson was sharp, Rudy Giuliani nailed the education question, and the crowd loved any anti-Hillary red meat. McCain is a fine man, but just does not sell himself well. Romney spoke in generalities and did not offer specifics. Huckabee did not help or hurt himself. The other candidates offer so little that I almost turned on the baseball game. I then remembered it was baseball, and at least Rupaul is entertaining.
Thompson and Giuliani won this debate.
Techpresident points us to a YouTube Clip of McCain speaking about the ridiculous measure from Hillary Clinton to give a million dollars to the Woodstock Museum (For those unaware, McCain was held as a prisoner of war when that event was held)
He deserved that standing ovation, great line!!!
Captain's Quarters gives the debate to McCain, although he thinks Fred did better in this debate than in his first one:
The top four candidates all fared well, at least on the transcript. I'd have to say that Thompson did even better than in his first debate. He answered Giuliani's criticism of his earlier votes on tort reform by arguing for federalism, and he skewered the laziness smear effectively. Giuliani gave the classic Rudy approach, with "You gotta be kidding me" when Brit Hume suggested that people see no difference between Hillary and himself. Romney scored points for himself when he noted that Hillary has never run anything in her life, while he has run a state, a successful business, and an Olympics that had almost collapsed from the weight of its own corruption.
This debate, however, went to John McCain. He gave better answers on the specifics of foreign policy. He noted that his leadership has been tested in ways that none of the candidates on stage with him have ever had to face. He gave perhaps the best response to Hillary Clinton by noting her efforts to provide earmarks to the Woodstock Museum went beyond his understanding because he was "tied up at the time" of the concert -- as a POW in North Vietnam. But even more than that, McCain sounded -- on paper -- like the senior statesman on stage. He sounded confident, bold, and well prepared.
Right Wing News has a full analysis also, declaring Thompson the winner, saying Giuliani as #2, McCain as #3, Romney #4, Huckabee #5, Hunter #6, Tancredo #7 and declaring Ron Paul as the LOSER!!!!
Then again, stop the presses because Chuck Norris has picked the next president. LOL (Can I ask why anyone cares?)
Here are some links to people that Live Blogged the Debate:
Pajamas Media
MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
The Fred File
Fred Heads
If you know anyone else that liveblogged the debate and you want them seen too, leave the URL in the comments and I will add them to this list.
(Note to Ron Paul fans: As far as my blog is concerned, Ron Paul is a certifiably insane freak and anyone that doesn't like that can pound sand. Save your insane ramblings and indignation for someone who cares and don't piss and moan to me about your free speech rights in MY BLOG's comment section because your free speech allows you to say what you want, or go write your own blog, but those rights do NOT trump MY OWNERSHIP rights for this blog)
In other words, to be clear, if you don't like what I have to say about Ron Paul....TOUGH. There is a little X in the top right hand corner of this window, click it and do not let the proverbial door hit you on the ass on your way out.
Cross posted from Wake up America
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