A Long, Long Summary of Today's Debate

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Due to problems with Internet access, I was unable to post this during this morning’s Republican debate. Above you’ll find my wrap-up thoughts, below you’ll find my line-by-line notes and reaction.

Urgh. Okay, who’s watching at 10 a.m. EST.?

Steph introduces the field of nine. Mitt is introduced as frontrunner. Huck is at 8 percent. Brownback at 5 percent, tied with Tancredo. Steph says he wants to see a real debate, to see the real differences.

First question on abortion. Urgh.

Raises the Brownback calls about Romney, and plays it. It rolls out all of Romney’s not-so-pro-life-evidence.

Brownback says he stands by it. It is “truthful.” Says it’s a core-issue for his party.

Romney: Virtually nothing in that ad is true. Desperate. Negative.

What is untrue?

Romney: I am pro-life. Tells of conversion over cloning of embryos. Cites award from Massachusetts Citizens for Life.

Brownback: If you take a look at YouTube.

Romney: Ah, that’s a [something] source.

Romney: I was pro-choice, I am pro-life. I changed my position.

They are completely talking over each other. A bad start.

Romney I am tired of people who are holider than thou because they’ve been pro-life longer than I have” – applause – I wonder if the audience didn’t care for Brownback’s early slam.

Steph asks Romney about earlier comment on Rudy, abortion and guns.

A terrific mayor, not a candidate. I have better perspective on his views now. I’d rather let himspeak about his own positions. I’m not going to try to elaborate on other candidates' positions.

Rudy: Somehow I knew you were going to ask me about this. I support the Second Amendment. I want to reduce number of abortions, and increase number of doctors. A woman should make that choice. (Applause?)

Steph asks Thompson if it’s a problem if Republican nominee is in conflict with Roman Catholic church?

Tommy Thompson: Any candidate who is pro-choice is going to have a problem with committed members of the party. Need to look beyond one major issue – need to look at other major issues like health care.

(Some applause, suggesting perhaps crowd tired of abortion debate)

Steph asks McCain if Rudy would be strongest candidate because he’s pro-choice. Huh? Where the hell is he getting these questions?

McCain: I think this issue illustrates national security – it’s about how we value life, whether it’s here, China, or Bangledesh, or Congo. I’m the best prepared to be president.

Not very energetic, almost tight-lipped answer from McCain.

Q: What would your plan be to end the war in Iraq?

Ron Paul: Just come home. Hoots and hollers from the crowd.

We’re losing this war.

Tancredo: Democratic debate was a stampede to see who could run to the exits first. Cites Marines in al-Anbar. He gets strong applause. Not a single Democrat paused in the rush to the exit, ‘good job.’

Huckabee: We win this war. We don’t stay indefinitely. We put pressure on the Saudis. We made them rich. The money that has been used against us in terrorism comes from the Middle East. The people in that neighborhood have to take a greater role in solving the problem.

If I had to guess, I would suggest that every candidate has their supporters in the hall, which means every statement gets applause.

Brownback: Political situation continues to deterioriate on the ground in Iraq. The political leaders not even meeting now. We need a political surge. We need a three-state solution.

McCain: They are making progress, we are winning on the ground. Of course I’m disappointed in Maliki government. But it’s not just in their interest, it’s in our interest. This is a seminal moment in American history. There will be a big debate in September. We will win this debate because the American people know the consequences .

Rudy: In four Democratic debate, no Democratic candidate has said the words Islamic terrorism. That is taking political correctness to extremes. You do not achieve peace through weakness.

Cites piece O’Hanlon and Pollack – says he had to double check and see it really was in the New York Times.

Steph objects that that’s military progress, not political progress.

This is a battle in overall terrorists’ war against us.

Romney says we’re all pretty much in the same place on Iraq. I had to laugh when I was watching the Democratic debate. First he says he’s going to sit down for tea with our enemies, then he says he’s going to bomb our allies. He’s gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week.

Good line!

We have families who made a surge of sacrifice. We need to show a surge of support for these troops. Our prayers, our encouragement, our funds.

Tancredo is upset on how he hasn’t gotten a question yet. He talks about poor rules of engagement on the battle field. America cannot be the police force in Iraq.

Tommy Thompson… I laid out a plan to win the peace in Iraq. It is not fair to expect all Americans to shoulder the burden. Have to force the Iraqi government to stand up. That’s a failure of Congress. Need to demand that. Disagrees with Brownback’s partition plan. Wants an I

Okay, Tommy Thompson, you’re the one I’d like to see voted off the island.

Paul: Cites Neoconservatives promoting the war. No WMDs. No reason to go to war against these third world nations. Ones predicting disaster now are the ones who thought we would be welcomed as liberators. Served five years in the military. We trade with Vietnam with that country.

McCain: All of us feel frustration, anger, sorrow over this war. Badly mismanaged first four years. We now have a strategy that is succeeding. This has consequences far beyond Iraq – look at Iran, Syria. I’m going to be judged by history, not by public opinion polls.

Q: Grassley vs. Bush on SCHIP, expanding children’s health care with cigarette tax.

Huckabee: American people want better action. Give every American same health care Congress has, or give Congress same health care as every American has. Too much intervention at catastrophic level of disease, instead of prevention.

Thompson: David, I want you to know health care is one of my most important issues. Neither one is right.

A terrible, terrible answer. Nobody wants to get into the specifics of the S-CHIP children’s health care plan. From their answers, you might wonder if either of them were familiar with that particular program.

Tancredo: Not responsibility of government to offer womb-to-tomb health care. Manages to point out illegal aliens taking health care dollars.

Steph wants a yes or no on Grassley expansion of SCHIP – everyone seems like a no, Romney gives a lengthy answer. Rudy says the bill would have reduced Medicaid advantage, which had an element of free-market system, and he says moves children away from private insurance and makes them wards of the state. Cites it as a step to socialized medicine. Prefers $15,000 tax deduction for health insurance.

Rudy had the most coherent answer, Thompson the least…

Q: how pay for health care without raising taxes?

Brownback: Do you want government or market-based solutions? You need more market forces. Democrats making march, step by step, to socialized health care.

Rudy: I would take that option if I thought there was no other way to crush al-

Pakistan has not been making the efforts that we should be making. We should seek their permission. Armitage was effective in getting Musharraf’s

Romney: I think Obama’s confused on who’s our enemies and our friends. We’re trying to strengthen Musharraf. We do not say to a country that is working with us that instead we intend to go in there and execute a unilateral attack. We need strong friends and to help moderate Muslims.

Hunter: Good answer, with specifics about 100,000 Pakistani forces moving into tribal regions. Talks about tribal chiefs accommodating al-Qaeda and Taliban. Talks about 6,000 foot mountains and need for local assistance.

(I just realized I’m watching this in Northern Virginia and a half hour behind Kathryn, watching in New York, I presume)

Huckabee: Would not make spreading democracy the centerpiece of his foreign policy.

Ron Paul: This is a philosophical problem. Bush was a continuation of Woodrow Wilson. We should spread our values by being a good example. Again cites Neocons.

Rudy: George, you’re defining it incorrectly. The way I look at it, democracy requires rule of law, stability. Democracy is the long term goal, but first you need rule of law. In New York City, people were afraid to go out at night.

McCain: We failed to appreciate that democracy is not elections, it is the rule of law. And the rule of law is starting to take hold in certain part of Iraq. It’s naïve to say we’re never going to use nuclear weapons. It’s naïve to say we’re going to attack Pakistan, without thinking it through.

Romney: I’m not a carbon copy of President Bush. We should have worked closer with government of Lebanon.

Tancredo: The State Department. When they complain about the things I say, I feel better about the things I say. My task is to do one thing. I want to deter any type of aggression. I read the National Intelligence Estimate.

Tommy Thompson: Bombing religious holy sites would only unify the world’s Muslims against us.

Brownback: Words of a president matter.

Q: Bridge collapse – is it time to raise the gas tax?

Huckabee: We’re spending billions around the world. It’s time to start spending those billions on our own infrastructure. Air Traffic Control system was designed in 1950. we have better navigation in our rent-a-cars.

Yepsen: “Republican dogma against taxes” That’s the liberal Democratic idea, that if you need money, you raise taxes.

Yepsen is strikingly hostile.

Rudy says he lowered taxes, and ended up bringing in more revenue. Points to John Edwards trying to raise capital gains tax. There is a liberal Democratic assumption that if you raise taxes, you raise money – very often, that is a big mistake.

Romney: There’s no question that the biggest potential source of revenue is to grow the economy. If the economy is growing, more revenue. Cites Bridge to nowhere.

McCain: Two billion in pork-barrel earmarks. I’ll veto every single bill that comes

Steph cuts him off.

Steph is really getting on my nerves.

Q: What authority would you delegate to the vice president?

McCain: Having been considered for that post several times, I’ve thought a lot about that. Two duties: Break ties, and inquire daily as to the health of the president. (Good line!)

Telecommunications.

I would be very careful that everybody understood that there was only one president.

Thompson: I believe that Vice President Cheney is criticized for a lot that he doesn’t do.

Rudy: I’m comfortable you select somebody who can step in a moment’s notice.

Romney: Depends on person, needs. I know they make mistakes. They have kept us safe these past six years, let’s not forget that.

Brownback: I wouldn’t delegate, I would involve the vice president. I think the President over-relied upon [Vice-President Cheney].

Ron Paul: I would oppose any constitutional amendment changing the powers of the vice president. Cites Cheney as a neocon.

Duncan Hunter: Depends on the credentials of the president. Recites his resume.

[Interrupted]

Rudy says he finds the fair tax intriguing, but getting there would be complicated.

McCain: We have to go after Alternative minimum tax. Wants Greenspan Commission to study and make a proposal on simplifying the tax code.

Tancredo: Recommends Neal Boortz’s book. Most important reason to move from income to fair tax is income tax is designed to manipulate behavior.

Brownback: We need to move to an optional flat tax. Sixteen countries have gone to it.

Q: Mistake?

Hunter: Contemplating running as a Democrat the first time I ran.

Paul: I don’t speak forcefully enough for the cause of liberty.

Huckabee: Didn’t take good care of my health the first half of my life.

Romney: First ran for office, being deeply opposed to abortion, but I said I would continue current laws.

Rudy: My mistakes in 30 seconds? George, your father is a priest, I’ll explain it to him, not to you.

McCain: 1967, Forrestal, and then mentions I think, a refernce to the Keating Five scandal.

Brownback: Not telling my wife and kids I love ‘em enough, being too focused on me, not enough.

Thompson: Citing family members who have had breast cancer, says I end breast cancer 2015.

Tancredo: Cites the length of time it took for him to find Christ as his savior.

Q: What will you restore to the Oval Office?

Tancredo: Hope. Restore the values of Western Civilization.

Thompson: Bring in the best minds.

Brownback: Rebuilding the family.

McCain: We will never surrender.

Rudy: I will restore hope that we can do great things, grand things. Says, “with respect ot the senator, who I think is a great man,” Points out that the three leading Democrats have no executive experience.

Romney: Inspiration from Dad, Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt. Strengthen our military, keep us safe at home; strengthen our economy, strengthen our families.

Huck: In my office as governor, we had a picture labeled “My boss” and it was always some ordinary Arkansas citizen. Cute story.

Ron Paul: Restore openness to government. We should not have secrecy in government.

Duncan Hunter: Restore economic patriotism.

08/05 12:33 PM Share