I thought Romney and Gingrich probably won the debate. Rick Perry did a good job, too considering he was getting attacked from all sides. Bachmann and Paul lost. Huntsman was way too negative and aggressive.
8:52 – Who the heck ends a debate 8 minutes early?
8:51: Debate is over. Wolf Blitzer promised a question on Iran and Israel, but we didn’t get it. That’s really a shame.
8:49 – Santorum would add a Bedroom. Gingrich would kick out all the Czars (applause). Ron Paul is an idiot. Perry would bring his wife, the best First Lady ever. Romney would put the bust of Winston Churchill back into the White House. Bachmann would bring the founding documents. Cain would bring a sense of humor. Huntsman would bring his Harley Davidson.
8:48 – END OF COMMERCIAL BREAK – Krista is joining me now.
8:45 – 5TH COMMERCIAL BREAK
8:45 – Perry answers the question correctly. Stay until the Afghans can finish the job themselves. They can’t do that yet.
8:43 – Huntsman to Afghan refugee: It’s time to get our 100,000 troops out of Afghanistan. When America is great, the women of Afghanistan will benefit. Yeah, because that’s what happened in the 1990s.
8:41 – Ron Paul: Everyone seems to think we should be at war with Islam… I certainly hope not.
8:41 – Santorum BASHES Paul for blaming US for 9/11. US stands for freedom and that’s why we were attacked.
8:40 – Gingrich is giving Paul a look of disbelief. How can someone be THIS stupid?
8:39 – Ron Paul… blah blah blah… somebody give him some tin foil to play with.
8:37 – Gingrich: Threat poised by terrorism are much more serious than most realize.
8:37 – Cain: Eliminate the EPA regulations banning us from exploiting our energy resources.
8:36 – Huntsman: “We can spend all night talking about where Mitt’s been on all the issues.” OUCH
8:35 – Perry: It’s a state’s rights issue. Texas has good relations with Mexico.
8:34 – Romney slams Huntsman and Perry on illegal immigration.
8:33 – Romney: Latinos came here for opportunity, not hand outs. Build a fence, don’t give free tuition, don’t give drivers licences.
8:32 – Huntsman: Perry saying we can’t secure the border is treasonous. That was uncalled for and it will bite Huntsman in the ass. Huntsman gave them drivers licences.
8:32 – Perry opposed to the DREAM Act. Only 4 dissenting votes in the Texas state legislature.
8:31 – Bachmann: That’s the DREAM Act. We need private sponsors for each person that comes in here. That seems unrealistic.
8:30 – Perry: It’s better to let them go to school and earn their own way than have them on the government dole.
8:28 – Santorum: Perry wanted to attract Latino voters by giving illegal immigrants free tuition. I tell Latinos that they need to speak English.
8:27 – Perry: Federal Gov’t a failure. Texas had to spend money to make up for those failures. The fence is not realistic… we need man-power instead.
8:27 – Santorum: Enforce the laws against employers and secure the border… THEN deal with those that are here illegally.
8:26 – We’re back again.
8:24 – 4TH COMMERCIAL BREAK … What the hell?
8:23 – We’re back.
8:21 – 3RD COMMERCIAL BREAK
8:21 – Bachmann nearly sprints off stage for the commercial break. I wonder if she’ll be back before the debate resumes this time?
8:20 – I really dislike Bachmann. She doesn’t have the intelligence necessary to be President.
8:18 – “Should society let man without insurance die?” Crowd shouts “YES!” Paul says, “No. Churches should do it.”
8:17 – Romney opposed to ObamaCare.
8:16 – Romney and Perry laugh about Obama being trustworthy. Romney claims RomneyCare and ObamaCare are fundamentally different.
8:13 – Romney stands by his RomneyCare mandate in Massachusetts.
8:10 – Santorum slams Perry on the policy of inoculations. I disagree with Santorum on this one. I’ll write a post about this later in the week, but STD’s don’t vanish because couples have marital sex rather than pre-marital sex.
8:10 – Perry says the $5000 donation wasn’t enough to buy him off. I agree with him.
8:09 – Bachmann further accuses Perry of corruption and being in bed with drug company that provided the vaccination.
8:08 – Bachmann opposed to vaccination against cervical cancer. Lies about Perry’s plan, arguing it was a mandate (it wasn’t).
8:07 – Perry: I’ll use an executive order to eliminate as much of ObamaCare. Ron Paul, you suck.
8:05 – Executive orders… Rick Perry says he went about vaccination executive order the wrong way… should have gone through the legislature. Admits he made a mistake.
8:04 – FAIR TAX QUESTION! Romney: NO! It has its benefits… but it lowers the burden on the highest and lowest income folks and increases it on the middle class. Instead, let’s have a tax cut for middle class Americans.
8:03 – “Is eliminating a tax loophole a tax increase?” Another good question… Newt doesn’t answer it particularly clearly, but the audience loved his response.
8:02 – Gingrich: I favor all energy development.
8:01 – Gingrich: GE has paid no taxes because of “green tax subsidies.”
8:01 – Huntsman doesn’t answer the question… the only right answer is “All of it! I support the Fair Tax.”
8:00 – “How much of every dollar I earn should I keep?” – Bachmann: “I love that question.”
7:59 – Romney prefers the Fed to regulating currency than Congress. Romney wants to keep the Fed. I agree.
7:58 – Perry covers, claims he said “almost treasonous.” Says there’s no way to know if the Fed’s activities were political because of the lack of transparency.
7:56 – Should Ben Bernanke be tried for treason (Perry’s idea)? Bachmann didn’t answer that question… big surprise.
7:56 – Cain supports the audit, too.
7:55 – Santorum wants to create manufacturing jobs in the US. I wonder whether or not that’s doable… or even desirable.
7:54 – Santorum supports the audit of the Federal Reserve.
7:54 – COMMERCIAL BREAK OVER
7:51 – 2ND COMMERCIAL BREAK
7:50 – Huntsman is stuttering a little bit… I’m not sure if he remembers the question.
7:49 – I think Cain missed the core of the question.
7:48 – “Can you be pro-business and pro-worker?” Great question!
7:47 – Gingrich: “American People create jobs. Not Government.” We created more jobs in Texas, Massachusetts, and Utah than Perry, Romney, and Huntsman in their terms. Nice!
7:46 – Perry: Ron Paul, you’re an idiot. People flock to Texas because Texas is awesome.
7:45 – Ron Paul did have a good jab at Perry there. “I don’t want to offend him. He might raise my taxes.”
7:45 – Perry uses rhetoric instead of substance to reply. Ron Paul accusing Perry of doubling his taxes.
7:44 – Mitt Romney: “Texas is a great place” but it didn’t need to be turned around.
7:43 – Ohhh!!!! Mitt: “If you are dealt four aces, it doesn’t make you a great poker player.”
7:42 – Mitt Romney just called for “Zero Income Tax.” The Smart Phone/Pay Phone analogy fell a little flat.
7:40 – Cain calling for a “bold solution” – his 999 Plan. 9% flat taxes on everything, mixing Fair Tax and Flat Tax proposals.
7:39 – Bachmann again. Did she just claim to be “one of the only” people in Washington opposed to raising the debt ceiling? I know some Congressmen who would disagree with that statement.
7:38 – Perry is advocating deregulation. Romney is smiling at him like he’s going to be his running mate… or that he wants to make out with him.
7:37 – Huntsman: We have a “heroin-like” addiction to foreign oil.
7:36 – Huntsman calls unemployment rate in the US a “human tragedy” and a “shipwreck”
7:35 – COMMERCIAL BREAK OVER
7:33 – One of the Twitter users at the bottom of the screen asked why there aren’t more young people being involved in this debate. The media seems to think the Tea Party is dominated by voters who are 50+. The four states I spoke in to Tea Parties seemed to be pretty diverse in terms of age.
7:32 – COMMERCIAL BREAK
7:31 – Michelle Bachmann got a second question… she’s using generic rhetoric with no ideas.
7:30 – Why is Ron Paul on stage? He’s wasting everyone’s time.
7:29 – Romney argues for cutting spending… but did it in a way that made it sound like Perry and Gingrich didn’t oppose cutting spending. Silver tongued devil.
7:28 – Perry recognized Gingrich was kicking butt and he backed his idea about eliminating fraud and waste.
7:27 – Has Bachmann only gotten the first question so far? Not that it matters, she wouldn’t have answered any questions she got, anyway.
7:25 – Gingrich talking about modernization and specifics… but it’s exciting!
7:23 – Rick Santorum sounds stronger tonight than in other debates in the past. Too little, too late.
7:22 – Newt is easily the smartest man on this stage… I just wish he was a better campaigner.
7:21 – Gingrich knows how to play politics, children. Watch out.
7:21 – Haha! Huntsman accuses Romney of having his book ghost-written.
7:20 – Herman Cain sounds good.
7:19 – Touche by Perry quoting Romney’s book… oh wait, he misquoted the book. Darn.
7:18 – Mitt is doing great… as much as I dislike it.
7:17 – Mitt has Perry in a corner. Perry won’t answer the question. “We’re having a conversation right now!” (Classic)
7:16 – Mitt’s criticism of Perry on Social Security comments ring true. It’s hilarious, Mitt is calling someone else a flip-flopper.
7:15 – Perry embraced his “Ponzi Scheme” comment about Social Security.
7:14 – I’m just going to update the live blog every 3 or 4 minutes. I may have overloaded my server. Hopefully the blackout won’t last much longer.
7:13 – Why can’t Michelle Bachmann stay on topic? Social Security, not medicare!
7:12 – Rick Santorum spun his 2006 loss very well.
7:11 – Darn website crashed.
7:08 – Wolf promises fair spread of questions and answer time… yeah right. My money is on Huntsman getting the shaft.
7:07 – Geesh, is it just my TV or is this girl off key or something?
7:06 – It seems wrong to use a digital flag for the National Anthem… wouldn’t it be more conservative to use a real flag?
7:04 – I guess Rick Perry is the kind of guy who says “fellas”, Mitt Romney is the kind of guy who says “guys.”
7:03 – Someone queued up the wrong camera.
7:02 – Hi, Wolf Blitzer. I’m Kevin Tracy.
7:01 – I love that they used that goofy clip of Santorum in the opening. A guy just walks in front of him like he’s nobody and nearly hits him in the head with his “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.
7:00 – CNN’s video opening to the debate makes me ready for some football!
Last year in March, I put myself out there and shaved my head to raise money for a really awesome charity: The St. Baldrick’s Foundation. If you weren’t following me then, or if you just need a reminder; St. Baldrick’s Foundation is devoted to finding a cure for Childhood Cancers and helping the thousands of children who are currently inflicted with cancer.
Last weekend, the world lost a precious gem when Kim Jong-il, the supreme and dear leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, passed away at the age of 69. According to North Korean television, Kim Jong-il died from overwork and exhaustion associated with maintaining the amazing standard of living known in North Korea. However, we are slowly learning that Kim Jong Il may have died from his exhaustion and wounds after defeating Chuck Norris, who has not been seen or heard from in several weeks. If this is true, we can all rest assured knowing that Kim Jong-il died so that our sins may not be punished by Chick Norris.
