I'll be liveblogging today's debate starting at 2 PM EST. You can watch the debate on Fox and you should check it out if you have the opportunity because this will be the last one before the Iowa primary.
2:01: A debate run by the Des Moines register. Isn't it almost a given that it will be better and more professional than the last debate run by CNN?
2:03: Alan Keyes is participating in this debate, which should be an experience. He's an excellent speaker (I have seen him talk in person, way back in the day), but his style tends to be over-the-top for something like this.
2:04: Everybody gets to talk fiscal conservatism here, which they'll love.
2:05: Rudy's answer wasn't splashy, but was pretty decent except for the fact that he didn't mention entitlements, which are the real killer.
2:06: This should be Ron Paul's time to shine if he can restrain himself from getting into other areas. Good answer from Ron, which is something I rarely say.
2:07: Tanc's answer was sort of so-so.
2:08: Fred hit entitlements. Nice, but not splashy.
2:09: Being able to watch the focus group numbers while they talk is pretty neat. I like that feature, which I'm getting on Fox.
2:09: Decent answer from Mitt.
2:10: Huckabee's answer is mildly disturbing because it suggests he wants to make us self-sufficient.
2:10: McCain will make us oil independent in 5 years? That's complete and utter bunk.
2:11: Keyes toned down a bit. Ok. Answer.
2:12: 10% cuts across the board except for the military. I love it, Rudy. Good answer from Rudy.
2:13: Ron Paul says it's unnecesary to sacrifice to balance the budget? Please. And the foreign empire crack? Ugh.
2:14: It really isn't the business of the federal government to nag people to be healthy. Two weak answers in a row from Huckabee.
2:15: Mitt's answer isn't as meaty as I'd like, but he sounds good tonight so far. Nice energy.
2:16: Saying "Follow the Constitution" sounds good, but how do you implement that when much of the other politicians and the people want them anyway. Social Security and Medicare are great examples.
2:18: Fred is so right about Social Security and Medicare. I like his answer. Bam. No, Warren Buffet, we can't take care of their Medicare.
2:18: Now, we give the candidates a chance to lie about the poor and middle class being overtaxed as compared to the rich.
2:19: Alan got a little off the beaten track there.
2:20: McCain, good answer.
2:20: Fair tax, which Huckabee is relentlessly flogging, is unpassable. So, why talk it up so much?
2:20 Mitt gives the politically correct answer.
2:21: Fred gets the first funny line of the debate off tonight. He's doing really well.
2:21: Wow, this is a machine-gun-fast debate. It's issues, issues, issues, and fast. Much better run than CNN.
2:21: Tanc and Paul's answers were weak.
2:22: Good answer from Duncan, who talked about flattening the code in addition to the fair tax. I favor flattening the code.
2:23: Rudy, pretty good answer, too.
2:23: Wow, they're letting them make a pitch? That's a nice feature, too.
2:23: McCain's statement sounded ok, left me a little cold.
2:24: Duncan's statement sounded really good.
2:25: Weak answer from Ron Paul.
2:25: Mitt is wise to emphasize his time in the private sector. Makes him sound good. Re-negotiate China trade deal. Good deal. America can compete anywhere and we must to remain a super power. Good answer from Mitt.
2:26: Too much litigation from Huckabee. So true.
2:27: McCain is a huge free trader who wants to open markets. Good answer.
2:28: NAFTA from Rudy. Rudy loves and defends it. Good. We do want to embrace a global market. How much can we sell to these people as they come out of poverty? Very good answer from Rudy.
2:29: Fred Thompson: Mexico better think about criticizing us when they realize how good NAFTA has been for them. Too many people close their markets to us. We can't stand for that. Really good answer.
2:30: Tanc. NAFTA sux0rs. Don't agree.
2:30: I love Duncan, but this is the one area where we disagree the most, although he is right about our not working hard enough to get good business deals.
2:31: Ron Paul is screwing this up. He should be talking resume instead of going on another rant. I am Ron Paul, a former doctor and I served in the military, yada, yada. He wasted his opportunity.
2:32: Fred is looking fired up tonight. I guess he figures it's now or never.
2:32: Fred ain't doing any hand shows. Fred isn't answering without giving details. I love it. That's his second good moment of the debate.
2:33: McCain is a little scary on this issue. He's an alarmist. His answer is lame. We'll spend billions and kill jobs with new regulations and it won't hurt anything. Right.
2:34: Giuliani wants energy independence? We're not nearly close to being able to do it.
2:35: Mitt doesn't want to buy oil from foreigners. Makes sense, hard to do. Let's not put a burden on us alone! Good answer from Mitt.
2:36: What is Alan talking about? Total dodge and totally off topic. He is bombing. No wonder he got killed by Barack Obama in his election.
2:36: Fred gets off a funny response at Keyes' expense.
2:37: Who said, "Doctor Heal Thyself?" Funny.
2:37: Huckabee is another global warming alarmist. Spend lots of money, create lots of regulations, and there's nothing for us to lose! Wrong.
2:38 Rankings so far.
Thompson
Romney
Giuliani
McCain
Hunter
Tancredo
Huckabee
Paul
Keyes
2:39: The government knows the right amount of mandate to impose on the country. He trusts the market more than he trusts the government. Good answer from Tanc.
2:40: You can tell that Tanc isn't a serious candidate because 7 of the 9 candidates now basically have the same position as he does, and yet it's still the primary focus of his campaign.
2:41: Huckabee's answer is a little flat.
2:42: This debate is so fast and well organized compared to the others that it's difficult to liveblog. The answers are so quick, just machine-gun style, that you don't have time to write much.
2:43: McCain gave a decent answer on education.
2:43: Giuliani wants to empower parents on education. I love that. Higher education is best in the world because it's based on choice. Really good answer for Rudy.
2:44: Duncan's answer is a little too detailed. There are only so many wonderful teachers.
2:45: Mitt -- the President was right to fight for No Child Left Behind. Our kids need to speak English. We give out degrees. Higher pay for good teachers. If he means merit pay, I am with him. We rocked in my state on education. Really good answer.
2:47: Huckabee has been really flat today -- maybe because it's so fast and the format is tough on him.
2:48: Ok, we really, really need art in schools. Ehr...OK.
2:48: I bet they're wishing they didn't invite Alan Keyes tonight after that dumb display. Ugh. What a clown.
2:50: The good news for Ron Paul tonight: he won't be giving the worst performance for once.
2:51: Ok, tax credits for teachers, encourage private school, home schooling. Good answer on education.
2:51: Bam! Fred slaps the teacher's union! Rock on! They bring in millions to fight choice. Inner city people need a chance to have choice. Let's give choice to everyone. Another really good answer.
2:52: Tanc talks about cutting staff, which is good, and slaps Huckabee hard at the end. Pretty good.
2:54: The 2nd most important job of the President is to be the Communicator and Chief? Ehr...
2:55: Mitt is sounding great on education today. This is a good debate for him.
2:55: Rudy, major tax reduction, protect from terrorism, end illegal immigration, work towards energy independence. Off the charts on the Fred Luntz focus group data.
2:57: Duncan. Strengthen the border, build the military, bring back the industrial base of the US.
2:57: End the war, become diplomatically credible, no threatening people -- everyone hates this answer, me included.
2:58: Tanc -- free Ramos and compean. Illegal immigration. War against radical Islam. He will lead in that clash. Good answer for Tanc.
2:59: Judges can't set our social policy. Not bad answer from Fred, but he didn't do action items.
3:00: Mitt -- strong answer.
3:01: The first priority of the next president, according to Huckabee, is to bring everyone together. I don't know. We do need to cooperate more, but very so-so answer.
3:01: McCain -- fix spending, fix borders, fix Medicare and Social Security. Restore confidence. So-so answer by McCain, too.
3:02: Alan Keyes, fair tax, abolish the income tax, national border guard. Weird speaking style. He's such a waste of time.
3:04: Mitt didn't do much with his time. Neither did Keyes for that matter, but that's to be expected.
3:05: Rudy is for bold leadership. He's optimistic. He was Mayor of New York. Ok, eh...So-So.
3:06: Video interviews? This is a little different.
3:07: Now, they're going for the jugular. Rudy, I didn't do anything wrong when we ferried my mistress around! They all knew I had a mistress! Ugh. It's all old news (Sounds like the Clintons).
3:09: Alan Keyes is taking a shot at Romney & Giuliani? That's too funny. Like if he can get them out of the way, the nomination is his for the taking.
3:10: Mitt, I am now pro-life! What about your immigration flip-flop, Mitt?
3:11: Rudy's pro-abortion and it's a position of conscience for him. Ugh!
3:12: Fred's answer on the NIE is a little better than so-so.
3:12: Back to videos. I wonder if the candidates knew which ones would be used or if they just clipped something out of a long discussion.
3:13: Oh boy, now we're getting Pastor Mike again and he didn't really answer the question. He hasn't completely crashed and burned, but he hasn't done very well.
3:15: Mitt, we've got to pull together the whole coalition. Social, fiscal, and foreign policy. I want them all. Good answer.
3:16: Duncan -- we're got to be social conservatives and fiscal conservatives. The person they need to ask this to is Rudy Giuliani. Oh -- and Mitt's company is doing business with Saddam and the Taliban. Shot at Mitt. Sort of a surprise there.
3:19: 5 sentences on Iraq on Tanc's website? Ouch! Iraq is a battle in the war on terrorism, but it's a hell of an important battle.
3:19: Did someone use the words Ron Paul and political reality in the same sentence? Isn't there a law against that or something? Awful answer from Paul.
3:20: Give us an example of when you compromised on your ideals! I've never done that. Piffle. Anyone in the Senate has done that. Lame question, by the way. John, you are soooooo principled -- has that been problematic for you -- basically.
3:22: A New Year's Resolutions for your opponent. Good question, but no one is taking the bait -- until Tanc. Who basically got cut off and lost his train of thought. They were smart not to get into a bash fest.
Summary: This was a very well run, very serious debate. CNN should ask these people how to run a debate.
Winner: Fred Thompson. Good substance, good personality, and his "I won't raise my hand for an answer" question reminded me of Reagan saying, "I paid for this microphone." Fred definitely won.
Top Tier Loser: Mike Huckabee. The fast format appeared to take him off of his game. He was very flat.
Rankings from bottom to top.
Alan Keyes: Came off as mildly nuts.
Ron Paul: Probably happy Keyes was there to make him look more reasonable.
Mike Huckabee: Very flat.
Duncan Hunter: He did Ok.
Tom Tancredo: He gets better every debate.
John McCain: Very average performance from a guy who usually does better.
Rudy Giuliani: Solid, but not spectacular.
Mitt Romney: He got back on his game without the frequent attacks.
Fred Thompson: His best performance yet.
Update #1:
Update #2: My favorite moment of the entire debate.
Update #3: Whoops! The polls were accidentally deleted from the front page for a while there. Sorry 'bout that.
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