Meet the Press GOP Debate

Pre-game - I would sure love it if they brought up copyright and patent reform, NDAA, SOPA and PIPA, but since all TV news are owned by big corporations, it's just not going to happen.

David Gregory thanks the candidates for being there.

"I didn't say you were a Manchurian candidate, Jon. I just said you visited Manchuria a lot and you're a candidate for president.  People like to quote me out of context."

NEWT GINGRICH - Who's most likely to survive in the long run against Obama? We need a bold Reagan conservative, not a timid Massachusetts moderate. I worked with Reagan in the 1980's. Obama's going to have a difficult re-election effort.

MITT ROMNEY - I'm proud of my record, and New Hampshire was our neighbor, they saw how I did. We have to replace a lifelong politician (Obama) with someone who is not a lifelong politician (me!)

RICK SANTORUM - If Mitt's record was so great, why not run for re-election? Why bail out? When he ran against Ted Kennedy who ran from conservative principles. ("But you endorsed Romney in 2008.") Vis a vie John McCain, yeah.

MITT ROMNEY - I got Massachusetts working, I did what I wanted to do, if I'd run again, it would've been about me. ("But, but...!") Rick, Rick, it's my time.

NEWT GINGRICH - I realize the red light doesn't mean anything to you becuz you're the frontrunner. (Some boos.) Can we drop the pious baloney? You've been running since the 1990's.

MITT ROMNEY - I didn't plan on getting into politics, but when I saw Ted Kennedy running unopposed, I as a ctitizen tried to put a stop to it.

RON PAUL - This whole debate has been superficial when we're not talking about spending or the debt or these foreign wars. We really have to talk about real cuts. Character's important, motivation's important, but in the debate format, it's less significant than what we really believe in.

RICK PERRY - Who can beat Obama, invigorate the Tea Party, make real change? And as I look down the row to Santorum I see insiders (thus excluding Huntsman). Who can stand up and lead the Tea Party? It was their power in 2010 that brought the House to Republican control.

MITT ROMNEY - The people in NH see what I did as governor. I wrote a book and described my view for the country. I've seen government tries to solve problems and it doesn't work. It's frankly made me more conservative as time goes on.

JON HUNTSMAN - I'm sure the people are confused by all the political spin up here. I was criticized for putting my country first. Yes, I was serving my country with China under a Democratic administration, but it shouldn't matter, just as it doesn't matter to my two sons in the US Navy.

MITT ROMNEY - I don't disrespect his decision. I just think the person we put against Obama shouldn't be someone who called him a marvelous leader and worked for his administration for two years.

JON HUNTSMAN - The reason this country is so divided is because of attitudes like that. (Applause!) I agree with the Paul Ryan plan for the budget; there will be no sacred cows. There will be means testing, Social Security, Medicare. I won't tie the defense budget to GDP.

RICK SANTORUM - I agree with Huntsman with means testing. We ought to reduce SS benefits for the retired wealthy. To subsidize high-income seniors doesn't make sense to me.

NEWT GINGRICH - I find it fascinating that highly-paid DC insiders talk about pain. Who's going to be in pain? On theft alone, we could save $100 billion a year on Medicaid/medicare expenses if the govt were competant.


Ron Paul & Newt Gingrich applaud Rick Perry's ability to count to 3

RICK PERRY - I'll get rid of the Departments of Energy, Education and Commerce. (Laughter.)

RICK SANTORUM - I'd return more federal programs to the states.

MITT ROMNEY - I'd cut Obamacare, that'd save $95 billion a year.

JON HUNTSMAN - It's silly to have us raise our hands. We are so full of loopholes and deductions. We need to ger rid of them and say "so long" to corporate welfare.

NEWT GINGRICH - Compromise can be done with real leadership. I worked with Clinton on welfare reform.

MITT ROMNEY - I was governor in a state with 85% Democratic legislature. I met with them personally, found those issues we agreed on, we could work together.

RON PAUL - I'm cutting the budget by going back to 2006 budgetary levels and dropping foreign wars. When people get more freedom and get more of their money back, they don't feel any pain.

RICK SANTORUM - Paul's never been able to pass anything or work with anybody. What he could do as CiC is pull all of our troops out of countries everywhere and create vacuums. What Republicans like about him, he couldn't do, and what they're afraid of, he'd do on day one.

RON PAUL - We can't keep up this Woodrow Wilson foreign policy. They have elections overseas that we don't even accept.

RICK SANTORUM - I was able to get things done with Democrats. I was there with welfare reform.

JON HUNTSMAN - It comes down to trust. They hear the spin and still feel they're not being represented. My first press conference when I ran for governor was on ethics in government. We need term limits for Congress, and we need rules that stops them from turning right around and becoming lobbyists.

RICK PERRY - I hope I make Republicans uncomfortable when I talk about the out-of-control spending they did in the 2000's when they had control of both parties (Parties?!) DG: "You think you'll make the GOP uncomfortable by talking about cutting spending?" (Sounds incredulous.) You're darn right.

Commercials!

JON HUNTSMAN - We can't effectively confront our energy problems until we have energy independence. We need to break up oil distribution monopoly. (Applause.)

RON PAUL - Subsidies per se are bad economically bad policy. When it comes to energy, we should deregulate it. Prices go up when government gets involved.

MITT ROMNEY - We don't need a federal govt to be trying to solve poverty all over the nation. All these social safety nets need to be sent back to the states. You have all these govt bureaucrats administering these programs. I don't discriminate. I had a man in my Cabinet who was gay, I put gays on the bench. Right now.

RICK SANTORUM - I would be a voice for gays to be treated equally, but I wouldn't want them to change laws on marriage or adoption. Just becuz you don't agree with someone's desires to change the laws doesn't mean you dislike them personally. We can be respectful even if we don't agree. ("What if your son told you he was gay?") I would love him just as much as the second before he said it. (That sound you hear is a ball being knocked out of a park.)

RICK PERRY - Plugs Jim DeMint and winks at South Carolina before moving to "I'm not anti-union; I'm pro-job."

MITT ROMNEY - There are benefits from unions. Carpenters unions makes sure their members are trained. I agree with Perry on right-to-work. But we need to look at govt unions.

RICK SANTORUM - Unions also do good in the community. I worked with several labor unions in Philadelphia.

Commercials!

NEWT GINGRICH - It's not an "easy answer" if it's a statement of fact. Obama has killed jobs, increased oil dependence on foreign countries.

MITT ROMNEY - I don't blame Obama for the recession; I blame him for letting it go on so long.

I'm starting to get tired here. Newt talks about federal government incompetance, Perry talks about govt needs to stop trying one-size-fits-all solutions. Santorum would use premium-support model for Medicare reform.

RON PAUL - Entitlements are not rights. (Applause.) There's only really one right, the right to liberty. We should deal with the military-industrial complex.

JON HUNTSMAN - I've done 160 public events in NH. The people want a leader who will unite, it's not about taking groups and villifying. As president I'll attack the trust deficit as much as the budget deficit.

Commercials!

RICK SANTORUM - Why is it we cannot live with a nuclear Iran when we live with a nuclear North Korea? They're a theocracy. Achmadinejad has said martyrdom is great. Pakistan is not a theocracy. We have a president who's weak.

NEWT GINGRICH - I'm consistant becuz I believe in fact-based campaigns. I haven't seen the PAC ad, but the New York Times reported the bad stuff about Bain.

MITT ROMNEY - I can't control what the PACs do, but the ad I saw said (he rattles off 4 things) and those were all true. If they're wrong about something, I hope they take them down. And some of the names you've called me I found were over the top.

NEWT GINGRICH - We've put South Carolina TV stations on notice to fact-check the ads before they air them. (Veiled threat watch.)

RICK SANTORUM - I wrote a book "It Takes a Family." We need to support families.

RON PAUL - Our Founders understood what liberty meant. We need to defend liberty.

And.... scene!

Okay, let's look at this:

MITT ROMNEY

Best Moment - Rattling off all of the true things about Gingrich in one of the ads Newt was complaining about.

Worst Moment - Doubling down on criticizing Huntsman's service as ambassador.

Overall - After getting beat up in the beginning, Mitt was able to coast the rest of the way. I don't think he hurt himself, and I think he again demonstrated his skills at debate, and if beating Obama is a priority, the guy has to know how to debate.

JON HUNTSMAN

Best Moment - "The reason this country is so divided is because of attitudes like that." The most effective punch anyone has ever landed on Mitt.

Worst Moment - If you had the word "trust" in your Jon Huntsman drinking game, you shouldn't drive right now.

Overall - Great performance, maybe his best yet. This should solidify his support in New Hampshire. Don't know if it translates to any other states.

RON PAUL

Best Moment - Criticizing our "Woodrow Wilson foreign policy."

Worst Moment - His little ramble about debt and the budget and the Fed and... it just all merges together sometimes.

Overall - If you're not a Ron Paul believer yet, it just isn't going to happen.

RICK SANTORUM

Best Moment - "I would love him just as much as the second before he said it."

Worst Moment - That record-needle-scratching sound right after the reporter mentioned Santorum endores Romney in 2008 after Santorum had just been ripping on him.

Overall - Meh. He seems more concerned about knocking Ron Paul out of the race than Mitt Romney.

RICK PERRY

Best Moment - Making light of the three departments he'd cut.

Worst Moment - Saying that Republicans controlled both parties in the 2000's.

Overall - I know there's a chance he could resurrect his campaign in South Carolina, but it feels like a waste of our time to have him on stage, and it bugs me they still won't let Buddy Roemer debate but they let Perry hang around.

NEWT GINGRICH

Best Moment - Criticizing the media, but of course.

Worst Moment - Letting his inner Angry Newt out to create a new meme - "pious baloney."

Overall - It's never good for Newt to remind the electorate how bitter and unstable he can be. There's a fine line between being tough and being a jerk.