Pre-Debate power rankings
Before the debate starts, this is where I'd say they are in my power rankings. Why's Huntsman as high as fifth? Because he still could become the Not-Romney if the others flounder. I think Santorum has no chance, never has, never will, and Perry and Bachmann had their days in the sun but their time has passed.
1. Mitt Romney
2. Herman Cain
3. Newt Gingrich
4. Ron Paul
5. Jon Huntsman
6. Rick Perry
7. Michelle Bachmann
8. Rick Santorum
Now I know why it's an hour. Because CBS would rather show 48 Hours Mystery than the last half hour. Really? That's sad.
6:04 - Uh, oh. Boisterous Ron Paul contigent in the house. He's the third one introduced but he's the first to get applause, and then after that, the audience feels like they have to cheer/applaud the rest of the candidate. Poor Huntsman and Bachmann went first.
6:05 - Cain says he'd assist the opposition movement in Iran. (How?) He says we need an independent energy strategy. (Entailing what?) He wants sanctions on Iran. Major Garrett then asks if he'd militarily assist the opposition in Iran and Cain says no.
6:07 - The moderator (Scott Pelley) tries to cut Romney off after 30 seconds and Romney says he gets 60. Scott says he stands corrected and the crowd cheers. Romney then finishes his answer about putting crippling sanctions on Iran and that we cannot allow them to get a nuclear weapon. Uses the term "nuclear folly" twice.
6:09 - Newt starts by saying Cain's and Romney's answers were superior to the current administration. (Applause.) (This is why Newt is pulling ahead. He spends the debates being complementary about his opponents and bashing Obama and the media.)
6:10 - Ron Paul warns that the hawkish approach to Iran is the same mistake we made with Iraq. (That one Ron Paul section gives a big cheer. I get the feeling he's going to get the same reaction from them after every answer.)
6:11 - Rick Perry wants to sanction the Iranian central bank today. Says the mission must be complete in Afghanistan. (What is the mission?) Says giving a timetable is irresponsible. When Scott asks Perry about his view of the combat situation, Perry says we're making progress there.
6:12 - Major Garrett is doing great. Respectful, specific, precise.
6:13 - Santorum cannot make it through a debate without whining about him not getting more questions. Claims he already proposed the ideas that Cain and Romney gave. He also says we need to work with Israel to take out Iran's nuclear capability.
6:15 - Bachmann gives a pretty decent answer on what she thinks we should have done in Afghanistan.
6:17 - Huntsman's asked how he would address the spikes in deaths in Afghanistan. he said they're driven by lack of security, but he says it's time to come home. This nation achieved its key objectives. "This nation's future is not Afghanistan."
6:19 - Romney says we need to secure the victories our soldiers won in Afghanistan. He thinks Obama's timetable is too early.
6:20 - Newt says Pakistan is a sanctuary for the Taliban, that we need a much larger strategic discussion, with Pakistan on one end and Iran on the other.
6:21 - Major: "Pakistan, friend or foe?" Cain: "We don't know."
6:22 - Perry says the foreign-aid budget for every country will be zero dollars, and then we'll have a discussion if we should send them money. (Does he count Israel as a foreign country?) Says Pakistan doesn't deserve our aid becuz they're not being honest with us, says Pakistan's really being run by the military and Secret Service and he doesn't trust them.
6:23 - Bachmann says she'd reduce foreign aid but wouldn't start at zero, not even Pakistan. We need to remember they have a nuclear weapon.
6:24 - Newt agrees with Perry to start at zero each year with foreign aid. Says he'd have Christians defended in Egypt, isn't comfortable with Arab Spring turning into Anti-Christian Spring.
6:25 - Santorum says he disagrees with most of the panel. Pakistan has a nuclear weapon; they must be our friend. Engage them as friends. (Everyone's been well-coached for this debate. All are giving intelligent-sounding answers. More substance = less fireworks.)
Commercial.
6:29 - Newt asked about Romney and he declines, sings Mitt's praises. Major tries a new tack. "How would you think outside the box with foreign affairs?" He says he'd adopt the Reagan-Thatcher strategy toward Iran and North Korea. Says he'd apply Lean Six Sigma to the Pentagon.
6:31 - Scott asks Cain how would he know when he might need to disagree with his generals, and you can tell his nervousness increases. Says he feels like he'll do a good job picking his Cabinet and military leaders.
6:35 - Santorum will make sure he hires people who share his point of view. (i.e. Yesmen?) Hopes we've been doing a lot in covert affairs to slow down Iran's progress in developing a nuclear weapon, hopes we were behind scientists dying in Russia.
6:37 - Scott: "Governor Perry, you advocate the elimination of the Department of Energy..." Perry: "Glad you remembered it." Reaction shot of Jim DeMint and Lindsay Graham laughing, sitting in the audience. Perry points out he's been "Commander in Chief" in Texas over their national guard. (I'm pretty sure Howard Dean used that argument when he ran.)
6:39 - When asked about his stance on torture, Cain says he doesn't agree with torture, period, however... (wait, let me stop right there! If you don't agree with torture, period, your next word should not be "however") Major follows up with waterboarding, and Cain calls it an enhanced interrogation technique, and he would return to that policy.
6:41 - Bachmann's pro-waterboarding, and she says Obama is letting the ACLU run the CIA.
6:42 - Major refers to his Spidey-sense in letting Ron Paul get in his two cents about waterboarding. Paul: "Torture is illegal. Waterboarding is torture." Calls it immoral, uncivilized, un-American.
6:43 - Huntsman points out he has two sons in the Navy, then says this country has values. We have a name-brand in the world. I've lived overseas four times. Our values include liberty, democracy. We diminish our standing in the world when we torture. Waterboarding is torture. A lot of people in the world still rely on us to stand up for values.
6:45 - Romney's asked if he supported the Obama administration killing U.S. citizen/suspected terrorist. "Absolutely." (boos from the Paul section) Everything I do with be toward American strength, within the law. Scott says we will not have booing.
6:47 - Newt's okay with the terror suspect being killed without a trial. Says he was an enemy combatant and had no rights to our justice system. (Applause.)
6:48 - Major to Perry: "Are we engaged in financial warfare with China?" Compares where we are to where US and Russia were in 1980's. Says China will wind up on "ashheap of history" if they don't change their virtues.
6:49 - Romney points out China wants access to our market as we want access to theirs, but they have to play by the rules. They can't steal intellectual property and hack into our systems. Says they're a currency manipulator, we need to bring them before the WTO, artificially lowering prices.
6:50 - In response to Perry & Romney on China, Huntsman says reality is a little different. Says you can't bring China before the WTO for currency manipulation. Says the key to changing China will be allying with the young people of China.
Commercial.
6:55 - Hey, there's my point! Someone from Twitter stole my point! Barbara McMahon! She asks if Perry's including Israel as a foreign country that would start at zero. To his credit, he says yes.
Scott then says most CBS stations will now drop the debate.
Mine cut to live local news where some Occupy Salt Lake protestors were being arrested.
Quick check shows Barbara's question was actually her RT-ing someone else.
CBS had a decent debate going, but the decision to cut off the last 30 minutes was ridiculous. Unacceptable.
I think overall the candidates did well. Let's look at each, in descending order on how I think they did.
8. RICK SANTORUM - He can't get it through his head that Americans don't want to vote for a whiner. Every single debate he whines about not getting enough questions. In addition to his "hoping" we're behind some recent assassinations, I'm also pretty sure he endorsed helping Israel start World War III.
7. HERMAN CAIN - It's pretty clear of the eight, he has the least amount of foreign-policy experience or knowledge. His answers were vague and unassuring. And Cain likes to make definitive statements and then say "Period" and then undermine what he just said in the very next sentence. "I am lactose intolerant, period. However, I would like extra cheese on my sandwich."
6. RICK PERRY - Had a good laugh line about the Department of Energy, but it was easy to tell when he was uncomfortable; he'd quickly shift to something else. Something tells me this "Foreign-aid budget starts at zero" idea will catch on.
5. MICHELLE BACHMANN - She was good when addressing specific countries, but she tends to overinflate when bringing it home for Obama.
4. JON HUNTSMAN - He had an eloquent defense of what American values mean to the rest of the world. He also has more credibility when disagreeing with Romney about China.
3. RON PAUL - He only got 90 seconds in the first 60 minutes. I think the outrage over that from his supporters makes it a successful night for him.
2. MITT ROMNEY - I repeat, as the front-runner, all you have to do is not lose, and he did not lose. He seriously is like a co-host up on the stage. He also certainly seems to enjoy being flanked by Newt and Cain and having Perry further away from the middle. He knows Cain is falling. I wonder how seriously he takes the Newt surge.
1. NEWT GINGRICH - Remember when Tim Pawlenty crumbled during the debate when asked about ObamneyCare? Newt demonstrated exactly how to get out of slamming your opponent to his face on stage. You can tell he knows his surge is coming. The one thing that seemed strange was his defense of killing a U.S. citizen if they're a terror suspect. I thought we weren't supposed to trust big government...? But Mitt said he was for it, too, so...
And where would I say their power rankings are now?
1. Mitt Romney
2. Newt Gingrich
3. Ron Paul
4. Herman Cain
5. Jon Huntsman
6. Rick Perry
7. Michelle Bachmann
8. Rick Santorum
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