CNN Arizona Debate

"Okay, I'll endorse you again! Quit twisting my arm!"

Openings statements:

Why do they still have to introduce themselves?


Ron Paul calls himself the champion of liberty.

Rick Santorum says we've got troubles right here in River City.

Mitt Romney whistles the theme from The Andy Griffith Show.

Newt Gingrich will make sure no president ever bows to a Saudi king again.

FIRST QUESTION:

1. For the first time in 65 years, our debt exceeds our GDP; what will you do about it?

SANTORUM - I'll cut $5 trillion in 5 years. I have experience in cutting entitlements. When I was born, the budgets were at low levels now they're at high levels. Cut welfare, freeze it, give it to the states. Poverty is not a disability.

ROMNEY - Rick voted to raise the debt ceiling five times, but to the question, I've been in business where you have to balance the budget or you go out of business. I've balanced budget in business, in the Olympics and in Massachusetts.

SANTORUM - You use Occupy Wall Street rhetoric.

ROMNEY - I have a better record than you.

GINGRICH - As Speaker, I balanced the budget for four straight years. Going to the Founding Fathers, Hamilton said you have to have jobs to generate growth. We need a better energy policy.

Romney always looks directly at whoever's speaking so if they happen to glance at him, they'll meet his eyes.

(John King: Ron Paul, you called Santorum a "fake" in one of your ads. Why?)

PAUL - Because he's a fake. (Laughter/applause.)

SANTORUM - I'm real.

PAUL - Congratulations. When people run for office, they run as fiscal conservatives. When they get there, they do something different, then they say, "Oh I want to repeal that!" You lose credibility.

SANTORUM - You serve in one of the most conservative districts in Texas; it was easy for you. I served in Pennsylvania.

PAUL - You know what this is? The world's tiniest violin.

(John King: Mitt, you called yourself "severely" conservative. Defend yourself.)

ROMNEY - I was a pro-life governor. I stood up for the Catholic church. I saved the Olympics. I balanced the budget as a businessman. You can't be anything but a fiscal conservative to be a successful businessman.

GINGRICH - Romney moved in the right direction in getting closer to supply-side economics, but frankly not cutting more capital gains taxes would be disastrous. I want to fundamentally change everything, making me kind of like Ron Paul. Secure the border, balance the budget.

(John King: Earmarks are a sliver of the budget but Tea Party activists think it's a big deal.)

SANTORUM - Romney asked for earmarks for the Olympic Games. I fought against earmarks once I saw there was abuse in the system. I'm like Jim DeMint, except he's an earmarker.

ROMNEY - Whatever. Ban earmarks. Rick voted for the Bridge to Nowhere. In the history of the Olympics, the Fed Govt has always taken care of transportation and security, so that's what we asked for.

SANTORUM - You would've been for earmarks. I'd like the president to have a line-item veto. ANd hey, Paul, is a huge earmarker. (Some audience grumbles.) Hey, I'm not criticizing...

GINGRICH - Olympics earmarks were appropriate but how can Mitt criticize Rick for doing the same thing because he thinks his earmarks were right and Rick's were wrong?

PAUL - All of Congress is screwed up; that's the problem. If you don't like the spending bill, vote against the bill.

(John King: Question on auto bailouts.)

SANTORUM - I've been on the consistant side against bailouts. Romney was not.

ROMNEY - Nice try, but let's look at the facts. In 2008, Bush was still in office. The 3 auto-heads flew on their jet planes to Congress and asked for $50 billion bailout. I found that inappropriate. I said they should go through managed bankruptcy. (The fact that this gets applause shows the audience here is pro-Mitt.) The head of the UAW said the auto industry would disappear.

SANTORUM - Wall Street got bailed out and you supported that.

GINGRICH - The auto bailout was just Obama paying off the UAW.

PAUL - There aren't good bailouts and bad bailouts. They're all bad. Calling the auto bailout a success is like saying if you robbed a bank and got away with it, you're a success.

John King then asks about birth control and it gets boos from the audience. Newt then says no one in the elite media asked Barack Obama in 2008 why he supported "legallizing infanticide." Mitt says no administration in history has been more opposed to religious freedom. (Um, James Buchanan, anyone?) Rick is against birth control, but gives a great answer, he says the difference between him and the left is that just because he's talking about something doesn't mean he wants a government program to fix it. (Applause!) But then he also talks about contraception encouragin morality. Ron says contraception cannot be blamed for the immorality of a nation. Mitt then cites all the stats on how being born out of wedlock puts you at a disadvantage.

GINGRICH - As Ron Paul has been saying for a generation, when you have government enter health care, you're on the road toward tyranny, whether it's Obamacare or Romneycare, any cetralized government approach to health care takes aware our freedom.

PAUL - If you vote for Planned Parenthood as Rick has, you voted for birth control pills. Planned Parenthood should get nothing.

SANTORUM - Well, I did vote for appropriation bills that had stuff in it I didn't like, but to counter I also pushed for abstinence programs.

PAUL - That costs money too. I'd be against this.

Starting to feel bad for Rick Santorum. This crowd is clearly pro-Romney and pro-Paul, and the two are doing some good tag-teamming on Rick.

Romney points our Rick endorsed him in 2008, also points out Rick endorsed Arlen Specter, the 60th vote for Obamacare.

It shifts to immigration. Gingrich pimps his double-fence border idea. We get a shot of Callista Gingrich sitting next to Rick Perry. Where's Mrs. Perry? "Danger! Danger!"

Santorum says we need to use E-Verify (a federal program).

John King asks them to use one word to describe themselves.

PAUL - "Consistant."

SANTORUM - "Courage."

ROMNEY - "Resolute."

GINGRICH - "Cheerful." (Laughs.)

We now go to foreign policy. Romney slams Obama, points out Syria's a mess. King asks about women in combat. Gingrich and Santorum give artful, dodgy answers, but Paul vehemently comes out against war. He doesn't want women to die in combat, he doesn't want men to die in combat.

We slide now to the question of Iran, and Gingrich said this is one of the times he's for pre-emption, if Israel belived Iran was about to bomb them, he'd be okay with them striking first. Which was pretty much the rationale for going to Iraq.

I am honestly starting to lose interest now.

They shift back to Syria, and Santorum passionately pleads that if Obama's re-elected, it will be a cataclysmic doomsday World War III apocalypse started by the nuclear Iran and Syria. Gingrich says we need to make the US the biggest supplier of oil in the world. We need to have our allies covert destroy the regimes over there. Romney says he agrees with both of them, but he says it's great that Syria's leader is in trouble. We should encourage Saudi Arabia and Turkey to provide Assad's enemies weapons.

PAUL - I've tried the moral argument and the Constitutional argument, let's try the financial argument. We're spending trillions being bogged down in the Middle East. We don't have the money. Remember, the Soviets left Afghanistan because they were bankrupt.

John King brings up No Child Left Behind, and Santorum says yeah, Bush wanted it and I voted for it, and I regret it. (Boos.) Hey, politics is a team sport. I believe the federal government should get out of the education business, and the state government. Send it to local communities. (Slow down, dude.)

Final question. What's the misconcpetion about you?

PAUL - That I can't win. I clearly can.

GINGRICH - I wish people understood the amount of work it actually took to balance the budget and get welfare reform.

ROMNEY - Gives his usual summation speech, doesn't answer the question.

SANTORUM - Takes Mitt's lead, pleads for people to vote for him becuz he can do a lot with a little, doesn't really answer the "misconception" question either.

I didn't feel like there was a clear winner here, if you're talking momentum changer. Ron Paul was his usual twinkly-eyed self, only lost the crowd on foreign policy. I don't think he or Mitt Romney ever directly criticized each other. Romney showed no fear in going after others, and I think he did enough here to solidify Arizona and probably squeak out Michigan. All the polls right now show that no one is going to dominate Super Tuesday. Newt should win Georgia, Rick should win Pennsylvania, but Santorum, by not hitting a home-run in the debate, should slip. Therefore I'd have to say Romney was the winner and Santorum the loser.

Scott Jenkins wants troops to pay taxes

Sarah Palin and Political Language

Listened to a few minutes of Sarah Palin giving pat, red-meat answers on Fox News Sunday, then I happened upon this quote:

"Political language—and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists—is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." - George Orwell

Romney & Gingrich "Who's On First"

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Rape in prison at all-time high

Christopher Glazek argues that we've given up too much liberty of the few to preserve the safety of the many. Some money quotes:

"From 1980 to 2007, the number of prisoners held in the United States quadrupled to 2.3 million, with an additional 5 million on probation or parole. What Ayn Rand once called the "freest, noblest country in the history of the world" is now the most incarcerated, and the second-most incarcerated country in history, just barely edged out by Stalin’s Soviet Union...

"In January, prodded in part by outrage over a series of articles in the New York Review of Books, the Justice Department finally released an estimate of the prevalence of sexual abuse in penitentiaries. The reliance on filed complaints appeared to understate the problem. For 2008, for example, the government had previously tallied 935 confirmed instances of sexual abuse. After asking around, and performing some calculations, the Justice Department came up with a new number: 216,000. That’s 216,000 victims, not instances. These victims are often assaulted multiple times over the course of the year. The Justice Department now seems to be saying that prison rape accounted for the majority of all rapes committed in the US in 2008, likely making the United States the first country in the history of the world to count more rapes for men than for women."

Nevada Caucus Day

We know Mitt Romney is going to win Nevada; it is only a question of "by how much?" I actually wish we had another debate in the next week or so. I have loved them. Even if some of the questions are silly, or distracting, or "gotcha" in manner, when the candidates are right there next to each other, we can see who can think on theirfeet and who can't. When they try to wiggle out of answering a question, it's obvious. The debates expose or enhance a profile. Rick Perry was #1 in the polls until he did a couple debates and people got to hear his answers on issues. Newt Gingrich came across quite well in several of them, but when he became the front-runner and came under more fire, well, the old Newt came out. The petulant, angry, grandiose Newt that was pushed out of office in bipartisan fashion. But without debates, what do we have? Tightly controlled town halls and negative ads. Next!

Mitt crushes Newt in Florida

With 49% of the votes counted in Florida, Mitt Romney has 48% of the vote, Newt Gingrich has 31%, Rick Santorum has 13%, and Ron Paul has 7%.

It has to be sweet for Mitt to win by a wider margin over newt than Gingrich did in South Carolina.

Isn't Florida the oldest state in the nation?  I thought the Ron Paul rEVOLution would do better there.  Then again, his biggest constituents are people under 30.

Florida CNN Republican Debate

8:00 - The opening intros feel like they could be the opening credits for the next X-Men movie.

8:04 - A local choir sings the National Anthem. Mitt & Rick sing along. Newt looks around confused. Ron looks like he's sucking on a cough drop.

8:07 - Wolf Blitzer feels the need to remind candidates how to introduce themselves. Rick starts, points out his 93-year-old mother's in attendance. She stands to applause. Rick wisely decides to just end on that note.

8:08 - Newt is thrilled to be in Jacksonville, site of the "next new nuclear aircraft carrier battle group." Mitt points out he has 16 grandkids. Ron introduces himself as a champion of the gold standard and rejects the notion of nation building.

QUESTION FROM AUDIENCE: Illegal immigration.

8:09 - Rick says we need to obey the laws in this country, says his grandpa was an immigrant. He has this way of looking like his teeth are clenched when he speaks, but his tone sounds sincere. "Immigrants bring a vitality and a love of this country."

8:11 - Newt says he's pledged to control the border by January 2014. Wants citizenship to be easier, but deportation easier too. Rick & Newt support Mitt's option of "self-deportation." Newt points out he wouldn't deport grandmothers and grandfathers here, proposes a panel to determine if they can at least have residency.

8:12 - Mitt: I don't think anyone's interested in deporting 11 million Americans, excuse me, 11 million illegal immigrants. We have a responsibility to those millions waiting to become legal citizens.

8:14 - Ron: the weaker the economy, the more resentment against illegal immigrants. The way we're handling our borders is hurting our economy. We worry too much about the obrder of Afghanistan and Pakistan; we should worry more about our own.

8:16 - Wolf asks Newt about his comment that Mitt was "anit-immigrant." Newt says "you need to be realistic in your indignation." Yes, Newt said that about someone else. Would make some exceptions for some humanity. Wolf asks if he still views Mitt as anti-immigrant. "Of the four of us, yes."

8:17 - Mitt launches into the most awesome take-down of any debate that's ever been televised. He calls Newt's comment "inexcusable." "My father was born in Mexico." Says the idea is repulsive, goes off on Newt's "over the top rhetoric", says he should apologize for it. Thunderous applause from audience.

8:19 - Newt says what would you call it when you want to deport a grandmother? Mitt says he's pro-immigrant, he wants immigrants to come who have vitality and something to contribute, and to indicate that someone willing to follow the law is anti-immigrant is wrong. Newt goes on to categorize Mitt's heartless view toward grandmothers. Mitt counters "our problem is not 11 million grandmothers." ((Laughs from crowd.))

8:20 - Wolf asks about a Romney ad that says Gingrich called Spanish "the language of the ghetto." Mitt says he hasn't seen the ad; is it true Newt said it? Newt said no, he didn't say Spanish, he meant any language from the ghetto and that Dade Community College has 94 languages on its campus. ((I've seen the full quote. He didn't say the word "Spanish" but that's definitely what he meant. And on Twitter, someone pointed out Newt said Dade had 86 languages on campus last week.))

8:21 - Mitt says he doubts it's his ad, but he'll look, but he gives his stance on English as official language, says he and Newt agree on English immersion.

QUESTION FROM HISPANIC LEADERSHIP COUNCILWOMAN: Trade policy with Latin America?

8:22 - Ron: Free trade is the answer, including Cuba. Handful of claps, one "Woo!"

8:24 - Rick: I'm not with Ron Paul or Barack Obama on this. The US govt let down Honduras, Obama sided with Chavez and Castro against the people of Honduras. We didn't stand up for Colombia. Obama sides with the leftist, terrorists, Jihadits, etc. (I'm struck by the notion that I never would've predicted Rick Santorum would've made the final four.)

8:25 - Ron: You're talking about force, we can't be bullies to the world.

8:26 - Rick: I don't know what you're responding to, it wasn't my answer. I'm not talking about force in dealing with military socialists, narco-terrorists.

8:27 - Wolf says we just double-checked and the radio ad has you at the end saying "I'm Mitt Romney and I approved this message." Mitt: Okay, did he say it? Newt: I said in general. Period. Mitt: We'll see.

8:29 - Wolf shifts it to the foreclosure crisis in the country. Mitt uses the opportunity to criticize Newt's $1.6 million he pocketed from Freddie Mac. Newt rolls up his sleeves and say he was shocked - SHOCKED! - to find out Mitt owns shares in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and he owns shares of Goldman Sachs, who is foreclosing homes in Florida, so maybe Mitt should disclose how much money he's made off of home foreclosures. Crowd responses with some boos and some applause.

8:30 - Mitt says "I know something you don't. I'm not left-handed either." First of all, his finances are handled by a blind trust so he can't have conflicts of interest. Second, he doesn't own any stocks, he owns bonds and mutual funds. "But, Mr. Speaker, have you checked your own investments?" And the suspense is palpable for that two-second pause before Romney drops the bombshell. Newt also owns mutual funds that invest in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

I notice here that Newt Gingrich uses the high-school / college debate-team style of looking at your judges / audience when attacking your opponent. Mitt Romney looks you in the eye.

Mitt keeps going, piles on further about Newt's $1.6 million.

8:34 - Newt looks uncomfortable in his defensive response.

8:35 - Ron Paul - "That subject really doesn't interest me a whole lot." Loud applause!

8:36 - Rick S: "Can we just concede that Newt was a member of Congress and Mitt's a rich guy and move on?" Loud applause!

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8:39 - Wolf comes back with a quote that Newt said about Mitt, and Newt says it's a silly question, let's talk about real issues. Wolf Blitzer sticks with it, gets booed, Mitt says "Hey, I'm standing right here, say it to my face." Newt says okay, rattles off his critique of Mitt's Swiss bank account, Mitt comes back explaining it in more detail, says Republicans really shouldn't attack people for being successful.

8:42 - Wolf brings it back to taxes. Newt wants a flat-tax, wants to shrink the government to match revenue, not raise revenue to catch up to government. Rick says he wants the 28% tax rate Reagan had (*cough!* for one year *cough!*) but thinks the ultra-rich should still pay some taxes. Ron Paul says get rid of the 16th amendment, cut taxes, restore sound monetary policy. So bottom line, they all want Romney to pay less taxes.

8:48 - Wolf now asks Ron Paul about his age. Ron Paul has sweetheart response about challenging any candidate to a 25-mile bike ride through Texas. Also jokes about age discrimination laws. Wolf has a chilling aside of "I look forward to seeing those medical records."

8:50 - The moon! The moon comes up!

8:57 - Phew, losing steam watching this. Mitt, Rick, Ron all pokes holes in Newt's claim he'll have a moon base by 2020. With this economy and the spending they all plan to cut, how could Newt push for a lunar base?

8:58 - Mitt slams Newt's style of promising projects for whatever state he's campaigning in, which gets big cheers. Newt says we can set priorities with spending and get things done, touts his balancing the budget four years in a row. Ron Paul points out the national debt went up a trillion in those four years.

9:00 - Rick laments how Obama won't get our fiscal house in order. We need to quit promising projects and special spending when we had a $1.2 trillion budget deficit last year.

QUESTION FROM AN UNEMPLOYED WOMAN WEARING A FUR COAT THAT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS MADE FROM THE MUPPETS' RALPH THE DOG - Health care.

9:02 - Ron Paul: Medical care insurance should be individual, not tied to your job. When govt gets involved, costs go up. Govt has inflated cost of health care.

9:03 - Newt: repeal Obamacare, repeal Dodd-Frank, repeal Sarbanes-Oxley. Reform insurance system, grow economy.

9:04 - Mitt talks about how Obama's promised a lot of things but he'll actually do them.

9:07 - Rick S says that all sounds great, but Mitt created RomneyCare, predecessor for ObamaCare, and Newt was for individual mandate. Newt defends it at the state level. Mitt stands by RomneyCare, says it's flawed but it has a lot of benefits. Rick S passionately protests any version of individual mandate at federal or state level. Mitt calmly responds by explaining it in more detail. Rick S slams it more.

9:10 - Mitt: "It's not worth getting angry about." Lead balloon in this room. Mitt goes on to explain how his plan is different than Obama's. Rick: "What he said is factually incorrect!"

9:13 - Wolf asks Ron Paul who's right. "I think they're all wrong."

QUESTION FROM SPOUSE OF MARINE - Which Hispanic leaders would you consider in your Cabinet?

Rick: Marco Rubio.

Newt: Susanna Martinez, Rubio.

Mitt: Sandoval, Martinez, Diaz, Mel Martinez, Rubio, Gutierrez....

Ron: I won't name names, but Hispanics are attune to non-intervention foreign policy.

9:17 - Before going to break, Wolf says his next QUESTION will be about why your wife would make a great First Lady. And Newt has the break to sweat.

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9:23 - Ron: We've been married 54 years, author of a cookbook.

9:24 - Mitt: We've been married 42 years, she survived MS and breast cancer.

9:25 - Newt: These 3 women would make great First Ladies. (He's referring to the other candidates wives, not his 3 wives.) But Callista would bring music appreciation and patriotism.

9:26 - Rick's wife was not in attendance, but he gave a heartfelt tribute to her.

9:28 - Back and forth with Newt & Mitt about the mantle of Reagan. Yawwwwn.

QUESTION FROM CUBAN IMMIGRANT - How should US handle Cuba?

9:32 - Rick: Obama's encouraged the cancer in Cuba and it's spread to Venezuela. We're rewarding this thuggery, this Marxism, these jihadists in central and south America.

9:34 - Ron: Sanctions help Castro, don't hurt him. Sanctions help the dictators. The Cold War is over. I don't think people see jihadists under the bed at night.

9:36 - Mitt: Obama's ignored Latin America. Also mistake to give in to Putin or Castro or Chavez or Achmadinejad with what they want. Dictators look for weakness. Newt: We need to help Cuba move to freedom once Castro dies.

QUESTION FROM PALESTINIAN REPUBLICAN - How will you help bring peace between Israel and Palestine?

9:38 - Mitt and Newt respond with pro-Israel views, and the questioner looks like the loneliest man in the room.

QUESTION FROM PUERTO RICAN WOMAN - Where do you stand on Puerto Rico becoming a state?

9:42 - Rick: Me and the governor of Puerto Rico used to go to church together. Puerto Rico has high unemployment and we need to help them. I take no stand on them becoming a state; it's up to them.

QUESTION FROM ATTORNEY - How would your religious beliefs impact your decisions as president?

9:45 - Ron: My religious beliefs affect my character and the way I live.

9:46 - Mitt: The Creator endowed us with unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

9:47 - Newt: If you're "truly faithful" it should affect your life. Then slams anti-Christian bias of secular media and religious oppression of the state.

9:48 - Rick: The Constitution is the How of America, the Declaration of the Independence is the Why of America. We have God-given rights. If rights come from the state, then everything the govt gives you, they can take away.

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QUESTION FROM WOLF - Tell us why you are the one person on this stage to most likely beat Pres. Obama.

9:53 - Ron: My appeal to freedom and the Constitution crosses party lines. I do well against Obama in national polls.

9:54 - Mitt: To change DC dramatically, you need someone from the outside. Pretty much gives a mini stump speech.

9:55 - Newt: I was there in 1994 and now I'm running for my two grandkids.

9:56 - Rick: I was against govt bailouts, both bought into cap-and-trade, both bought into global warming hoax.

Some great entertaining clashes in there. Other dull spots, and I'd attribute that to the questions.  Seriously, we've had several debates, and look at the selection of questions.  So how'd they do?


NEWT GINGRICH - His big selling point was he could out-debate Obama.  Well, he wilted tonight.  Romney disemboweled him early and he never recovered.  Even the First Lady question, Mitt was able to point out his wife had MS and cancer.  The unspoken point was to Gingrich, who left wife #1 when she got cancer, and left wife #2 when she got MS.  Newt lost.  He'll lose in Florida, and he'll shrivel up.

RON PAUL - I don't think he'll win any states, but he'll get a percentage in every state.  He was good tonight.  I think his response on his age was great.

MITT ROMNEY - He tore Newt Gingrich apart.  Had the debate ended at the half-hour mark, I'd say he was going to coast to the nomination now.  He had a couple flounders in there, like backing away from an ad that was actually his, but he rolled with the punches and found ways to flip them back on his opponents.

RICK SANTORUM - One of his best debate performances.  His earnestness had an "I'll fight for the little guy" populism to it, especially when talking about manufacturing, or the clear love he has for his wife.  I think the anti-Romneys will wake up from their Newt stupor and some will shift back to Rick Santorum.