The 2012 CNN/Western Republican Presidential Debate

[hippie_hunter]

Bachmann just needs to shut up.

 

[Lighthouse]

The candidates always praise Reagan, and they couldn't be less like him.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Romney won the debate.....again. He had an unusual amount of passion in this debate.

The biggest losers are Herman Cain for being unable to defend his 9-9-9 plan from scrutiny and Rick Perry because he should know better than to attack Romney.

 

[Lighthouse]

I really would like to see a debate between Paul, Romney and Gingrich, who actually answer the questions that are given to them.

 

[Venom'sDad]

^ I would like to see Paul, Gingrich, and Cain.

 

[bell110]

Let's see. The gist of Bachmann's debate was "Obama sucks, vote for me." Santorum's tactic of talking over Romney until his time ran out is classic. Other than that, all he had to say was that he is really, really conservative. Perry came off as just bitter and frustrated. When he said, "It's your job to ask the questions, it's my job to answer how I like", I had to chuckle. Gingrich actuall came off as a professional and an adult. I like how Romney came off as the bigger man as people were totally disrespected him, though I wish he would have stoped repeating "can I finish, can I talk". But I guess it worked for the best for him. Strangely, I like Cain. I don't like him on his social issues, but he comes off as more genuine. And finally, Paul is always awesome.

 

[8wid]

Ron Paul GOP CNN Nevada Debate Highlights

 

[Slushy]

Romney won the debate.....again. He had an unusual amount of passion in this debate.

I think him being the front runner now gave him the energy and confidence instead of just phoning it in as usual.

I like Cain. I don't like him on his social issues, but he comes off as more genuine.

Agreed. While he is still the worst person from the GOP to be President due to his lack of political experience, I'll admit I underestimated him. Aside from 9-9-9, he's pretty good when it comes to answering the tough questions.

Perry came off as just bitter and frustrated.

due to his demotion from "The Man" to the edge of irrelevancy all in the span of one month. Its like watching a bi-plane fail immediately after takeoff. Short ride, bad landing.

Other than that, all he had to say was that he is really, really conservative

He needs stop stealing Ron Paul's gimmick.

 

[bell110]

I think him being the front runner now gave him the energy and confidence instead of just phoning it in as usual.



Agreed. While he is still the worst person from the GOP to be President due to his lack of political experience, I'll admit I underestimated him. Aside from 9-9-9, he's pretty good when it comes to answering the tough questions.



due to his demotion from "The Man" to the edge of irrelevancy all in the span of one month. Its like watching a bi-plane fail immediately after takeoff. Short ride, bad landing.



He needs stop stealing Ron Paul's gimmick.

I think Bachmann and Santorum are the worst candidates. As for Cain's 9-9-9, I wonder how close it relates to the fair tax. It definitely needs work, but I don't think it's a deal breaker.

As for Santorum, I meant that he is really, really christian conservative. I didn't know much about him going in, but this debate was a real eye opener. When Paul said that liberty was based on the individual, Santorum said that liberty was actually about the family, man and wife (which is code for anti-gay). Of course Paul had to correct him that, no, that's dumb, liberty isn't a package deal. Santorum went on about how he's the only consistant conservative based on faith and family, blah, blah, blah. I really don't like policies based on "protecting the children".

 

[Slushy]

I think Bachmann and Santorum are the worst candidates.

I'm not a fan of either of them, but Bachman is a Congress woman and Santorum was a Senator. Both of them have more political experience than Cain, who has ZERO, yet he wants to be the elected leader over the current shape of arguably the most powerful country in the world. Now, just think about that for a second.

He's a good talker, I'll give him that, but for him to be elected. Hell, even nominated would be the absolute worst thing the GOP can do right now. This isn't a pizza chain. The office of the President of The United States, as Obama haters said, "isn't for on the job training."

Christ, I strongly disagree with Perry and I'd rather have him be the choice. At least he's governor.

 

[bell110]

I'm not concerned with political experience. Having political experience obviously doesn't translate into being a good politician. I would rather have someone with good idea and that can get things done over someone who has been in politics for a long time.

 

[dodgers2213]

How the hell does TIME give Rick Perry a B+ for the debate? He was HORRIBLE.

I didn't like how Newt Gingrich basically called Atheists/Agnostics unamerican

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I can stop following the GOP nominee race now. Romney will win. That much is pretty obvious now. Perry, his closest contender, seems strictly amateur hour next to him. Romney called it right. Perry was all worked up this time around, because his previous debate performances were so terrible. He doesn't have the right temperament for the job. As for Paul or Cain? No, they won't.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I didn't like how Newt Gingrich basically called Atheists/Agnostics unamerican

I wouldn't worry about it. On a stage that includes sideshows like Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich is still the least relevant person standing there. He'll say anything that gets him 2 seconds of camera time.

 

[Marx]

I was very surprised to see such a contentious (for lack of a better word) debate last night. Between Perry's attitude and calling Cain a "brother", to Romney actually putting his hand on Perry's shoulder, to Bachmann being Bachmann...

Good lord.

 

[Lighthouse]

Part of me wants to see Santorum use his pre-school tactics in Presidential peace talks.

 

[Marx]

Santorum came off especially bad...

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

The only winner in that debate was Obama. I was embarrassed last night just watching it and I'm not even a registered Republican.

 

[Marx]

UPDATE: CNN FACT-CHECKS LAS VEGAS DEBATE
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/19/truth-squad-takes-on-gop-debate-2/

 

[DACrowe]

Romney won the debate.....again. He had an unusual amount of passion in this debate.

The biggest losers are Herman Cain for being unable to defend his 9-9-9 plan from scrutiny and Rick Perry because he should know better than to attack Romney.

I didn't watch the debate and have no idea what happened, but in general isn't it good strategy for the guy in third place (Perry) to attack the guy in first (Romney)? Perry's only way of getting the nomination is to make Romney look as bad as possible hope Cain implodes so all the Tea Partiers rally around Texan swagger.

With that said, I'm sure it was inept and fumbling attacks given the previous weeks.

 

[Marx]

CROWD CHEERS CAIN FOR STANDING BY COMMENT BLAMING THE UNEMPLOYED
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/18/herman-cain-unemployed_n_1018798.html

...the crowds at these GOP debates have such compassion and tolerance.

 

[Dr. Evil]

This debate will no doubt be made fun of to no end this Saturday Night.

 

[SentinelMind]

I didn't watch the debate and have no idea what happened, but in general isn't it good strategy for the guy in third place (Perry) to attack the guy in first (Romney)? Perry's only way of getting the nomination is to make Romney look as bad as possible hope Cain implodes so all the Tea Partiers rally around Texan swagger.

With that said, I'm sure it was inept and fumbling attacks given the previous weeks.

I didn't watch all of it, but Perry was attacking Romney on an issue that is already Perry's biggest weakness, immigration. Furthermore, he was using talking points Guilliani used against Romney 4 years ago, about Romney hiring a company that hired illegal aliens. Perry didn't do much to distinguish himself as better or fresh, just desperately trying to drag Romney down.

 

[enterthemadness]

Paul needs more air time. At least his black out money bomb is doing good today.

 

[SentinelMind]

Romney cleaned Perry's clock during that debate.

From best to worst

Romney
Paul
Santorum -- content-wise better than expected, but his attitude is really grating
Cain - he didn't really have many winning points this time around
Gingrich although he wasn't really debating
Bachmann and Perry tied for bottom