9:05: McCain gets lucky with the first question on his best issue. He is
9:06: Thompson (is that hair real?) is asked about pressure on Iraq to get out. That’s a different version of revenue sharing. Winning the peace is a good line.
9:08: Romney ducks the question about whether he would leave. Does he not like Kurds….
9:09: Brownback does well with this kind of answer. A friend I am watching this with asks if he is running for re-election for the Senate. Anther call for Federation is a big deal. But calling for bipartisanship is important. "Countries lose war."
9:11: Giuliani. (Coincidence or not?) Calls the Democratic Congress irresponsible. Calls McCain correct. Good move by calling on Fort Dix.
9:12: Tancredo …. DId I notice?
9:14: Ron Paul. The base of the GOP shrunk. That’s a good point. Is he saying that we need the courage of Ronald Reagan because he ran away from Lebanon? That’s weird.
9:15: Hunter. Dude. Commander of Chief is not the same as Chairman of Armed Services.
9:16: Huckabee. Good saying.
Iran
9:18: Gilmore: Bottom lines Iran. That’s good. How far do we go? These are good points. First serious thing I have heard? He even answered the question!
Taxes
9:19: Romney. Why isn’t the tax pledge a flip-flop? He says he didn’t raise taxes. The British Conservatives call $700m in fees stealth taxes. Didn’t he steal the retiring government employees from Rudy?
9:20: McCain: McCain is punchy! Talking about spending. (was that his reason at his time?) Was the "farm" part of that an appeal to Iowa? Applause line. Wow. First applause, even if it is corny.
9:22: Huckabee. How can he talk about taxes? Fair tax is a good answer. John Edwards at the beauty shop line ROCKS! AWESOME!!
9:23: Giuliani. They got Rudy on the line-item veto. Good citation of CfG. Rudy used his government employee line. Too bad Romney already stole it.
9:24: Brownback. Is that energy secure in North America line something about Canada?
9:25: Thompson. Very technical answer. Not that interesting… Right, but not that interesting.
9:27: Paul. Delete! Delete! Delete! Turns out that he cares mostly about foreign policy and ending social secutity, etc.
9:29: Gilmore. Another friend said, "he even talks like Bush." I didn’t notice anything he said….
9:31: Hunter. Here’s the protectionist on China. Hey, Duncan, did you know that China loses more jobs per-capita than China.
9:37: Gilmore. Rudy McRomney. Giuliani on abortion. Well. Huckabee on taxes… Healthare Romney…. He ignored McCain and added Huckabee.
9:38: Giuliani. Electability. Electability. Electability. Working together across abortion.
9:40: McCain. Bipartisanship. "Blood relatives and paid staff" is a good line. Did he answer the question?
9:42: Huckabee: Talking about taxes but not spending. It is good. He is a good speaker.
9:43: Romney. Says he supports an assault weapons ban. The MA blue line doesn’t work. He talks about abstinence and English immersion. But immersion is a flip-flop. Ducks all the questions thought.
9:44: Brownback. Hit with immigration. Isn’t the conventional wisdom that he ducked?
9:46: Thompson.. Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Doesn’t he support research?
9:47: Giuliani. What can he do about abortion?
9:49: Huckabee. "Honesty". "Conception." And he ties it to things. He’s good at this. He is really good at this.
9:50: Brownback. He’s at his most articulate on this. He ties it to the entire life argument, just like Huckabee has.
9:51: Romney. He can’t imagine????? Wasn’t that his whole position? Is "the people not the court" a real answer?
Immigration
9:53: Tancredo. TEE UP! He seems passionate for the first time! He bores me.
9:52: McCain. He does well with tie to Fort Dix. Not a winning position in a primary… Followup is actually helpful for him, I think.
9:56: Romney. Is it amnesty? Is it "reasonable"? He lies, but gets an applause line. Isn’t he just a fraud when he talks about campaign finance?
9:58: McCain. Ducks but talks about flip-flops. And gets a much bigger applause.
9:59. Giuliani. Good deal to switch to security.
10:00. Hunter. He built the fence? Did Al Gore build the internet? Good line about the "slows".
10:02: Paul. Get out of Korea, Nam, and NATO??? There you go.
10:04: Giuliani. Well done. Well done.
Romney wants 30 seconds….
10:06: McCain. Even the audience doesn’t like this question. McCain has a good answer about the details. Big applause in South Carolina….
10:07: Huckabee: Pretty good answer.
10:09: Tancredo. Doesn’t believe in global warming.
Crisis Round
10:14: McCain, interrogation. He said he would "take it upon himself." And then defends his position.
10:16: Giuliani. Enhanced interrogation question. Do whatever it takes. "Shouldn’t be torture, but whatever method"
10:17. Romney: Prevention. Good point. BULLSHIT. Romney is such a silly person. Romney gets an applause line on "double Guantanamo." "Not Torture".
10:20. Brownback. At least he has the balls to set up the proper contrast. US lives versus international opinion.
10:20. Hunter. Does Duncan Hunter talk to himself in his dreams?
10:21. McCain. Plays the military card. And gets the applause.
10:22: Gilmore. Gilmore didn’t have to deal with any issue. I like how Brit Hume says, "but what would you do?"
10:24. Paul. "No one is for the torture."
10:28. Gilmore. He shook things up?
10:29: Romney. Learning from experience. He said he wanted to eliminate the Department of Education? Did he really? A viewer says he did…
10:30: Hunter. Talks like a Panda killer…
