Romney (corrected spelling, sorry was typing fast) looks good, Fred is debuting very well, he looks awake, aware and into it, although we all know how he feels about these soundbite debates.
McCain, I like the guy but still maintain he needs to stay in the Senate, I think he can do more good for the country there.
Ron Paul....OMG, he sounds more insane every time I see this guy.
Giuliani, like Romney looks decent.
The others are pretty much boring me to tears.
Vodka Pundit is doing the proper live drunk blogging, Fred File is also live blogging, Heading Right and Townhall too.
LOLOL, Fred Thompson scores!!!! He makes it clear that congress has a 11% approval rating and no one trusts them.
Giuliani says Hillary is full of ways to "spend"... good point.
I have to agree with rickm from Heading right:
Thompson is getting his legs. He’s more relaxed as this thing has gone along. He is shown himself competent, on top of the issues, smart, and even a little animated at times.
Expectations were so low, he’s got to be considered the winner.
The problem I find with Romney is he talks plain...ok, that is phrased wrong... he..ummm...talks boring like...drones (is that spelled right? ) Sorry typing fast here.
Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani has my bet for winner so far in this debate.
Romney isn't doing bad, I just seem to like the performance of Rudy and Fred the best.
From Edward at Heading Right:
Fred gets an endorsement of sorts from Maria, saying that he’s the only one willing to discuss specifics. He mentions privatization, and indexing benefits to inflation rather than wages. It would be a “major step in the right direction”. No one else got asked this question — why?
I have to say,Vodka Pundit is a riot!!!!
3:20.5pm Second commercial break, third martini. Can I keep up this pace? Can I hear a hallelujah?
3:24pm To Fred: "Give specific steps" to fixing Social Security. "We're eating our seed corn, we're spending their money, we're giving 110%, we'll take one for the team, and also Mom, Uncle Pie, and Sam apples." Also, maybe we'll index for inflation. When asked for specifics, Thompson reached, once more, into his grab bag of homespun generalities. ["grab bag of homespun generalities" -Ed. I'm drunk, OK?]
Damn, I might try this drunk next time...he seems to be having fun.
McCain sounds good but doesn't look comfortable.
Romney's kinda cute but boring. LOLOL Although he just got a laugh!
From Fred File:
5:24: Asked about Social Security solvency, Fred Thompson says we need to ensure we have a growing economy with lower taxes and fiscal discipline, that we should prioritize our spending so we’re not diverting our retirement money to wasteful spending, and that we could have fiscal solvency if we tied benefit growth to inflation instead of wages.
Or, we could go with the Democrats plan: just raise your taxes. That’s always their plan.
5:30: ABC’s Political Radar is making sense!
Sounds like Fred Thompson was ready to go today. He looks and sounds solid — and dare I say, confident.
The all spoke on Unions.... YADDA YADDA YADDA
Edward and Heading Right again:
I think Fred hit the exact right note for the Republicans, and Rudy scored personality points on his answer. Tancredo picks on Brownback’s mother, but he’s right about the weirdness of having civil-service and union protections for government workers.
Fred takes Matthews down a peg...GOOD FOR HIM.
Others about it:
Edwards, Heading Right:
“That’s your opinion, Christopher”
Fred smacks down Matthews when he critiqued his answer. Yes, he’s awake, and yes, he’s a fighter.
rickm, Heading Right:
Fred was right
to smack down the little twerp. Moderators aren’t supposed to give their opinion about the quality or lack thereof of a candidate’s answer.
Jerko…
I agree with both of them.
Matthews asking about policing the internet......
Giuliani says no taxing the internet but child predators shouldn't be able to take advantage of the internet (Yeah), security a good thing, but when Matthews asks about FCC for the internet, Rudy says make the agencies we have now work better but not big on starting new agencies.
McCain when addressing the internet child pornography...go after the money.
Commercial..
GAWWWWDDDD, Ron Paul sounds so freaking nutty, crazy, insane....ummm.... weird and creepy too.
Stupid question to ask Rudy: "Is London going to replace New York as the financial capital of the world?"
Rudy, this country is the leader of the world, the best country... see? He is proud to be an American and no if ands or buts about it.
I like Vodka Pundits description better:
3:52pm "Is London going to replace New York as the financial capital of the world?" Asked of Rudy? Talk about a softball question -- and yet the gal asking it made it sound like she was throwing him major heat. Well, Rudy basically gave her the New Yorker Single Finger Salute.
Yup, Rudy answered it like the person asking it was insane.
He is getting applause.
From Ed, Heading Right:
Lightning Round Notes ….
Matthews couldn’t trip up Fred.
Giuliani gets to tell Maria to get her head up and quit being so pessimistic.
Brownback couldn’t remember Alan Greenspan’s name.
McCain for the second time couldn’t hear the question.
Paul won’t support the Republican nominee. What a shock! Neither does Tancredo for other reasons. Brownback gets it right. Hunter does as well.
Mitt Romney tries to skewer Fred, but Fred skewers him right back.
Matthews tries a second time to trip up Fred, and he’s looking desperate to score points. He hasn’t, and he looks like an idiot.
Thompson was asked how he felt here at his first Debate: He answers, Just like home.
Watching them before was boring without me he said.. (laughter from the crowd)
Thompson, Giluiani, the definite winners so far..I will throw Romney a runner up vote because he is kinda cute, like I said...hehe
see ya.
Other opinions at the Swamp and the Caucus.
Captain's Qaurters take on the debate:
The first debate with Fred Thompson was expected to reveal whether the lanky actor had what it takes to make a national run for the office. Instead, it revealed Chris Matthews as a hack of the first order, one who tried his best to torpedo Thompson -- and failed utterly. He got so desparate that he demanded to know whether Thompson knew who the Canadian Prime Minister was -- and he did. Matthews grew so frustrated that he openly critiqued one of Thompson's answer for being too detailed, which prompted a scolding from Thompson.
That was the game behind the debate, and Thompson stomped Matthews into a laughingstock. In the rest of the debate, Thompson showed that he was comfortable and prepared, even for the silly attacks from other candidates. Mitt Romney went into a long, telegraphed, and obviously gag-written punch about how the debates resemble "Law and Order" and how Fred shows up last, which Fred neatly returned by feigning surprise that he wasn't the best actor on the stage -- jabbing at Romney's perceived plasticness.
Read the rest, good analysis, as usual.
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