| May 3, 2007 @ 11:02 PM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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Unfortunately I didn't catch the Democratic debates. But I hope to from here on out. I'm not ready to vote any particular way, certainly not based on party alone.
The Republican debates on MSNBC however were interesting this evening, if very high-paced and clearly uncomfortable for many of the candidates..
Unlike MSNBC who seems to feel it was Romney who surfaced as the front runner, I would rate as follows:
Best Showing
Hunter
Guiliani
Marginal Showing (so-so)
Romney
Tancredo
Huckabee
McCain
Gilmore
Worst Showing
Brownback
Paul
Thompson
I found it interesting that just about all were in favor of overturning Rowe v Wade, (Guiliani was marginal on that - I think he really believes in freedom of choice), that there wasn't very much interest in separation of church and state, and that there was more indirect, non-specific support than I would have expected for this administration and the Iraq War. Although none would directly admit they were supporters of Bush/Cheney.
Clearly however, some are has been indicated previously - Guiliani and McCain both come to mind. Guiliani, to me, is relatively impressive overall. But his statements from the past that GWB is "a Great President", are more than troubling. Other than that statement my gut feeling is that he would be about 3 times the President Bush has been.
Since unfortunately it didn't get discussed, (as expected) I still feel Tancredo's position on Illegal Immigration is the best of any Republican candidate. Hunter does come across as wanting good, sound solutions to it too though.
This link is simply for general reference to who participanted, pictues etc.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18421356/
What did you think?
-MM
Edited to add comment to the link.
[Edited on 5/4/2007 12:36 AM]
[Edited on 5/4/2007 12:37 AM]
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| May 4, 2007 @ 12:06 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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Gentlegiant127
Posts: 1,037
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I went to the link, it only shows each of them being asked one question.  Is that it, or is there more?
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| May 4, 2007 @ 12:32 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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The link was merely a general reference to who participated, pictures etc, GG. Although there is probably a transcript somewhere there. Or one might expect so. One was referred to by Chris Matthews in the post-debate analysis segment.
Nothing more than that though. The initial message is self-contained, not reflecting any source. Sorry for any possible confusion about that.
-MM 
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| May 4, 2007 @ 7:28 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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uab_5
Posts: 2,371
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I thought the debate was a great cure for my anxiety - I went straight to sleep fifteen minutes into it. 
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| May 4, 2007 @ 7:42 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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spongebob777
Posts: 7,904
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I thought Rudy did horrible. Hunter clearly speaks what he honestly believes and I was really surprised at Romney.
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| May 4, 2007 @ 9:57 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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Re: Romney. Why so Sponge?
As for Giulianni, I agree he wasn't all that solid last night, and some of the people analyzing even commented on that. They felt he wasn't as prepared as some. I rated him up pretty high due to some of the previous influences as well, actually not based entirely on last night.
However I still think he hurts himself by adhering to Bush and current policies. People want change. Not the status quo.
-MM
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| May 4, 2007 @ 10:31 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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spongebob777
Posts: 7,904
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Romney seemed comfortable and confidant. He's a little too slick for me and his past record doesn't seem to mesh real well with what he says.
Personally I still like Hunter. He's just very straightforward and isn't stumbling around looking for answers he thinks people want to hear. I like his thoughts on dropping taxation of alternative energy research and ending foreign dependence for oil and other goods. Gotta do something to bring the American jobs back.
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| May 4, 2007 @ 5:43 PM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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That's interesting.. That's just about how I saw Romney (too slick) and he seemed to be sort of playing a game of sorts. Maybe he's just a little too cocky.
I too was impressed by Hunter as a pretty straight shooter who seems to say what he means. I still like Tancredo too, with a couple of reservations, but that wasn't his best showing. He seemed nervious and maybe a little intimidated. Or maybe he was mad because they put him way out on the bad end.
A lot of the job problems are Trade Agreements, but I believe even more of them are Illegal Immigration. That has GOT to be nipped in the bud. I was a little dismayed that nobody seemed to want to talk much about either this time. Don't know if the Dems discussed that or not.
-MM 
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| May 4, 2007 @ 6:09 PM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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Gentlegiant127
Posts: 1,037
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Anyone got a link to a transcript so I can see all the different questions that were asked? I had heard the illegal immigration subject didn't even come up, and if so, very disappointing. It was asked during the democrat debate, but even then, only Hilary got a chance to answer that. The democrat debate was interesting, because most of them were asked the question if multiple U.S. cities were blown up with nuclear weapons by terrorists, what would their response be? I think every presidential candidate should be asked that question during the debates. Kucinich went off on Obama for the fact he said he would be prepared to go to war with Iran if necessary. Then Mike Gravel said we have all these nukes and were supposed to be disarming but we are not. Then he asked Obama who he wanted to nuke. And Obama responded and said "I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise you." Then Gravel said "Good, good, we're safe then for a while."
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| May 5, 2007 @ 12:12 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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I have yet to locate a specific link to a transcript of either debate, Dem or Repub.
There are a number of video clips of it at MSNBC, along with a lot of analysis. But for some reason the forum software is resisting a link that leads there. probably because it's a javascript link.
Anyway, here is a link to Chris Matthews page where a lot of it is discussed.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/
About 1/2 way down the right side you'll see a link for "Watch the Debate" among others. You'll probably see a brief commercial first.
-MM 
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| May 5, 2007 @ 12:20 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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kjac
Posts: 5,484
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He's just very straightforward and isn't stumbling around looking for answers he thinks people want to hear.
I got the opposite impression from Rudy. He makes me think he's the Republican's answer to Hillary.
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| May 5, 2007 @ 3:24 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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Gentlegiant127
Posts: 1,037
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May 5th 2007
With over 57,000 votes cast, it seems Ron Paul has come out ahead of the pack as a favorite in an msnbc poll based on the recent republican debate.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18436681/?GT1=9951
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| May 5, 2007 @ 9:24 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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It's astonishing to me that seems to have been the result of that particular poll, which is still ongoing by the way. I can't imagine where he would get a boost like that. He wasn't particularly eloquent, he didn't really have much to say. He didn't come across as presidential at all, in my view, where some others did. And he sure didn't hammer his viewpoints home with any significant logic or conviction. In fact it's very hard to remember what the heck he DID say.
To me, he came across among the weakest in most of those areas.
The MSNBC analysts, immediately after the debate, felt Romney had the best showing. But I agree with what was said earlier. He's little too slick for me. A little too cocky, and a bit too rehearsed. McCain was trying too hard. But he has a lot of territory to attempt to regain after a couple of significant faux pas'.
How did you all feel about Paul in particular?
-MM
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| May 5, 2007 @ 4:16 PM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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Gentlegiant127
Posts: 1,037
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I think this poll that included Ron Paul was not so much people saying he was the best in the debate, but the best candidate of the pack. He is so different from all the others who are running, that really makes him stand out. Plus out of all the republican candidates, he'd probably be the one who is most attractive to democrats.
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| May 6, 2007 @ 4:27 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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So from all you've been able to assemble without seeing the entire actual debate, how would you assess the outcome so far?
And how about the Dem side? (which I didn't see). Who came out the victor in that one?
-MM
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| May 6, 2007 @ 9:03 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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eastham
Posts: 6,317
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Rudy's been back peddling on abortion, gun control, immigration, etc since his announcement. He's given all the abortion crowd the strict constructionist, Dred Scott decision-laced speech. After a lifetime of gun control advocacy, he's thrown in with the NRA. He's all over the map.
Now, there is an old saw that Republicans run to the right in the primaries, Democrats run to the left, and both run to the center in the general. Rudy seems to be taking this a little too much to heart.
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| May 6, 2007 @ 8:43 PM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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Bj864
Posts: 3,110
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I think Chris Matthews did a better job running the republican debate than the guy did with the democrat one. At least Chris ask a lot of questions of them all. In the democrat one, they stuck mostly with the front runners and ignored the rest, most of the time. One of the democrats said he felt like a potted plant, he was ignored so much and as usual they ignored Kucinich most of the time.
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| May 7, 2007 @ 12:01 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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Gentlegiant127
Posts: 1,037
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I don't think Chris Matthews was a good choice for a republican debate moderator. He leans too far left so he would have been a better choice to moderate the democrat debates. Brian Lamb of C-Span would have been a much better choice. He's about as impartial a moderator as you can find.
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| May 7, 2007 @ 10:06 AM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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Did anyone see the Democratic Debate?
If anyone did, no candidate came out the leader?
I hope Edwards did well and that he may present a ticket of John Edwards/Wesley Clark. Clark providing heavy background and experience in military terms with a good grasp on terrorism as well. But I would like to know more about where that pair stand on Illegal Immigration, which is one of the most important issues facing us at the present time, second only to Iraq. Few seem to want to touch it with any serious dialog. I guess they're not too sure where America stands on this, which suggests too many are out of touch with their constituencies.
Generally the Republicans seem to beat the Democrats on this issue by a slight margin. But it wasn't likely brought up very seriously in either debate. Hopefully it will be, as we progress toward 2008.
-MM
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| May 7, 2007 @ 12:00 PM |
The Presidential Debates - Televised |
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Gentlegiant127
Posts: 1,037
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Edwards has a weak record when it comes to illegal immigration(as did all the other democrats in the debate)and supporting amnesty(a.k.a. path to citizenship). See the proof here http://www.betterimmigration.com/reportcardintro.html
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