Drudge posted this link to the ABC news synopsis of the debate with the CLASSIC headline: OBAMA HAS 'GONE FROM JANE FONDA TO DR. STRANGELOVE' (update: link broken, my guess is that the drudge headline shut down the ABC site...will relink when possible)
steph plays a phone call sent from brownback campaign which accuses mitt romney of not really being pro-life. brownback stood by it. romney sez it's all a bunch of bull, re-affirms that he's pro-life. brownback points audience to youtube. romney responds that he's changed his position.
steph shows video of romney criticizing giuliani's positions on the "social issues". romney slightly backs off. giuliani responds....supports 2nd amendment, supports civil unions, and supports choice.
“what would be your strategy for ending the war in iraq?” – iowa voter on video
Ron paul – just come home. The war is not going well.
Duncan Hunter-- I’m tired of the stampede for the exit door.
Huckabee—1) get the neighbors involved 2) end dependence on mideast oil
Brownback—political situation deteriorating in iraq. 3 state solution as proposed by tom friedman.
McCain—if we lose, catastrophy…we’ll have to go back. Morale is good amongst the military.
Giuliani—weakness and appeasement should not be our policy. Cites NYTimes article: “we just might win in iraq”
Romney—commenting on Obama: “he’s gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in just one week”
Tancredo—was it even worth my time to come here? (steph sez, ‘I’m looking at you now’) “america cannot be the police force in iraq”.
T. Thompson—thinks iraq should be divided among the 18 states which have already existed since the 1920s.
Ron Paul—the war was planned by neo-cons before invasion. “unconstitutional, undeclared wars”
McCain—give it time to succeed.
Steph brings up health care….(question tries to pit sen. Grassley’s plan vs. bush’s veto warning)
Huckabee & T. Thompson—emphasize wellness before sickness, point out how most of the money spent is on treating the sick.
Tancredo—it’s not the responsibility of the fed govt to provide “womb to tomb” health care. Brings up how illegals are chewing up health care dollars.
Romney—we have to have our citizen’s insured. Personal responsibilty, help citizens buy their own insurance.
Giuliani—major tax deduction, $15K, to buy their own insurance.
Hunter—some story about how you can’t purchase health insurance across state lines…
Hunter—some story about how you can’t purchase health insurance across state lines…
Steph concludes everyone AGAINST grassley expansion.
Steph points out Obama’s comments about invading Pakistan, pits Giuliani vs Romney to debate it out:
Guiliani—argues that he didn’t “agree” with Obama, so much as he would not take the option off the table.
Romney—sez obama is confused as to who our friends are. To win “the war on jihad”, we need strong military, strong friends, and ultimately the muslims will have to defeat the jihadists.
Hunter—mentions geography (16K feet mountain ranges), etc…
Steph asks if the spread of democracy has been a “success”, and would that be the direction of “your” foreign policy:
Huckabee—seems to not favor the policy. Spend money here.
Ron Paul—spread democracy HERE…back to the “neo-cons”……..
Giuliani—democracy requires rule of law, stability….not necessarily elections first. Might have been a mistake to not form the “bedrocks” of democracy first. Points out how he brought back law and order in NYC.
McCain—law and order beginning to take place in iraq. To say we won’t use nukes is naïve. Sez he will continue to advocate for freedom and democracy.
Romney—spread the “benefits” of democracy to the world. “I’m not a carbon copy of Pres. Bush”. Draw the world towards modernity. …specifically, the world of islam towards modernity.
Steph questions Tancredo on his statement that he would bomb mecca and medina, because the state dept condemned it.
Tancredo—you’d be crazy to take this off the table.
T. Thompson—you can’t bomb religious artifacts.
Brownback—words of a leader MATTER. We’re a nation at war.
Steph: collapse of bridge. Is it time we raised fed gas taxes to fix the infrastructure?
Huckabee—it’s not just the bridges we have problems with. Let’s fix our infrastructure, not everyone else’s.
Giuliani—(gets in dig at liberal philosophy…) we don’t need to raise taxes to raise money. We can lower taxes to raise more money.
Romney—to raise more money, we have to grow the economy. Best way to keep economy rolling is to keep taxes low. Re-orient spending priorities.
McCain—pork barrel projects need to be eliminated. He’ll veto all of them.
Steph questions candidates on role of VP:
McCain—everybody will be sure of who the president is.
Giuliani—VP should be capable and ready to take over. Responsibilities should be worked out between prez and VP.
Steph: Q: Fair Tax?
Huckabee—strong supporter
Romney—good plan, but not that good. Gives an example of how it could hurt new housing..
Giuliani—eliminate death tax. Fair tax, flat tax good plans, but too hard to get there.
McCain—alternative mininum tax must be eliminated.
Tancredo—I’m a co-sponsor of fair tax bill. Directs voters to boortz.
Brownback—move to optional flat tax.
Steph: (email from voter)What is a defining mistake of your life and why?
Hunter—I contemplated running as a democrat in the beginning.
Paul—(some rambling about the constitution…)
Huckabee—not taking care of my health from the beginning
Romney—when I first ran for office, I was deeply pro-life but said I wasn’t.
Giuliani—I only have 30 seconds? (laughter)
McCain—POW issue
Brownback—not tellling my family I love them enough.
T. Thompson—breast cancer in my family…I vow to fight for the women of the country.
T. Thompson—breast cancer in my family…I vow to fight for the women of the country.
Tancredo—it took a while before I realized that Jesus Christ was my personal savior.
Steph:(shows Bush clip on his vow in 1999 to restore honesty and integrity to oval office) Q: What will you restore to the oval office?
Tancredo—hope. Speaking out on the values of western civilization.
T. Thompson—open up the east wing to the best minds, democrats and republicans.
Brownback—rebuild the family. Stand for life, nominate justice who would overturn roe v wade.
McCain—I love this country and am the most prepared to fight the war on terror.
Giuliani—restore hope, build the future on optimism in the US like I did in NYC.
Romney—america is going to be strengthened by having a bigger military, stronger economy, stronger families.
Huckabee—remember the ordinary citizens, main street, not just wall street.
Paul—restore openness to govt. never use executive privilege.
Hunter—restore economic patriotism. Strengthen american manufacturing base, level the field vs. china.
Steph: THANK YOU ALL, IT’S BEEN A GREAT DEBATE.
Um…no, these are getting lamer every time out. this whole format just makes the candidates look stupid as they fight for "sound-bite" time.
(thanks to kathy sohar for snapping this pic, preserving this blogging experience for the ages...)
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