Drunkblogging the First Republican Primary Debate
5:47PM Fox News is treating the nearly candidate-free GOP presidential debate with all the respect it deserves, by having O’Reilly mostly ignore it. I think CNN is completely ignoring it. Although I’m sure sometime later tonight, Wolf Blitzer (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) will host some sort of roundtable discussion sponsored needlessly by whomever makes Ambien.
If you think I’m going into this feeling jaded, you don’t know the half of it.
5:52PM Dear Mr. David Letterman,
Please stop stealing nine-and-a-half-year-old material from The Onion.
-Your Friendly Neighborhood VodkaPundit.
5:57PM Wondering if the GOP contenders will field any questions about that Bin Laden fellow who’s been in the news all week.
5:58PM A couple things you might not know about drunkblogging. First — remove your contact lenses. Things move fast, and you won’t have time to blink. I’m not making this one up. Also, it’s best to tune into the most boring network available. Why? My liver can take only so much.
5:59PM Go on and tell me. I’m the only one in the whole country watching this thing, aren’t I?
6:00PM And there’s Brett Baier, wearing an eye-catching red tie, white shirt, and blue suit. He’s sure to stand out against the candidates, assuming any show up.
6:01PM Juan!!!
6:02PM Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Gary Johnson. Five candidates in the debate, five cincos in a de mayo. Coincidence?
6:02PM That bell is cheesy. Jeopardy jokes to follow.
6:02PM Hey, a bin Laden question!
6:04PM The P-Man tips his cap to Obama for killing Bin Laden — but needs to buy better suits. It’s totally riding up off his left shoulder so badly I don’t know what he’s saying anymore.
6:05PM Herman Cain would hide the Bin Laden photo — but Ron Paul would show it. Check out the national security creds on the Ronulans.
6:05PM Rick Santorum, sources tell us, has been consulting with Boehner on tanning salons.
6:06PM Paul: Nation building in Afghanistan didn’t help us catch OBL.
6:07PM BIG applause for Paul on pulling out. Stacked crowd, or common sense?
6:08PM Cain: I have no plan for Afghanistan because there’s no plan for Afghanistan. I need to pour my fourth scotch & soda without the soda.
6:09PM Cain: Elect me so I can get enough information to have a strategy. The bell came as a relief to everyone.
6:10PM Johnson: Pull out right now, Iraq was a mistake. Libertarians have pretty much hijacked this debate, and I’m not complaining. The GOP needs a shot in the arm, and between the Tea Party and the Pauls and Johnson, they just might get one.
6:10PM More cowbell!
6:12PM Santorum: “I’m not anti-Islam!” He’s certainly pro-self tanner. Again, totally distracted. Sorry. I’m sure he’s making sense, but… MORE COWBELL!
6:14PM Paul: Due process for terrorists! Um… not everything about the Libertarian hijacking is good, mmkay?
6:14PM NOTE: Jeopardy joke plan has been replaced with MORE COWBELL.
6:16PM P-Man: I have a great travel agent, and a willingness to kill and/or waterboard terrorists. I keep expecting the Ronulans to shout him down.
6:16PM Three cheers for waterboarding! Paul and Johnson are against.
6:17PM Big applause line from Cain, but I was pouring that fourth cocktail. No clue.
6:19PM Johnson… sigh. As a semi-recovering member, I can tell you: He’s a typical libertarian — great on the facts, snoozy/geeky/awkward on the delivery. If you loved the Atlas Shrugged movie, you’re totally digging him right now.
6:19PM Juan: What’s your stimulus, P-Man?
6:20PM Oops, missed one: MORE COWBELL!
6:20PM P-Man is on top here with local examples to berate Obama admin. Governor Nikki was applauding like mad. Good stuff.
6:22PM Cain: Solid answer on oil. And you totally have to respect his ability, post-1998, to pull of a double-breasted suit. I’ve tried it and failed utterly.
6:22PM Shannon Green — no relation, so my lustful thoughts are totally A-OK — asks about RomneyCare to P-Man.
6:23PM P-Man: Just slammed ObamaCare to big applause, while praising what he passed in his home state of Minnesota, or perhaps Iowa.
6:24PM Santorum: I’m better than Mitt, because my vote for Medicare D isn’t nearly as bad as RomneyCare. Scout’s honor!
6:25PM Santorum: And I totally crush on Paul Ryan.
It’s OK — we all do sometimes. NTTAWWT.
6:26PM Paul: I have federalist principles regarding tort reform.
I’m totally crushing on him right now. NTTAWWT.
6:26PM Paul: I’ll put the trial lawyers out of business!
Su-weeeeeet.
6:27PM We’ve got a SOT of Eric Cantor, and all I can think is: “Why is he not on this stage?”
[Common sense? --ed.]
6:27PM Commercial break. This would be a good time to break out your own private cowbell.
6:31PM Chris Wallace just asked a question so complicated that, if you diagrammed it, the result would look like my ten-month-old eating spaghetti.
6:33PM Paul: I will cut Washington, bitches. Can I say bitches on the home page? (Aaron will fix this one in post.)
6:33PM MORE COWBELL!
6:34PM Cain: “Your experts are dead wrong.” And now I’m crushing on some Herman Cain. NTTAWWT.
6:35PM Cain: “I strongly support… the Fair Tax.”
6:35PM Johnson: Look at meeeeeeee!
6:37PM P-Man: Democrats made me steal money from schools. I think that’s what he said.
6:38PM Johnson: I am saying many scary numbers. Also, JAZZ HANDS!
6:40PM Cain: It’s a four point plan he’s talking about, and it’s very complicated, but I’m pretty sure it’s the exact opposite of amnesty.
6:41PM Santorum: Teach English to immigrants.
Hell, I’d be happy if we would teach it to native-born Americans.
6:43PM Johnson: Document the undocumented — which I’m pretty sure is a line Steve Miller rejected from “Fly Like An Eagle.”
6:44PM Cain strikes me as smart on foreign policy. Not as extreme as Paul, not as befuddled as Obama.
Sorry, I’ll go back to cowbell jokes now.
6:46PM P-Man: Obama is wrong on Libya in so many ways, and… MORE COWBELL!
6:47PM Santorum: Would engage Pakistan at a level we haven’t before.
What would that be? We’ve tried everything other than ignoring them or nuking them — and neither of those is likely to do any better.
6:48PM Santorum: But Pakistan can be an ally.
You know, once we threaten them enough.
6:49PM Paul: Israel is off the leash.
Now THAT’s a libertarian foreign policy I can get behind.
6:49PM Um… “Every jew in the country” might not be the most politic phr… MORE COWBELL!
6:50PM A question inspired by Donald Trump? Chrus Baier is off my Christmas card list.
6:50PM Johnson: I don’t need no stinkin’ cowbell.
6:53PM The Kindle ad Fox just ran is the most entertaining thing I’ve seen in the last 53 minutes.
6:54PM I thought this thing was ending at 10PM Eastern. Guess I’m eating cold pizza tonight.
6:55PM Paul: I can’t exactly remember my own wedding anniversary.
Dude, you’re sleeping on the sofa tonight.
6:55PM BTW, I’m on Paul’s side in the marriage debate.
6:57PM Cain: I’m totally not going to address gay marriage head-on.
6:57PM Johnson: Boos for his views on abortion, which are dead-smack in the middle of American opinion.
6:59PM Hasn’t science pretty much bypassed the whole stem cell debate?
6:59PM Science, please bypass the whole stem cell research debate — we’re 14 trillion dollars in the hole, mmkay?
7:00PM Santorum: The Declaration of Independence is a governing document and it protects families and life and stuff, and if you disagree you don’t believe in America.
7:02PM Cain: Obamanomics is outrageous.
Cain’s problem is, he’s too much of a gentleman to use the appropriate English four-letter word.
7:03PM Paul: Union members believe in the rule of law.
I am speechless.
7:05PM P-Man: Intelligent design is something I don’t really want to talk about, even though we’re all in South Carolina.
He’s smart though to change the topic to jobs.
Also: MORE COWBELL!
7:06PM What was that Gary guy’s last name again?
7:06PM P-Man just got big boos for his cap & tax position.
7:07PM You know what? Pawlenty is probably the most serious candidate on this stage, but he’s also the most easily forgotten. If that’s a taste of things to come, I suggest his fans look elsewhere — and soon.
7:09PM Santorum: I don’t believe women should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen — Pennsylvania shoemakers provide thousands of high-paying jobs.
I know that one was unfair, but you came here for the drunkblogging.
7:09PM MORE COWBELL!
7:10PM Paul: I’m misunderstood.
7:11PM Paul: I’m misunderstood.
7:12PM Paul just scored big points against the drug war. Problem is, by the time he got to his big finish, only dogs could hear him.
7:13PM Johnson: What Ron Paul just said, but in the range of human hearing and with many scary numbers.
Incidentally, I’m on Paul and Johnson’s side in the drug war.
7:15PM Cain: Character will win, and never having held public office is a strength.
I have an all-new heterosexual man-crush. Sorry, Juan.
7:15PM Lightning round!
7:16PM Paul: Obama sucks because of the economy. And also he sucks.
7:16PM MORE COWBELL!
7:17PM Cain: Obama sucks even though he killed Bin Laden. And also he sucks.
7:17PM Pawlenty: Obama sucks because of gas prices and the economy and everything else. And also he sucks.
7:17PM MORE COWBELL!
7:18PM Santorum: Obama sucks so I can beat him. And also he sucks.
7:18PM Santorum: WINNING!
MORE COWBELL!
7:18PM Johnson: Obama sucks because of the budget. And also Republicans suck.
7:19PM MORE COWBELL!
7:23PM Cain: Romney can’t create jobs like I can and also he’s a loser.
WOOT!
7:23PM Pawlenty: I love the Huck.
Bzzzzzzzt. Wrong answer, next candidate.
7:24PM Paul: I take dumps bigger than Michele Bachmann.
7:25PM Santorum: Gingrich is practically a Mormon, like that other guy who didn’t show up tonight.
7:26PM Johnson: I can’t believe you asked me a question that stupid. Also, I might be slightly baked right now.
MORE COWBELL!
7:27PM Johnson: Yep, I’m baked.
7:27PM Closing remarks…
7:27PM Paul: It’s philosophical, and the gold standard.
7:28PM Cain: I’m just a gotdam serious guy.
7:28PM P-Man: This is the 30 second version of my nearly-memorable stump speech.
7:29PM Santorum: I’m as tan as Boehner and my jaw is almost as strong as Romney’s and I can namedrop better than a gossip blogger.
7:30PM Johnson: Not so baked. Really, seriously, not so baked. And tough choices about scary numbers with a business approach.
7:30PM In conclusion: We have websites.
Also: MORE COWBELL!
7:32PM Final thought? Cain looked presidential. The other GOP candidates… weren’t on the stage tonight.
Whether that eventually hurts or helps them, time will tell.
Ron Paul’s “Paulines” are obviously in the audience. They’ve followed him from the Libertarian Party to the Republican Party — does he have a whistle only they can hear?
Show some respect, please. They’re called “Ronulans.”
Sorry, they’ve been Paulines to me since he ran for President as a Libertarian. I will re-set my nomenclature
I thought they were Paulistinians?
Oh yes, I came across the Paulines in my St. Paul caucus in 2008 (I voted for Romney). They were VERY organized. Campaign posters are not allowed but his people had them everywhere. And they were raucous as hell. It’s like some sort of moonie cults.
Romney won our precinct, BTW. By a whisker.
If Plastic Man Romney can beat Paul, anyone can.
That “cheesy” bell sent my dog racing around the place with a grand finale of a leap to my lap (barely missing the laptop) Fox News must have bought it in the doorbell section of Ace Hardware.
What *does* Ron Paul have in his mouth? Is his tongue too big, or what? And talk about an ill-fitting suit! Those shoulder pads are in another zip code from his shoulders!
Cut Paul some slack. He is an old man, somewhere in his 70′s. An *eccentric* old man.
At least Ron Paul is not a dirtymouth bitch nitpicking at the miniscule because she is confined to a colonoscopic perspective and has the mind of a mouse.
The issue here is,” Who’s up for POTUS”; not, “who’s that cute guy in the blue suit?”
Lin W is a perfect example of why females should be denied the franchise.
No facts, no logic, just waves of emotion with an organic etiology. A cocker spaniel would do as well. Or, as Mr. Spock once observed, subsequent to a Klingon mindcontact with a female somethingorother from wherever, “Its chaos, whirling, crashing, fears, confusion, uncertainty, petty, meaningless…”; and then he collapsed.
Yeah! Waterboard em al! : )
Three cheers for waterboarding! Paul and Johnson are against.
Of course the Ronulan and the pothead are against it.
I’ve been hearing that the 2012 Republican field is “weak.” From what I’m seeing we have many strong, intelligent candidates.
I couldn’t agree more and like the blogger here I’m jaded too. ALL of these guys rock and any one of them would get my vote, and contributions.
Gosh I’m glad I don’t have to watch this crap. I do kinda like T-Paw tho. He just lacks the sizzle. Palin, now, she’s got sizzle in abundance. Hey, Obama, quit pussy-footing around and release the photo for crapssake. I love that.
Minnesota, bitch.
Vodkapundit, you’re not a libertarian anymore?!? o-O
Yeah, now that I think of it, you do seem to have moved a bit Leftwards towards Conservatism. Good on you.
Eric C. likes to watch.
What is it with Santorum’s hands? I can’t even concentrate on what he’s saying… I just keep watching them do close formation fly-bys of his microphone.
Yeah, Palin’s comment was so spot on. She is completely in tune with average Americans.
Finally, a break in the action. Time to fire up the blender! As much fun as this is, I think I’ll go sit on the deck and watch the airliners come in. Later, kids.
Herman Cain – talk about *gravitas*! And Pawlenty is doing the hand thing! Did they have a coach, like “gesturing with the pols” or something?
The Fair Johnson?
Pawlenty’s comment about taking money from schools probably relates to the ‘holdback’ Minnesota does with public school funds. In other words, hey keep part of the money until they settle accounts at the end of the year. As I recall during the time I was on the school board it fluctuated between 10-25%, depending on the budget tricks used to balance the state’s books. Mind you having a mandate to run the school on an accrual basis then reconcile on a cash basis ticked me off more than the holdback did.
Wow! Herman Cain nails what we need in foreign policy! This is getting really interesting!
I hate the hand thing.
“Hand Jive”
I was thinking about taking a drink every time one of them used disconnected hand gestures. I think I’d be in the hospital with alcohol poisoning by now! There *must* be some group, like “Dancing with the Stars” that does “Gesturing with the Pols”!
I’m convinced. Anyone can be president. You see these guys and Mr. Obama and you know it’s true. God save the United States of America.
Beats watching Moore on Morgan tonight.
“Paul: I can’t exactly remember my own wedding anniversary.”
Better than forgetting your wife’s name at the Academy Awards.
Ron Paul should be a leftist. He’s an anti-semite to the core. Makes all other views seem unimportant. Horrible.
Ron Paul is in no way an antisemite he raises a real point and you try to bash him because he does’nt want to borrow money from china to give welfarw to isreal. Since they have plenty of our airplanes and nukes not to mention the slaughter in gaza by then I think they can get by without us holding their hands till end times dobt you. Or would you rather just kick everyone out of deleware so they can have a back up holy land?
See… Anyone who believes Israel doesn’t have the right to exist is an anti-semite. It is the only Jewish state on Earth and she sits only on a portion of the 4,000 year-old Land of Israel. The rest being raped from her.
You mention a “slaughter” in Israel’s southern Coastal plane, aka Gaza. Well, look first of all Gaza is occupied by Arabs (Hello Arabs are in occupation of most of M.E. even though they are from the Arabian peninsula ONLY).
More importantly, your ‘friends’ in Gaza have been firing missiles and mortars including at kindergartens and at children’s schools buses for years. Israel exercised years of restraint the U.S. would not. I suppose in your opinion since the victims /children are Jewish it is okay.
The Arabs in Israel count on shallow-minded people to swallow and parrot their propaganda.
REGARDING financial support to Israel, I would rather not have it so Israel does not have to be beholden to dangerous US. policy against Israel). The moey comes at a rpice where it benefits the United States more than Israel. They must use most of it to buy products/weapons from the U.S.
That being said, Israel deserves every bit of financial support not as a hand-out but payment for all the technology the WE In the U.S a(and world) enjoy,computers, cell phones, cell phone cameras etc… and for all the SUPERIOR INTELL USA receives. USA has relied on a LOT of Israeli INTELL for many operations.
Nobody is saying that the Palestinians are great.
Just that Israel is as corrupt as any other nation on the planet.
They should not have their foreign policy controlled by the U.S., and we should not give them money. They have plenty of technology, plenty of firepower, and plenty of moxy. They should decide when and where and how to fight their own battles, including nuking Mecca, if they so choose. But, we should not pay for it.
That is all.
Looks like the bigger candidates all thought the same thing. We are going to wait a bit before we get seriously involved in the race. The longer Obama is the news, the better for us. “Never interrupt your opponent while he is making a mistake.” -Napoleon I
Either that, or they told Fox, “If Ron Paul is invited again, we are NOT coming.”
Of course, there are only Gingrich, Romney, Huckabee, and Palin out there as big-name contenders. It’s like a ball team. Lots of young talent. A few old stars past their prime. Very little in the area of current stars.
Seriously, Palin would mop the floor with these guys through sheer charisma and presence.
Ugh. A Palin candidacy would cause me to vote Communist.
That would be assuming that you don’t vote that way already…
Paul: Union members believe in the rule of law.
Did I mention he is eccentric? Dear Lord!
Pawlenty: Invisible basketball: I haz one! His hands move in parallel motion!
Anyone who promotes Cap and Trade or any other related AGW nonsense should automatically be disqualified from holding public office. =’[.]‘=
And Santorum breaks out the invisible basketball. {{sigh}} I can barely concentrate on what they’re saying, I’m just seeing HUGE HANDS fly around the screen.
Paul: You’re going to end up with government that tells you what to eat and drink.
Sorry to break it to you dude, but we’re already there.
Paul got a cheer for Heroine? They’re RONULAN PAULINES! They’d applaud his FLATULENCE!
I’m glad I decided to watch N.C.I.S. reruns. Sasha Alexander is much easier on the eyes!
Go, Herman Cain! Problem solver who isn’t a pol! WOOT!
Woot!
I’m more confused than before the debate. Cain? or maybe john Galt? Or maybe none of the above?
This venue hasn’t really allowed Herman Cain to shine as much as he could. If you’re interested in him, look at his CPAC speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZDkacOveF0
=^[.]^=
Paul is misunderstood? Really? Isn’t the guy on his 3rd Presidential campaign? You mean we got the message wrong the first two times? Gee, how’d we do that?
Paul looks like he left the hangar in his suit.
Thanks for the laugh, Green. That whole ‘sucks’ bit was hilarious! Made it all worth it.
Paul is crazy, T-paw has been practicing, but he isn’t the guy, and Santorum is too rigid on social issues. Gary Johnson occasionally says a few things that I like, but hands down, this is a Herman Cain runaway. He’ll be a serious candidate till the end, unless they find a ridiculous skeleton in his closet.
Closing remarks: Herman Cain NAILED them! His whole campaign in 30 seconds! WOOOT! OK, I wanted to see what he had to say, because I didn’t know that much about him. I’m impressed!
Agree with #37. Herman Cain wins this one.
Thanks, Steve. I’ve been laughing so hard at your remarks my husband thinks I’m nuts
Well done!
Your husband is right on!
I’m sorry that a field with such low expectations managed to live up to them.
“I’m the only one in the whole country watching this thing, aren’t I?”
Yes you are. I DVRed a couple of baseball games, and I am going to watch them.
My c2 on who won
Paulenty sucks!!!!!
either cain or ron for the win!
Look at all those racists in the follow-up group dissing the black candidate. =^[.]^=
rofl..yes all us southern red neck racists!!
phht the left will say say cain is somehow white, lets see his birth certificate lol
Hannity was really honked that they all voted for Cain! He wants Gingrich soo bad! “But, I mean, they had *reasons* for not being here…” And then, afther the tour de force of Cain — he has WHO on? Because “all eyes were on him”. GAG! Trying to push your candidate much there, Sean?
Yeah..never really cared for hannity but now…forget him! He sure seemed peeved about cain!
Whats the point of having a focus group then dissing them for not having your view?
And he has paulenty on right after?? paulenty was the worst i think..he is everything we do NOT need from a GOPer.
Sheesh and now santoram?? where is cain u doofus hannity???
Pawn Vanity is a joke. Nothing but a stuffed shirt with a loud mouth. Pathetic.
Who is Gary Johnson? He’s even more unknown than Duncan Hunter.
No way could the real thing live up to the drunk blog and the comments. I may check out the replay to learn how to gesture with the pols–invisible basketball. Definitely leaving the hanger in my suit jacket tomorrow. And who knew they were called Ronulan Paulines?
Best drunk blog ever!
Thanks, Stephen.
Stephen Green, I can’t recall reading any of your drunkblogging exercises before, but, I got to tell you, I haven’t laughed this hard since I don’t know when. You’re witty, rye cynicism was much appreciated this evening and ever so effective in departing the nuances amongst the candidates. Cheers!
herman cain, and the finger counting…
would it be a ‘cleavon little’ moment if he said,
“excuse me while i explain this 21 point plan?”
My wife couldn’t believe I was watching this. Interesting but MY primary vote sure isn’t decided.
I hope you were drinking your UBL celebratory martini…two shots and a splash.
Could we have some heroinblogging or painkillerblogging. You could describe that warm rosy flush and creeping lassitude that infuses your system as you close your eyes and listen to the debate with a new found sense of peace and well-being.
I am sorry but I hate false praise. Herman Cain is being pushed by the Fox News media barrons and the RINOS in the establishment part of the Republican Party because they very much want to keep him in the debates till prime time audiences show up next year. It will make the crowds from American Idol(when they finally bother to show up to watch a GOP debate) thrill at how un-racist we all are.
That Herman Cain WON or even is a viable candidate is pure BS. I don’t like being played by Sean Hanniy and the guy with the captive audience and the crowd-O-meter anymore than by the nuts in the White House. So while I can understand why it would be helpful to have a nice black guy to show off the “diversity” of all us Constitutional conservatives, the disengenuousness of it all is rather repugnent.
Do you have a REAL reason for not liking Mr. Cain. He was my choice long before this debate. I just hope enough people tuned in to see how practical he would be as President. He has plans for disassembling Washington’s bureaucracy too. Real plans that could work.
Of ocurse you don’t HAVE to like Mr. Cain. But you’d better have some real reasons….
I never said I didn’t like Herman Cain. I just think it is totally bogus that he “clearly won the debate”. He clearly did not and while he is a great speaker and like you I have admired his abilities I didn’t believe the “landslide for Herman Cain” that was the impression I got from the segment on Luntz and his focus group.
I have become used to being taken for granted and lied to by both sides of the political spectrum and frankly I am sick of it. While Mr. Cain did a credable job with his presentation and had one or two show stoping quotes, the idea that he won in a “landslide” I think was part of the script. If you remember in 2008 Fox News in it’s elitist arrogance denied Ron Paul even a place at the debate and it was Hannity who was largely associated with that exclusion. I am not a “paulista” or any other version of an extremist, and I watch and have for many years Hannity and almost all the other Fox commentators. In fact I think this country owes a great debt to all the Fox Network. Lord knows without their Fair and Balanced voice we would be stuck with only a State Owned media promulgatng propaganda 24/7. But I am a lover of the truth and when I suspect I am being manipulated by either side I take umbrige at the attempt of any media outlet to represent what we the public think. In short I smelled a rat in the way the entire Herman Cain debate performance appeared to be preordained as “great”. It was passable. I am sick of being lied to by ANY self appointed talking head.
“Landslide” doesn’t really apply here — even if the audience approval numbers appear overwhelmingly in Cain’s favor.
I’ll keep the numbers simple, for simplicity’s sake.
Five candidates on the stage, and let’s say there were 20 people in Luntz’s focus group.
To “win” a focus group member’s vote, Cain only needs a plurality of 21% compared to the other four candidates. Luntz was also looking for second-place finishers, yes? Well, at 19% approval or less, Cain can earn even more support.
In other words, 10 of those 20 voters could have thought Cain barely won, and others could have thought he came in no better than second — and Cain still could have run up some impressive results.
So I think you’re making this into a much bigger deal than is really is.
I accept your analysis and agree that you are correct. It really was the shift to Cain which was rational on the part of many of the “Luntz audience” that had never probably heard of Herman Cain before the debate that caused the apparent “landslide”.
I stand corrected. You probably had a better opinion of the correct read of the situation.
By the way, the name is Shannon BREAM, not Shannon Green.
“Let those without typos cast the first stone.”
Version #2
1. I am sorry but I hate false praise. Herman Cain is being pushed by the Fox News media barons and the RINOS in the establishment part of the Republican Party because they very much want to keep him in the debates till prime time audience’s show up next year. It will make the crowds from American Idol (when they finally bother to show up to watch a GOP debate) thrill at how un-racist we all are.
That Herman Cain WON or even is a viable candidate is pure BS. I don’t like being played by Sean Hanniy and the guy with the captive audience and the crowd-O-meter anymore than by the nuts in the White House. So while I can understand why it would be helpful to have a nice black guy to show off the “diversity” of all us Constitutional conservatives, the disingenuousness of it all is rather repugnant.
You know a lot more about Fox News than I do. I only read the website, I don’t usually watch the TV. That said, Sean Hannity was *not* happy about the fact that Cain trounced the field according to the research group. (And according to me, personally, by my direct observation.)
You can claim that FNC is pushing Cain all you want, but I truly think that Hannity wants Gingrich to run so badly, he couldn’t stop himself from bringing him up and making excuses for him not being there. As someone else said, unless Cain has a huge skeleton in his closet, he’s looking like a great candidate.
It was very amusing to see the “moderator” of the focus group keep harping on “But he’s never been elected to anything!” I think he was perplexed and annoyed that he couldn’t budge the group.
I have this bridge. It goes from Manhatten to Brooklyn and it is almost new, low mileage the whole bit. Just pennies a month.
nickel, you are not making sense here. Not only did the focus group like Cain best, but so did the folks here drunkblogging. The fact is, Cain is a very appealing candidate. If he had better name-recognition, he’d be seriously leading the pack. Intelligent, accomplished, trained speaker, good policies. What’s not to like? He’d likely make a decent President, right? That is what it’s about, right?
Yes, Hannity and Luntz were probably pushing for their friends. Gingrich appears frequently on Hannity’s show, as do Santorum, and Pawlenty, so it is not unexpected to see them there. He has them on speed-dial.
You are just not taking into account enough factors.
Agreed. I was just having my hair go up on the back of my neck thinking of the last Fox News Debate where the then incipient Tea Party had their only honest candidate not even allowed to appear in the debate. This time Ron Paul and his supporters got to hear his opinion on a nationwide telecast. I don’t disagree with you, I probably did over react to what I saw as Fox News Hannity Show putting it’s thumb on the decision scale.
I agree with you, Lin. Hannity definately wants Gingrich to win the primary and the Republican establishment was watching Pawlenty, not Cain.
I hope that the primary winner won’t be Romney, Pawlenty or Gingrich. I want something between Paul and Gingrich. I don’t know enough about Cain yet; but judging by that one debate, he is that “in between” candidate I want to win the primary.
Didn’t bother to watch the “debate”. If you wonder why, read the drunkblog recap and the 53 comments and responses that precede mine. Why waste a couple of hours on a 3rd rate debate when Bones and The Mentalist were running new episodes?
However, my sister-in-law did keep calling with updates and she liked Cain much better than anyone else. Said she would vote for him over anyone she has listened to so far.
And, we live in South Carolina. Imagine that, white folks in South Carolina liking a black candidate. What’s next? Dogs and cats living under the same roof? What is the world coming to? Old Tea Party folks must be racists. Just ask a Democrat, member of the media, liberal, or the president.
Good morning.
Ronulans are a bit too cultish for me to be true libertarians. Same with Objectivists. Sorry, but if you demand purity of thought in your individualism, that’s right there a contradiction. Ron Paul utterly lost me last night. He’s got some good ideas, but the idea that Bin Laden was in Pakistan having nothing to do with the fact that we’ve got tens of thousands of troops in Afghanistan is at best superficial. Ron seems to believe in the same type of skittles spewing unicorn world as Dear Liar, though of a free market rather than government variety. I do hew more to his side, but the world is a messy place where idealism most often comes up short.
If the choice in November 2012 were Obama, Huckabee, and Paul (as Libertarian Party), for the first time I would stay home. And apologize to everyone who gave their life for our democracy.
rbj, I sure hope you’re joking about staying home. After the disaster of 2008, I’m about ready to strangle any conservative who would even passingly entertain the notion of staying home and not voting. Don’t even joke about it.
Kathy, Ron Paul could do real damage to this country. We were isolationist in 1941, that didn’t do us any favors. Now certainly we can look around and reduce our military presence in places like Germany. But to pretend that there isn’t a militant Islam that’s at war with us is irresponsible.
And the Huckster is just as big a nanny stater as Dear Liar.
Given what the establishment chose for us in 2008, I stayed away. I could not see lending legitimacy to that utter farce, by extending my franchise.
America got what it deserved in 2008, because we did not demand better. We need many lightposts adorned with politicians and bankers, dangling by their intestines, before we will be able to lay claim to reasonable and decent government again.
Cain – “the un-Obama”
This guy can definitely go up against Pharaoh Hussein and win.
I assume his birth certificate and baptismal certificate are all in good order.
I propose the formula Herman Cain – Allen West or viceversa. I mean no disrespect but I would like to force the African American voters to think issues and character and not vote merely by color of skin.
How was that not absolutely hysterical! “Needlessly sponsored by whomever makes Ambien.” Hell, if we can’t all laugh at the joke(s) before us, what’s the darn point?
Each of us knows the qualities he wants in a candidate But only a relative few agree on any precise collocation of virtues and talents.Those on the Left will always outnumber us because their sole criterion is the Love of Evil. If its Wrong, Irresponsible, Unrealistic, they are for it! If its Right, Responsible and Realistic, they hate it! Many of those ostensibly on the right side of the political spectrum hypocritically pretend to endorse the RRR; but actually adore the WIU approach. Example: Just watch the GOPhers raise the debt limit a few trillion in return for some miniscule reduction in the current year deficit. They are worse than even the Demonrats!
not sure is it’s the alcohol but it must be,the BABE is Shannon Breen not Green. Glad I cleared that one up. HEH!
My favorite pundette on the planet.
It is BREAM, not BREEN.
I’d like to hear Cain speak, in depth, about the the Federal Reserve; but other than that concern, I like him. I like that he isn’t a politician and I think his “how’s that working for you?” message could be just what Republicans need.
Keep them talking long enough and you can spot a Paulistine every time.
Go Cain!