GOP Debate Live Blog

Aug 11th, 2011

Well. That was shallow. There was no significant, or even interesting, specific policy proposal from any candidate that actually addressed collapsed job creation. The candidates payed homage to the BBA which is nearly universally condemned by experienced economists. There was support for another 2004 style tax repatriation holiday in spite of it having been a provable failure as a growth medium before. In typical fashion, some of the candidates spoke more passionately about the survival of Israel than the survival of America. All in all, it was actually a pretty ugly affair. Chris Wallace, in particular, deserves a mighty dose of criticism for his methods and his questions.

Closing Statements -
Santorum - Hi Iowa... come "kick my tires!"
Cain - We need a "real" leader.
Paul - End these wars, lower taxes, property rights!
Romney - Implies Obama has never had a real job. Oh, he also "loves this country." I am sure glad he cleared that up. What an asshole.
Bachmann - ?
Pawlenty - Basically quotes  the movie Spider Man "great responsibility" blah, blah, blah... far out
Huntsman - He also loves our country. What a relief. I was wondering. "God Bless America"
Gingrich - "First of all, let me thank Fox..." Repeal everything... apparently.

Raising Cain

June 13th, 2011
by F. Grey Parker

Here they come. The Republican Presidential "contenders" will be duking it out tonight in front of the American people in the second debate of the season. 

We can expect most of the afternoon to consist of "expert predictions" and "reading the tea leaves" which is amusing considering that the lineup is, for the most part, an utterly unpredictable collection of irresponsible rabble-rousers who don't stand a chance.

Brian Beutler has a fun piece this morning over at TPM:
"Not since the first head-to-CPU contest between Gary Kasparov and Deep Blue has the world waited so breathlessly for the kind of battle of the minds we're likely to witness Monday evening."

It is very disappointing to see that Gary Johnson, the two term Governor of New Mexico has been excluded from tonight's show. Frankly, his answers in the previous FOX News "debate" regarding the role of the military, the size of Pentagon budgets and the responsibility of government to adhere to the basic protections guaranteed under the Bill of Rights made me sit up and take notice. 

I guess we can't have that sort of "sanity factor" potentially marring tonight's festivities.

Here's the line-up: Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Newt Gingrich, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and of course the new darling of FOX, Herman Cain.

Let's be honest. The real draw tonight is Cain. Not even Rep. Bachmann looks crazy or unqualified in comparison to the Pizza King's series of pronouncements over the last month. You find that too bold a statement?

Then you haven't been paying attention. Last week, Herman Cain made the most amazing proposal for security on the southern U.S. border I have heard in my adult lifetime.