Thursday night's GOP debate and analysis
(yeah, analysis by Chris Matthews, not the sportscaster.)
By Mark Kilmer Posted in 2008 | MSNBC | Republican debate — Comments (29) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Tomorrow night -- Thursday, January 24 -- the struggling cable outlet MSNBC will air the final Republican debate before the Florida primary. At the debate will be John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney.
Oh, and… RonPaulRonPaulRonPaul. (I saw the incomparable Dr. Paul speaking at the March for Life in DC yesterday, carried live by EWTN. Good for him!)
The debate is from 9-10:30p ET at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, with the post-debate analysis going from 10:30 'til midnight, hosted by Chris Matthews. It would seem so that the sportscaster Keith Olbermann, who evidently runs MSNBC but cannot even get close to winning his own time slot, has taken himself out of the mix. Perhaps he realizes that he is an embarrassment to his own fiefdom when he attempts to operate in any grownup capacity.
The moderators will be NBC News anchor Brian Williams and Tim Russert of Meet the Press.
Read On…
In the post-debate opinion promulgation, we might not be able to expect much better than the sportscaster from Matthews, who was talking campaigning with a Giuliani aide on yesterday's Hardball and uttered:
Let's not forget, you can do almost anything when you're running against Romney.
This, of course, was Matthews's attack on Romney's weakness, the public perception that he will take any position or say whatever he feels will help him to take the Republican Party's Presidential nomination.
Matthews is a harbinger of Dem things-to-come should Romney be the nominee, so the GOP will have to be ready in case he wins the party's main prize.
As for the debate itself, it is the final Republican debate before next Tuesday's Florida primary. It will air on a little-watched cable news outlet and PBS when Floridians might sooner be tuned to reality TV and game shows on the broadcast networks.
The questions will probably be directed to MSNBC's target audience, the bitter American left, and the debate will not be worth viewing to those of us outside Florida who would be forced to watch via live webcast off MSNBC's web site. (Then again, if these "debates" are part an important part of the process to you, and you want to watch, perhaps they will have a decent connection.)
For what it's worth, this floating mass of dross is to be sponsored by this outfit, who are also doing a Dem debate on Sunday.
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Thursday night's GOP debate and analysis 29 Comments (0 topical, 29 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
The debates are very important. I propose the debate commission that runs the Presidential debates also run the primary presidential debates.
The debates should have moderators from each of the tv networks to ask questions. This will prevent someone, like Chris Mathews, from dominating the program and letting the public see how dumb he really is.
Why can't Tim Russert moderate this debate? I think he would be way better than Chris Matthews and Keith "I think I'm Edward R. Murrow" Olbermann?
That being said, having Chris Matthews moderate a GOP debate would be like having Rosie O'Donnell oversee a Weight Watchers convention. It's just a really, really bad idea.
"No matter how much lipstick you put on the taxation pig, it's still a pig... and it's currently snout-down in your wallet." - Michael Fisk
and Tim Russert is helping him to ask questions.
Matthews is doing the last-word analysis afterwards.
...asked the brilliant question at the debate in Los Angeles, "what do you think about Hillary Clinton being back in the White House?"
That debate was a complete waste of time. I hope MSNBC has learned its lesson.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”
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for President in 2008
and I dig the graphic. Good job.
There's no way that I'll support the Riddler for President in '08. He's a convincted criminal mastermind, for pete's sake!
Google image search is a beautiful thing.
for President in 2008
It seems very strange to me why the Dems are blasting Mitt like they are.
I believe they are scared to death that he will get the nomination. I think he is the only one who could win against the Dems.
The media wants John Mccain because they know that they can win against him. They keep calling him the front runner when he is not. Mitt Romney has more delegates.
I am one Floridian that will be voting for Mitt Romney.
rather, I think his changes of position have become a sort of running joke amongst those who oppose his candidacy. And, yes, they are a concern to some Republicans, as well.
The machine of the Democrats and their eventual nominee will want to exploit this weakness after the conventions if Romney does get nominated.
And they will try to do to him exactly what they did to Fred!
The media did nothing to Thompson but ignore him. His campaign went nowhere because the entire plan was not the right one. It would have required the dynamism he began to show in the final days of his campaign beginning by last August and lasting through Super Tuesday.
Also, Mitt Romney is not a conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan or Fred Thompson. In fact, of late especially, Thompson has been show that he believes that a government, if well-managed and with enough taxpayers' money, can be the solution to almost any human problem. There is a possibility that the editorial boards will figure this out and begin to warm to Romney.
Hmmm, here's what the Intrepid Liberal Journal had to say about Mitt, the Conservative, when he announced:
As a Democrat, Romney doesn't scare me at all. Pro-choice and pro-gay rights as a candidate for state office in Massachusetts. Now he's pandering to the assinine conservative right on those issues. If he became the nominee he'd likely try to navigate to the center and be further exposed as having no core. An easy mark and no amount of endorsements can help him.
http://intrepidliberaljournal.blogspot.com
Something to think about...
we do not want to rely upon Intrepid Liberal Journal for much of anything.
Good point, although it would give me pause if they aren't worried about someone. I'd prefer to worry them a bit.
Wrong forum to spew propaganda for a candidate that is polling 3rd or 4th in Florida.
Rassmussen has the most recent poll and it sya the following...
Mitt Romney
25%
John McCain
20%
Rudy Giuliani
19%
Mike Huckabee
13%
Fred Thompson
12%
Ron Paul
5%
Not Sure
6%
Back on topic though....
I agree that I think there needs to be an independent group that coordinates debates, and that the Networks can Bid on them, or take turns or whatever.
Talk Radio Junkie and Friend of Fred
Hmmm, not sure about those numbers:
Survey USA:
McCain: 25
Giuliani: 20
Romney: 19
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/states/florida.html
McCain: 26
Giuliani: 22
Huckabee: 17
Romney: 16
Real Clear Politics Average
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/fl/florida_republ...
McCain: 22.8
Romney: 20.8
Guiliani: 20.4
So, I guess 2-4 instead of 3-4, depending on where you look. It's always changing. ;)
Maybe after the last fox debate the spirit of Brit Hume will live in all the candidates. Being its going to be a 90% lib audience I'd love to see these guys take NBC and the left to task on all the issues and on all the offhanded comments they make during these debates. If a candidate doesn't give into the host and gives a response where he corrects the host on say the presdent, the economy, the war, the 2,000 other issues MSNBC gives false information on, he'd gain alot of points in my book.
Fox uses their debates to promote Romney by givning him much more time to talk than the others. In addition, at least we will not have to watch any of those suspicious Focus Groups of supposedly undecided voters.
Wonder how many Florida Republican voters will tune it to watch.
Most polls I've seen show only around 60% of people are committed to voting for their candidate, and everyone else open to changing their minds.
If I recall correctly, Mitt leads in the Rasmusen and Insider Advantage polls, with McCain ahead in 2-3 others. Should be a close race.
Anyone think this debate will move the needle much on candidates poll numbers?
The RCP average has McCain leading Romney by 0.4 and intrade has Romney over McCain by 1.0. This debate might have a small affect on voters and that small affect may be enough. My gut tells me Romney will win by a margin similar to the "narrow" margin, according to the MSM at least, he won with in Michigan. Support is trending to Romney and with Thompson dropping and Huckabee retreating to Georgia I think this race may not be as close as it appears.
Some polls show it close, but by Tuesday, my instinct is to say it will be Romney by 5 or more points.
Purely anecdoctal, my immediately family was all over the board...my brother was for Fred, now Romney. Mom likes Rudy (especially his "tough" persona and feels he'd be great on fighting/killing/capturing the terrorists) but is going to vote Romney (immigration is also a big issue for her)
And my dad likes McCain, was talking about voting for him, but has now decided for Romney.
And me? I wasn't a diehard Fredhead but I wanted him to do well in S.C. and he would've had my vote here in FL. Now, it's Romney, Rudy, and McCain for me, in that order.
I suspect Mitt will pick up a majority of Fred's supporters, or close to it, with the rest split between McCain and Huck.
That, and with Rush and many other talk radio hosts highlighting McCain's unpopular positions with the base, and enthusiasm for him is diminished.
To what degree is arguable, but I think it's fair to say they have influence. Perhaps significantly so.
Mark, since you mentioned the March for Life, I just want to add that I was there yesterday and counted quite a few Ron Paul Pro-Life signs.
I did not expect Rudy but where were all the others campaigns? Huck? McCain (the Brownback plug doesnt count)? Romney?
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I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself was more important than how others saw me. (Anwar al-Sadat, President of Egypt, 1970-1981)
I grow more and more disgusted as Republicans run like battered children to their abusers and expect fair treatment let alone love. And forget "this is light compared to the general election." No, it is infantilism raw. Blech.