October 11, 2011

What's going to happen in tonight's GOP debates?

Michael Shear lists 5 things to watch for:
1. The Mormon question....

2. Romney, the piñata....

3. Battle of the executives. [Romney and Cain.]...

4. Perry, race and expectations....

5. Jobs and Mr. Obama.
If the candidates are smart, they'll make it be 5, 5, 5, 5, and more 5.

49 comments:

Almost Ali said...

I'd like to see Cain double down on the race-baiters.

Fred4Pres said...

I agree. And they need to explain the best way to get jobs is to reverse disasterous policies of Barack Obama that have sapped our economy of any vitality.

Carol_Herman said...

Why don't they just do mud wrestling?

If this were only Mad Magazine.

Scott M said...

Cain will continue to rise. Perry, short of a miraculously good showing...meaning not only flawless, but also generated a decent handful of campaign-able sound bytes, is toast.

If Romney does anything different that he's been doing since 2008, I'll be shocked.

ricpic said...

Charlie Rose's overtly civil moderation will be covertly hostile to and accusatory of Republican "meanness."

Perezoso said...

Perry or Paul ...or Newt should start by insisting Mormons are unqualified/unfit to run for public office. And anyone named Herman Cain ,aka Frankencain is unqualified/unfit to run for public office

traditionalguy said...

Romney can't reverse Obama's single payer health care forerunner policy since he is the one who paid experts to invent it.

Cain wants to redo the incentives in the Tax Code to favor start up business with a level playing field with the world wide Mega Corporations' operations overseas.

Cain by standing there on TV cuts off Obama's "People of color" alliance at the knees.

Jobs happen when energy here is cheaper than in China. Romney supports the Green Jobs scam to drive up our energy costs to triple of today's costs.

When this is over Cain will be far in the lead, Perry second and Romney a close third.

rcocean said...

Look for Perry to pull a McCain on illegal immigration and watch the conservatives fall for it.

"Just build the dang fence"

Sofa King said...

I didn't know that Jobs and Obama had any kind of special relationship. I mean, I know Jobs donated a fair amount, but I didn't think they were close. I suppose in that case you'd have to be pretty sensitive about the topic, I mean he just died last week.

Meade said...

"If the candidates are smart, they'll make it be 5, 5, 5, 5, and more 5."

Call it their 5-5-5 Plan.

Titus said...

Based off Perry's latest ad I believe he is going to try and shred Romney, which should be fun.

Michelle Bachmann need to show more tit for this debate. I believe her poll number would go up.

Scott M said...

. I believe her poll number would go up.

Mine might.

Peter V. Bella said...

They cannot wrap their brains around that "three letter word" J_O_B_S.

They should all seek advice from Joe Biden.

Automatic_Wing said...

Look for Perry to pull a McCain on illegal immigration and watch the conservatives fall for it.

"Just build the dang fence
"

Yes, that one works every time, but is Perry smart enough to figure it out? He should have had some variation of that answer ready last time.

edutcher said...

#5 is, of course, right, but you'll also see some of #2 and more than a little #3.

Everybody with a brain will denounce #1.

Perry needs to do well tonight, but he only has to do as well as Herman and Milton did last time out. Before that, nobody was really wowed by either of them.

PS Herman will get a shot at the Lefty plantation overseers.

Nora said...

"Jobs and Mr. Obama. If the candidates are smart, they'll make it be 5, 5, 5, 5, and more 5"

Absolutely. Instead of going after Obama and showing how they can run against him, so far the candidates went mostly after each other.

Scott M said...

Before that, nobody was really wowed by either of them.

I disagree with this, at least from a personal POV. The very first time I heard of Cain as a presidential hopeful was when he was debating a caller on XM. The subject was small business, which Cain obviously has NO experience in...lol. The caller, the very caricature of the ineffectual intellectual male dweeb, was trying to make the case that there's no such thing as either wealth creation OR job creation.

Cain was not merciful and that's when I had my eyebrows-up moment with him. I soon thereafter heard about his cancer issues and thought that was that...unelectable. That was before I found out more about the guy and his situation. I'm still skeptical he's got the stamina, but if the primary were today, I'd vote for him.

deborah said...

I think Perry will do well based on low expectations.

If Romney is elected, I fully expect him to completely welch on his promise to reverse Obamacare.

granmary said...
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Christopher in MA said...

"If Romney is elected, I fully expect him to completely welch on his promise to reverse Obamacare."

This. And it's why I'll vote for the SCOAMF if Romney gets the nomination. Better to face the deliberate enemy you know than worry about the "friend" who will stick the knife in your back.

Anonymous said...

Romney won't be nominated, the Evangelicals will not allow it, mark my words.

deborah said...

Christopher, how do you factor in Supreme Court nominations? Would Romney have any edge on Obama?

Patrick said...

9-9-9 Jobs=Jobs-Jobs

Scott M said...

9-9-9 Jobs=Jobs-Jobs

It just occurred to me that I've not seen anyone make the obvious number-of-the-beast reference to the 9-9-9 plan.

Let me insert the expected snarkish retort so I can beat Hoosier to it.

"Racist."

Christopher in MA said...

An excellent point, Deborah, but as you know, electing a GOP president doesn't guarantee a conservative justice; see Souter and O'Connor for good examples. And yes, consideration of Obama's SC picks ought to be weighed in the balance, but - having seen Romney in action - I have no illusions that he would pick a jurist in the Scalia or Thomas mold, and even if he did, I certainly do not see him as having the stones to stand behind his pick and expand political capital in the face of relentless Democrat/media sleaze.

Bill said...

"If the candidates are smart, they'll make it be 5, 5, 5, 5, and more 5."

Not every question can be twisted into being about 'jobs and Obama'.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Mitochondri-Allie said...

Romney won't be nominated, the Evangelicals will not allow it, mark my words.


Since the evangelicals apparently run everything, I just hope they see their way clear to voting Obama out of office.

deborah said...

Good points, C in MA, which brings me to my overall view of politics, that things are streamlined in all aspects of modern life. Whether a Romney or Obama, we are tended toward a sort of neo-liberal future where business, tech, and morals will equalize throughout the world, however slowly (thankya, thankya very much :)

Scott M said...

we are tended toward a sort of neo-liberal future where business, tech, and morals will equalize throughout the world, however slowly

I don't have any problems believing that things will equalize, to some extent, but why neo-liberal (in what sense?) and, of course, this all assumes general stability.

deborah said...

Neo-liberal in the sense that business and trade will lead the way for a higher standard of living throughout the world. This will be partially accomplished through a sort of imperialism in the form of interventions. Altogether, a blend of neo-conism and Wilsonian international interventionism accomplished with drones, smart bombs, trade, and diplomacy.

Pragmatist said...

Could we have a moratorium on republican "debates"? I know it is free publicity and they can blame Obama without having to have a counter argument but really? A Year of a Thousand debates? Jeez, it isn't even campaign season yet and I cannot turn on my TV without a photo op for a bunch of smiling Orwellian lapdogs.

Scott M said...

Jeez, it isn't even campaign season yet and I cannot turn on my TV without a photo op for a bunch of smiling Orwellian lapdogs.

That irony was delicious. Hopefully you have enough for the whole class.

Pragmatist said...

So, lets get it straight. If a Democrat is being mean or silly or stupid or hypocritical we must rush to judgement and throw it in his/her face and if the media does not do that that are covering up. If a Republican is being mean or silly or stupid or telling lies or being hypocritical we are not to say anything, be polite, blame the Dems for egging him on and if the media mentions it they are hating on the Reps and being unfair. I know the Right likes their double standards, claiming victimhood the same time they are bashing people but even by their standards this is wacked.

Scott M said...

I know the Right likes their double standards

You imply the Left does not here. Is that your honest opinion?

claiming victimhood the same time they are bashing people but even by their standards this is wacked

You will more of the behavior that is rewarded and less of the behavior that is punished. Again, the irony here is wonderful and you serve it with such aplomb.

Pragmatist said...

On 5....how about they debate this:

The president does not create jobs, demand for services and products do. No one on that panel will be able to create a single job.

There is not a shred of evidence outside of Republican country clubs that tax cuts for the wealthy has created a single job.


If they want to talk about the horror of federal deficit spending maybe they can debate how cutting federal revenue, not enforcing the tax code and opening up the Treasury to Republican fund raisers is going to shrink the deficit. Even some of you who did not make it out of JC can understand that deficits are caused by less revenue and more spending. I know that the Tea Party is made up of unemployables, tax cheats, bankrupts and other Joe the Plumber like whiners but really? Balance the budget by cutting taxes? No more Laffer gas, you are high enough.

J said...

Hmmmmmm. Claims to be CPA, with degrees, and then babbling away. It's...Byro, the LDS-stoner-troll.

CPA eh? We'll see what the Dept of CA Accountancy says, fraud.

Bender said...

What will happen?

The Stupid Party, of which Bachmann, Santorum, and Cain are members, will once again do something stupid that works to Romney's advantage.

Maybe Bachmann will obsess some more about Gardisil. Maybe Santorum will condescend to us again and tell us that he's forgotten more than others know. Maybe Cain -- of the let's take on an additional federal tax idea -- will complain some more that Perry painted the rock, turned it over, and rarely went to the place anyway.

Thanks to their deciding to take the heat off of Barack Obama by ganging up on Perry, we may end up getting stuck with Barack Romney as the nominee.

Bender said...

Meanwhile, it looks like Romney will run another tiresome play out of the Dem playbook and demand that Perry repudiate what some other person has said.

Anonymous said...

Romney won't be nominated, the Evangelicals will not allow it, mark my words.

Do the people repeating this line actually know any actual evangelicals or other Christians who actually state that they believe that Romney's religion makes him unfit for public office, or are they just repeating stereotypes and assumptions about people they don't want anything to do with anyway?

(Yes, I know that's a stupid question. I'm in serious bible belt land, and I've not heard a peep against Mormonism from an actual person who doesn't like it.)

- Lyssa

Don said...

Lyssa - First, I'll agree with you that it's a dumb question. ;o)

I, arguably, *am* a "bible belter," and while I don't "like" Mormonism, that's not what disqualifies Romney from the office of the President, IMHO. Likewise (with a couple of minor exceptions), like-minded people that I know also don't like Romney as a candidate - but they also don't base their distrust of him on his religion. To review:

- Mormonism - disagree, but okay.
- Flip flop on Romney/ObamaCare = distrust
- Inconsistencies on tax policies = distrust
- Inconsistencies on social issues = distrust
- Smarmy used-car salesman persona = distrust
- etc.

So... basically, I dislike Romney for being Liberal-light, not for being Mormon.

sorepaw said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mariner said...

lyssalovelyredhead,

I grew up in the Bible Belt, and my experience is as yours. People I knew respected Mormons for their missionary work.

While their theology seems strange to Christians, in their daily lives they are indistinguishable from strict evangelical Christians.

Cedarford said...

Pragmatist said...
On 5....how about they debate this:

The president does not create jobs, demand for services and products do. No one on that panel will be able to create a single job.
---------
Ignorance.
Certain policy reversals are absolutely guaranteed to rev up the economy and jobs.

1. Romney's pledge to give waivers to all 50 states exempting them from being required to accept Obamacare ends what employers call the biggest uncertainty blocking them from wanting new employees.

2. Ending Obama's oil drilling bans. Instant jobs.

3. Ending all fear of the new trenche of EPA regulations and rolling back past jobs killers - instant jobs.

Cedarford said...

Scott M said...
"Cain will continue to rise."
---------------
Cain is the only candidate that has not been vetted or scrutinized by the media or the other candidates. The "black man's pass" similar to what the media and the other side gave Obama - something that Herman Cain himself would hate in principle - is great for Romney, not so great for the others. Because Cain's unscrutinized candidacy is destroying Rick Perry. Almost to a single decimal point, every point Herman Cain gets is a point in the polls Perry loses.

Eventually, unlike with Obama, the attention will turn to how substantive a candidate Herman Cain actually is. And I think the verdict will be that the 65-year old would be a fine person to but in the Senate or a governors spot for his 1st elective office - but not the Presidency.
And his 9-9-9 plan is basically another Steve Forbes style flat tax that shifts the tax burden from the wealthiest to the lower middle class and poor. Which will be obvious once it's consequences to each economic quintle and to examples of how it plays out for the richest and poorest are known.

Chris Althouse Cohen said...

Is this debate even being televised everywhere? It says it's on Bloomberg TV, which I don't think is even available in Austin. If it's not showing on a major channel, this might be a minor debate.

Big Mike said...

If the candidates are smart ...

Lady, the only thing dumber than a Republican politician is a Democrat politician.

Or maybe a member of OWS.

Jason (the commenter) said...

They need to go after Cain and his 999 plan. It's either going to be a serious liability or not, and it would be helpful if we find out before he's chosen as the nominee.

Joanna said...

watch it online here http://www.bloomberg.com

xnar said...

Rumor has it the economy is in the tank and the bloated government is to blame. Perhaps between the Mormon cult issue and the Cain-is-black hoopla the issue might arise.