the presidential debates tonight

[got tonkaed]

anyone catching any of them so far? The republicans are making a bit of a mess of themselves. Also, Ron paul is taking a bit of a beating from the rest of the candidates at the moment.

[unriggable]

Yeah, the republicans are disorganized. I watched for about an hour and I remembered why people like ron so much. He knows a lot about foriegn affairs, I must say.

[got tonkaed]

I actually having just finished the republican debate, did not like romney as much as i did like him before hand. Admittedly this was more because of the way he handled himself rather than the issues, but i really didnt think he did that well. if i was going to rank them from a conservative standpoint....guessing i suppose.

Romney - the debate was centered around him
Mccain - pretty close to huckabee but attacked a little less, may have been bad in immigration
Huckabee - was less of the darling than he had been in some of the other debates
Thompson - i could see people having him much higher or lower depending on how you feel about him, but i thought this was in a lot of ways what people wanted out of him
Guilani - not a bad performance but he faded in spots
Paul - got beaten up by most of the other candidates.

[unriggable]

Romney is a dick, and it shouldn't take a debate to tell you that. He attacks and attacks and when attacked he asks to lay back but that's all he does really, he boasts a holier-than-thou attitude and its pushing him back. I think the reason Ron Paul and Huckabee beat the expectations is because they were a lot more humble than other candidates. Okay. Dems on - time to tune in.

[Ham]

I think Paul got beaten up,but his message got out. A lot of that laughing they did probably got the people who were agreeing with paul whats up with these douches.

[unriggable]

I think Paul got beaten up,but his message got out. A lot of that laughing they did probably got the people who were agreeing with paul whats up with these douches.

If I'm reading what you said correctly, I agree.

[got tonkaed]

I thought the dems started off the debate doing better than the republicans, but thought they sort of fell apart to a degree at points during the middle....heres the got tonkaed analysis of how the candidates did.

Obama - i may be a bit biased here, but i think he looks sharp everytime he speaks publicly. I thought he was funny, fairly pointed and in the most part did a good job. I especially liked how he claimed he was flipping between teh republicans and football. I feel like he was a good balance between edwards and clinton.
Clinton - I actually thought hillary came off as more personable than i have seen her in a while. She certainly did not seem to be as aggressive toward obama as she maybe has been in the past, and may have struck a cord with the historically results oriented new hampshire voters as opposed to more of the idealism from team edwards obama.
Edwards - his fiery personal speech about fighting special interests is probably going to put people on different sides of the coin on him. At times i thought he did really well and in a lot of ways he worked pretty well together with obama.
Richardson - as much as i liked many of the things he said and did in the debate, he clearly is running 4th in a 3 person race.

[CrazyAnglican]

Missed the Republican debate, but sat through the democratic one.

Obama is certainly likable, but I have reservations about his experience. I certainly do not think he can get a coalition to work together the way he claims.

Of the four I came off liking Edwards the most and think he would have the best shot at actually fulfilling his claims.

[got tonkaed]

I guess my biggest problem with edwards is that his crusade...and it almost seems like he wants us to envision it that way, is really the toughest for the general public to be able to gauge his success in. seemingly interest groups as are american as apple pie when it comes to politics, and to claim that you are going to take them on and beat them, seems like a very difficult task.


also i think at the moment edwards seems like he would be a vice presidential nod for either hillary or obama.

[CrazyAnglican]

I think it will either be Clinton Obama or Obama Edwards. I can't see Clinton going for anyone other than Obama as a running mate.

It's a pity I'd have to consider an Edwards Richardson ticket.

[InkL0sed]

I don't see Edwards running with Hillary at all.

[btownmeggy]

The bickering was certainly annoying. I think that Huckabee and Obama actually did the best of any of them just by keeping their mouths shut most of the time except when directly questioned.

I felt sorry for Ron Paul a lot of the time because he was SOMETIMES saying very commonsensical things, but was being attacked by his fellow debaters who all subscribe to blind patriotism. "It has NOTHING to do with US foreign policy." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Why do "islamofascist" terrorists have a vendetta against the US and not Brazil? Have you seen how Brazilian women dress?

Most annoying figure of the whole night: Yep, Romney. I can agree with everyone else there.

[btownmeggy]

I think it will either be Clinton Obama or Obama Edwards. I can't see Clinton going for anyone other than Obama as a running mate.

It's a pity I'd have to consider an Edwards Richardson ticket.

You know, I was certainly thinking of P/VP (hehe) pairing all night, but I drew very different conclusions. I think Hillary wants Richardson badly. I used to think Wesley Clark, but he's drawing himself out of the picture. Who would Obama take? I'm not sure. Possibly Edwards. I don't see Edwards getting the nomination.

[got tonkaed]

i thought it seemed like there was 2 pairs up there on the dem side. I think richardson was at least tonight a viable partner for hillary, and obama edwards seems like a very possible ticket.

[btownmeggy]

VP choices will depend so much on who gets the nomination in the opposing party!

[got tonkaed]

they certainly do....ill admit im a bit curious as to what any republican ticket with a guy like huckabee as a vp might be able to do. If i was a republican strategist, i think i would tell romney and huckabee to stop yelling at each other, because i think that ticket could beat a few different democratic options.

[CrazyAnglican]

I think Guiliani and Huckabee would be a very stong pairing. Guiliani has the strong stance with regard to terrorism and is seen as a stronger conservative. Huckabee has a draw and connects with people in a way that I don't think Guiliani can match. That coupled with the fact that they have both been successful in an executive office. Guiliani with the 9/11 history and Huckabee inheriting a $200 million dollar deficit in Arkansas and left office after two terms with a $880 million dollar surplus.

[got tonkaed]

i think there are two things that might be tough for guiliani. I feel like if you arent a national security first voter, hes not going to have a whole lot of appeal. Seemingly he also is much more right wing than even some of the other candidates, to the point that he periodically gets accused of filtering himself to mainstream. Between than and huckabee's social conservatism, i think the repubs might lose the majority of the liberal republican/independent vote.

[CrazyAnglican]

I don't know that Huckabee would scare off liberal republicans (such as myself; actually more of conservative democrat). He is socially conservative, but hasn't been pushing it down anyone's throat. His policies are anything but radical or extreme though. If anything he errs on the side of compassion. (Except for his stance on AIDS 16 years ago, and he's apparently come around on that one )