Live Blog: *Another* Republican Debate?! Haven’t We Suffered Enough Already?

Who will crash and burn tonight? Will Perry have another brain freeze episode? Will Romney avoid flip-flopping? What embarrassing, tasteless remark will Cain make about women? What ghastly, nighmarish thing will Santorum say about gay marriage? Will god finally make an appearance and choose which of these nutcases is really the divine choice for president?

Tonight’s debate is sponsored by CBS and the National Journal and will take place in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The topics will be national security and foreign policy. You can watch it beginning at 8PM on CBS TV or at the CBS website.

CBS has more tips about what to watch for. First on the list, of course, is whether Rick Perry “can clear the low bar of expectations.”

Almost every debate has been a challenge for the Texas governor, but after Wednesday night’s face plant in Michigan, there’s really nowhere for him to go but up. He’s tried to make light of he stumbles and turn them into strengths, saying he’s not slick, that he speaks from the heart. That’s all well and good, but the danger for Perry is that voters already have formed an opinion of him–and that based on his past performances, they lack confidence that he is either capable or can persuasively carry the conservative message to victory. Debates matter to voters: In our new poll, 76 percent of Republicans said the candidate’s performance was important in deciding their vote.

You don’t have to be a championship debater–the pundits and the media never gave the debate points George W. Bush. But Bush clearly passed the threshold that he was qualified to be president. In debates, he was able to connect with voters and communicate his message in a way Perry so far has not.

I really do hope that god shows up and tells Rick to go back to Texas and deal with drought and wildfires.

I plan to watch as long as I can stand it. I’m hoping for another horrible goof by one or more candidates. If you’re watching too, please join me in the comments.


46 Comments on “Live Blog: *Another* Republican Debate?! Haven’t We Suffered Enough Already?”

  1. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    OK, I missed the beginning. Bachmann is talking right now talking about Afghanistan. Now Huntsman is up. He says it’s time to come home, we’ve achieved our key objectives.

  2. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Mitt says no negotiations with the Taliban, and we need ot stay in Afghanistan till 2014. Newt says we have no idea how hard this is going to be. We need to fight Pakistan…it sounds like he wants troops in all those countries forever.

    Now Cain is talking, and making no sense. What a moran.

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:

      and Perry just said foreign aid (which is less than 1/2% of the US budget) is more important than Afghanistan …

      Cain and Perry are clearly unready.

  3. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Rick Perry says foreign aid should go to zero dollars. It’s already a miniscule part of the budget. Perry isn’t ready.

    • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

      Perry got applause anyway.

      • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:

        I think Perry just abandoned Israel

        Bachmann sounds more knowledgeable than Perry and Cain put together. That’s a scary thought.

        Although now she said that all those countries are working on world wide nuclear war against Israel which is whacked

  4. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Michele Bachmann is patronizing Perry, because she’s an expert, since she’s on the foreign affairs committee. “The president has to be ready on day one.” Where have we heard that before?

    Newt agrees with Perry. Start off every country at zero dollars and say “explain to me why I should give you a penny.”

  5. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Newt says that the Arab spring is becoming the anti-Christian spring.

  6. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Remind me. Why is Santorum still in the race?

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:

      oddly enough,his position on Pakistan was the most reasonable…

      and I think that he’s on the reason a lot of the others are, he hears voices in his head that tell him he’s supposed to do it

      • Susan's avatar Susan says:

        It’s true. Santorum said the only intelligent thing that I’ve ever heard him make when he talked about using foreign aid to stay engaged with the moderates in Pakistan.

    • Peggy Sue's avatar Peggy Sue says:

      Why are any of these people in the race? The only decent candidate up there is Jon Huntsman and he’s hardly asked any questions. I just listened to a Fox pundit panel–they’re hot on . . . Gingrich!

      Mama Mia! Say ‘hello’ to 4 more ‘O’ years.

    • foxyladi14's avatar foxyladi14 says:

      practice!!!! 😆

  7. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    None of the things Newt just said were “thinking outside the box.” It was all cookie cutter crap.

    Now we get to hear Cain explain how he would deal with the generals.

    • bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

      These people are all sooooo embarrassingly ignorant. Why doesn’t god give them the answers?

  8. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Herman Cain supports waterboarding and doesn’t think it’s torture. Bachmann agrees, plus she says the ACLU is running the CIA. We’ve decided we want to lose the war on terror.

  9. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Ron Paul says waterboarding is torture. It’s immoral and it doesn’t work. Torture is illegal, uncivilized and un-American.

  10. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Huntsman says America has values and we should live up to them. Torture is wrong. Waterboarding is torture.

    The audience seems split on the issue.

  11. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Should the president be able to kill an American citizen? Mitt says “absolutely.”

    Audience loves it.

  12. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Mitt Romney disgusts me!

  13. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Newt is really bloodthirsty. I think he topped all of them.

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:

      He wants “panels” to decide guilt instead of courts, it seems.

    • Woman Voter's avatar Woman Voter says:

      That is the man that served his wife divorce papers, in the hospital so he could marry his congressional employee and convert, so he could say John Paul but not realize John Paul II was a man of PEACE. Newt Gingrich practically had the drool of blood thirst on his face.

  14. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Rick Perry says we must win the cyber war. I’m not sure what he’s talking about.

  15. ralphb's avatar ralphb says:

    How bad is the crought here in Texas? Rick Perry should abandon running for president so he can come home and do a rain dance. Though I think he would fall flat on his ass.

    Interactive Map: Texas Cities at Risk of Running Out of Water

    Eighteen communities across Texas, including the Austin suburbs of Leander and Cedar Park, are on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s “high priority” water list, which covers cities and towns that either could run out of water within six months if nothing changes (like rainfall or a new pipeline connection) or do not know how much water they have remaining.

  16. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    The live stream stopped working for me. It keeps pausing.

  17. dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:

    So, did Perry take his lithium today or should we check his back for a bulge?

  18. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:

    Personally, I think Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann are possessed by demons. They just think they’re hearing god’s voice telling them to kill and torture.

    • dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:

      Herman Cain seems to be in that number. I couldn’t believe he said that waterboarding wasn’t torture but he’d rely on what his Generals say. I’ve never heard any one in the military say it’s not torture.

  19. dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:

    @womnsrightswrtr NYC fem photog shoots survivors of sex assault holding card w/ attackers’ words

    http://projectunbreakable.tumblr.com/