Sixth GOP Debate Highlights

Dana J. Tuszke — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:02:05 -0500

Republican presidential candidates went head to head in the sixth GOP debate on Tuesday. The two-hour debate was held at the Univeristy of Michigan in Dearborn, and aired on CNBC. It was rebroadcasted on MSNBC later that night.

Hosted by Chris Matthews, of Hardball, the debate brought former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, Texas Representative Ron Paul, Coloroado Representative Tom Tancredo, California Representative Duncan Hunter, senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Samuel Brownback of Kansas together to discuss the issues most important to Americans.

John Cox of Illinois and Alan Keyes of Maryland were unable to attend.

The highlight of the debate seems to be the clash between Romney and Giuliani over tax cuts and spending as reported by MSNBC. Each candidate attacked the other's fiscal record and the sparring continued throughout the afternoon.

I have to say I'm rather surprised that Romney, Giuliani, McCain and Thompson actually showed up. They didn't make an appearance at the Republican All-American Presidential Forum held in Baltimore two weeks ago.

Fred Thompson really didn't trip my trigger. While this was his debut, he seemed unprepared and somewhat nervous and distant. I got the feeling he wanted to be anywhere but Dearborn. He seemed to be using scripted answers to the questions.

Move me, Fred. I want you to stop using the safe answers. What do you believe? What can you offer Americans?

As I listened to Thompson speak, I kept hearing the Law & Order "duh-duhn" theme song in my head. It didn't help that Romney said this debate was a lot like the show:

"It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever...and Fred Thompson shows up at the end."

Thompson responded by saying, "And to think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage."

Ron Paul annoyed me once again with his nervous tone and scattered speech patterns. I simply do not feel confident in this man.

When asked if the United States would have gone to war if we weren't dependent on Middle East oil, Paul replied, "Probably not, but that should not be a reason. That's an old theory. It's mercantilistic, it's neo-colonialism, that you have to maintain your supply routes and your natural resources."

Okay. What? Am I the only one who heard what he said, but didn't quite understand where he was going?

Kate's Chosen had better feeligns about Ron Paul:

Another candidate running for the conservative presidential vote is Congressman Ron Paul. I’ve followed his debates for years and believe he also has concern for our great nation. His grounded thoughts on liberty and freedom are a strong influence on me. I’ve heard him speak on these subjects many times.

Mike Huckabee shined as usual, proving he's an excellent performer. He's very believable which makes me a bit skeptical. I'm starting to like Huckabee, yet I wonder if he has what it takes to be President of the United States. He's charismatic like another former Arkansas governor I know.

I still don't know how I feel about Brownback, Hunter and Tancredo. They don't appear to make as much noise as their competition.

The one thing all the candidates have in common is their willingness to pounce on Hillary Clinton, especially Rudy Giuliani, and their refusal to utter President Bush's name. Hmmm. I wonder why?

I don't care for Hillary, yet I felt as though the GOP candidates were using her as a punching bag to "one up" each other.

MSNBC released a partial transcript of Keith Olbermann's interview with Sen. Hillary Clinton:

OLBERMANN: The Republican debate the other night -- you certainly did seem to come up fairly frequently. Do you think they're doing you a favor, a campaign favor, an advertising favor, by mentioning you so often?

CLINTON: Well, I guess if you don't have anything positive to say about yourself or your record or your vision for America, that might be an alternative, but you know, I'm running my campaign. I can't worry about what they're doing. It is something, though, that a lot of my friends have noticed, and one of them I thought, rather funny, who said to me, you know, when you get to be our age, it's kind of nice to have all these men obsessed with you. I guess I could put that spin on it.

Don Frederick of The Swamp writes:

The official transcript from MSNBC of Tuesday's debate among the Republican presidential candidates does, indeed, make it official: The men vying to keep the White House in GOP hands appear loath to utter the current occupant's name.

Chris Matthews got on my nerves with his disrespectful remarks to Fred Thompson. The former senator was asked if he felt that the government should intervene in Chrysler labor dispute. Thompson said no and realized he had more time to explain his answer.

When Thompson finished, Matthews replied, "Took a long time. He said no; he should have stopped there. Anyway..."

Doug Patton of The Loft writes:

Chris Matthews is a pompous, obnoxious windbag who loves the sound of his own voice. His penchant for interrupting his guests on his “Hardball” program is legendary. In fact, it is almost impossible for a guest to finish a thought without Matthews stepping all over his or her dialogue — especially if that person is a conservative.

Federation of Conservative Republicans writes:

Fred Thompson should have walked down off the stage and put that wuss in a headlock. He was a disgrace to a public debate like that. He took a very unfair shot at a contestant. Who is he to judge and grade the candidates. He stepped over the line and should apologize.

What do other bloggers think about Tuesday's debate?

John Feehery of The Hill's Pundits blog writes:

"Something struck me as I watched the Republican debaters in Dearborn, Mich. No, it wasn’t the arrival of Fred Thompson to the dance. It wasn’t the strange inability of John McCain to hear Maria Bartiromo’s questions. It wasn’t the strange allure of Ron Paul’s neo-populist, neo-libertarian, neo-conspiracy-theory explanation of the carried-interest debate.

All of those points were notable. But to me, the most notable development was the drift of the Republican Party to protectionism."

Noam Scheiber says:

"This afternoon's Republican debate in Dearborn, Michigan went pretty much the way the entire campaign has gone lately: A lot of hype about Fred Thompson, but ultimately a contest between Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney."

From Right Pundits:

"Here is Fred Thompson enjoying his first debate as a Republican presidential candidate. His new stage is tricky acting territory for good old Thompson, because unlke Law and Order they don’t allow director cuts in presidential debates."

Douglas V. Gibbs writes:

The hope for a Red November is little more than a year from now, and the first debate to include Fred Thompson aired last night. Granted, I wasn't sure if having Chris Matthews as moderator was a good thing, but MSNBC hosting the debate showed that the Republican Party is not afraid of fielding questions from the Liberal Left. In fact, a number of the Republican Candidates have come on as guests on many of the left leaning news channels. Rarely, however, do you see the Democrats willing to come on shows like Bill O'Reilly's, Sean Hannity's, or Brit Hume's.

From Tennessee Guerilla Women:

"Fred Thompson -- the Republican who Nixon called "dumb as hell" -- finally showed up at his first debate. Even after all his studying and prepping, Freddie was obviously nervous as he stood on stage at the Republican presidential debate in Michigan. The former Tennessee senator spent so much time looking down at his notes that you had to wonder if he had a cheat sheet."

And The News Junkie tells us:

"Fred Thompson starts off slow… Giuliani falls flat with baseball joke… Ron Paul spent too much time in the Texas sun… Maria Bartiromo is the hottest moderator ever… John McCain is on the mark in mocking the cigarette tax… Huckabee is very impressive again but, Bartlett is right, his last name is too ‘hick’… Mitt Romney is eloquent as usual but still lacks punch… For some reason it’s hard to pay attention to Duncan Hunter… Why does Fred Thompson always have to clear his throat?… Sam Brownback is trying to launch a new catch phrase with ‘taxed to the max’… I’ve heard ‘get spending under control’ at least 5 times and we’re only 15 minutes in…. Hang on, Tom Tancredo is still running for President?… If CNBC had one more ticker you wouldn’t be able to see the candidates… Fred Thompson looks so uncomfortable, I can see him trying to listen… Mitt Romney is wrong on backing the ‘line item veto’ at the Federal level… CNBC’s microphones sound absolutely horrible… Duncan Hunter really, really, really needs to stop dying his hair…"

I think the Independent candidate will get my vote. Bob Hargis anyone?

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Contributing Editor Dana J. Tuszke also blogs at The Dana Files.

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Sixth GOP Debate Highlights