What'd I Miss?
Peter Robinson ·
Jan 23 at 9:32pm
Owing to a longstanding commitment this evening, I missed every last moment of the debate. What'd I miss? Was there a clear winner or loser? Did Rick Santorum get a word in, or did Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney completely dominate the evening? If you had to make a guess about the effect of this debate on the polls in Florida, which, as of this afternoon, showed Gingrich on top by middling to high double digits, Romney in second, and Santorum and Paul trailing, what would you say? Will the rankings change?
Explain, describe, vent--anything. I'm all but desperate with curiosity.
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May '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
Peter, to me, the big news came after the debate. At the start of their postdebate analysis Andrea Mitchell intimated that Mitt Romney might actually step aside if that's what it took to stop Gingrich:
"I talked to a top Romney adviser tonight who said, 'Look, if Mitt Romney cannot win in Florida then we're going to have to try to reinvent the smoke-filled room which has been democratized by all these primaries. And we're going to have try to come with someone as an alternative to Newt Gingrich who could be Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, someone.' Because there is such a desperation by the so-called party elites, but that's exactly what Gingrich is playing against."
Video Here
Sep '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
I had to ignominiously depart the debates due to a domestic emergency (Mrs. Pseudo demanded I get milk for the little Pseudod's, gas up her lamborghini and wash it. I tell ya...) so, I only saw about 2/3rds. Both Mitt and Newt opened looking very tired, it was a painful format, with even more painful questions and no one at their sharpest during the first 30 minutes. Mitt was going after Newt on an effective line of attack but for too long and then circled back. Newt supressed his Jon Stewart Supervillian and didn't take out Mitt's eye with the Falcon of Truth but it was iffy.
The real story is over at Real Clear Politics where the its a bar room brawl amongst the entire party and I do believe that if Newt wins Florida they'll go completely bananas.
Edited on Jan 23 at 9:41pmDec '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
EJHill: Peter, to me, the big news came after the debate. At the start of their postdebate analysis Andrea Mitchell intimated that Mitt Romney might actually step aside if that's what it took to stop Gingrich:
"I talked to a top Romney adviser tonight who said, 'Look, if Mitt Romney cannot win in Florida then we're going to have to try to reinvent the smoke-filled room which has been democratized by all these primaries. And we're going to have try to come with someone as an alternative to Newt Gingrich who could be Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, someone.' Because there is such a desperation by the so-called party elites, but that's exactly what Gingrich is playing against."
Video Here · 1 minute ago
That's hysterically funny.
First, Mitt Romney didn't enter the race to deny Newt Gingrich the nomination. Who's going to order him to quit?
Second, who's going to cancel the primaries and caucuses to keep Newt or Mitt or Rick from winning the nomination outright?
Third, how is anybody going to find one candidate acceptable to every wing of the GOP? How will they force that candidate to run?
Dec '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
Peter, I'm repeating the comment I made on EJ's post on Member Feed. I don't know if it helps but it is the way I feel.
EJ, just the way I like it. Everyone's coming to me here in South Florida. I've got the Perry Bumper Stickers off the car. Now that I have the room, I can consider filling the space with another candidate.
Hmmmm...but who? I still think Rick's FedUp is the Constitutional Blueprint for conservatives. His 20/20 20% personal and 20% corporate tax rate is the dynamite to blow the log jam in the economy wide open.
That big Episcopal Church, with the great organ, is where I vote. (Coulter votes there too. Hope she doesn't see me at the polls because I'm not voting for Romney even if Hell does freeze over.)
Oh well, 10 days ago the Church had a great Bag Pipe group there. I listened for an hour. They played "Scotland the Brave". I think I'll humm it while I'm voting.
Regards from The Island,
Jim
Edited on Jan 23 at 9:52pmJul '11
Re: What'd I Miss?
High colonics for everyone!
Dec '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
Interesting question: if neither Mitt nor Newt do anything big in the next week, either positive or negative, who does that benefit? Does Mitt rebound to the default choice, does Newt keep his current lead, or does Santorum sneak in by not having the negatives of the other two?
(I discount any possibility that Ron Paul surges to the top.)
May '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
Remember, the primaries are not part of any state law. They are purely a party function that the state subsidizes. The executive committee of any state party can alter the rules with the RNC's blessing.
Jul '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
I missed it too Peter. I'm think Paul won the Daily Double but Santorum pulled it out in the lightning round. Just my personal post-predictions before I break down and go look.
Dec '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
EJHill
Remember, the primaries are not part of any state law. They are purely a party function that the state subsidizes. The executive committee of any state party can alter the rules with the RNC's blessing. · 1 minute ago
The question is whether the RNC can order the various states to cancel their primaries and caucuses so as to defer to the party grandees in choosing our nominee.
The secondary question is whether the various state-level party organizations will clamor for the RNC's blessing to abdicate their respective roles in choosing the nominee. That would be counter to the history of each state taking pride in its part in choosing the nominee -- I can envision that if a state's central party apparatus told that state's Republican voters that their input into the state's allocation of delegates was no longer wanted or needed, those voters might not let that state's central party apparatus exist in its current form for very long.
Dec '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
I only heard enough of the audio to know that Ron Paul needs to cut down on his caffeine intake and up his dose of Thorazine. (But when he was asked outright if he'd run third-party if denied the GOP nomination, he did hint that he was encouraged that Newt said some nice things about the gold standard... so maybe Newt has done a service in neutralizing the threat of an independent run by Paul.)
May '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
Florida is a prime example. They've already lost half of their delegates because they moved their primary up to an earlier date. The RNC might find a whole bunch of "violations" to keep anyone from getting a majority.
Dec '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
By the way, the West Coast delayed broadcast is on the SF Bay Area NBC station right now (it's 10 PM Pacific, so they're heading into the last 45 minutes of the debate).
Apr '11
Re: What'd I Miss?
Mitt has released his taxes. Gave 7 mil in charity over two years (15 % of his income, most of it to the Mormon Church) and paid 6.2 mil in taxes.
He really is a terrible politician. This could only have helped him.
Re: What'd I Miss?
EJHill: Peter, to me, the big news came after the debate. At the start of their postdebate analysis Andrea Mitchell intimated that Mitt Romney might actually step aside if that's what it took to stop Gingrich:
"I talked to a top Romney adviser tonight who said, 'Look, if Mitt Romney cannot win in Florida then we're going to have to try to reinvent the smoke-filled room which has been democratized by all these primaries. And we're going to have try to come with someone as an alternative to Newt Gingrich who could be Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, someone.' Because there is such a desperation by the so-called party elites, but that's exactly what Gingrich is playing against."
Video Here · 26 minutes ago
Perfectly astonishing. Thanks for linking to this, EJ.
Dec '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
EJHill
Florida is a prime example. They've already lost half of their delegates because they moved their primary up to an earlier date. The RNC might find a whole bunch of "violations" to keep anyone from getting a majority. · 9 minutes ago
That's the inverse direction of the state organizations seeking the RNC's blessing, but perhaps it could work -- if there's a national shortage of pitchforks, torches, tar and feathers.
Dec '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
wmartin: Mitt has released his taxes. Gave 7 mil in charity over two years (15 % of his income, most of it to the Mormon Church) and paid 6.2 mil in taxes.
He really is a terrible politician. This could only have helped him. · 11 minutes ago
If he was afraid that he'd be criticized for only paying $6.2 million in taxes, he's awfully timid.
On the other hand, he did have a line that betrayed horrid timidity when he chided Newt for proposing a 0% capital gains tax rate. Mitt said, "If there was a zero rate on capital gains, I wouldn't have paid any taxes last year." Well, duh -- that's the point.
Jan '11
Re: What'd I Miss?
I think Mitt drew a little blood on the influence peddling line of attack. He almost had Newt speechless there for a moment, almost. Newt truly seemed unsure for a moment of how to handle the sustained volleys Romney was mounting. Mitt was strong, I feel, as was Santorum. Other than being a little bloodied at the beginning, Newt was solid as well. However, the debates are the place where Newt gains all his ground. Outside of the debates Newt is outgunned. So when he doesn't dominate a debate he actually loses, IMO.
Edited on Jan 23 at 10:18pmJul '10
Re: What'd I Miss?
Stuart Creque
EJHill
Florida is a prime example. They've already lost half of their delegates because they moved their primary up to an earlier date. The RNC might find a whole bunch of "violations" to keep anyone from getting a majority. · 9 minutes ago
That's the inverse direction of the state organizations seeking the RNC's blessing, but perhaps it could work -- if there's a national shortage of pitchforks, torches, tar and feathers. · 5 minutes ago
I've been hoarding in anticipation of a run. I'm conveniently located near I95 just south of DC. Just stock up on your way to visit your favorite Congresscritter! Quantity discounts available for Ricos.
Edited on Jan 23 at 10:24pmRe: What'd I Miss?
Stuart Creque: Interesting question: if neither Mitt nor Newt do anything big in the next week, either positive or negative, who does that benefit? Does Mitt rebound to the default choice, does Newt keep his current lead, or does Santorum sneak in by not having the negatives of the other two?
(I discount any possibility that Ron Paul surges to the top.) · 22 minutes ago
I'd bet that a quiet week benefits Romney. If there's less opportunity for Gingrich to be outraged about something, like in South Carolina, there's more opportunity for Romney to rebound to inevitability status. A Gingrich in action seems a lot more appealing to an unsettled electorate than a softer, inactive one.
Or Ron Paul surges to the top and everyone starts getting really into this gold standard thing. Or not.
Apr '11
Re: What'd I Miss?
Stuart Creque
wmartin: Mitt has released his taxes. Gave 7 mil in charity over two years (15 % of his income, most of it to the Mormon Church) and paid 6.2 mil in taxes.
He really is a terrible politician. This could only have helped him. · 11 minutes ago
If he was afraid that he'd be criticized for only paying $6.2 million in taxes, he's awfully timid.
On the other hand, he did have a line that betrayed horrid timidity when he chided Newt for proposing a 0% capital gains tax rate. Mitt said, "If there was a zero rate on capital gains, I wouldn't have paid any taxes last year." Well, duh -- that's the point. · 5 minutes ago
One point I am seeing made on Twitter a lot - were Romney a really adept politician, he could have drawn a contrast between his rate of charitable giving and Newt's <3% rate (Newt is the great believer in private and faith-based charity).