Open thread: The “And then there were four” debate; Update: New Mitt ad mocks McCain
posted at 7:30 pm on January 24, 2008 by Allahpundit
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9 p.m. ET on MSNBC. “And then there were two and a half” would be more accurate. Giuliani’s still in the mix but he’s pulling only 11% on InTrade; Huckabee barely rates. If trends hold it’s Mitt versus McCain for all most of the marbles on Super Tuesday with Rudy and Huck hoping and praying (respectively) for miracles. McCain can expect flak from Romney on immigration and the economy and Rudy on that catastrophe fund he keeps bringing up to try to remind people of 9/11. Will Huck rally to Maverick’s side or let the other two take him apart? Look out for pandering praise for ol’ Fred too to try to win over any ‘Heads still on the fence. Mitt’s web team already has a little bait on the hook. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him attack MSNBC for laughing at Fred’s concession speech last weekend if the opportunity presents itself.
As for what McCain might have waiting for Romney, how about some straight talk about his mad economic skillz?
Video highlights later/during; as always, sound off below. While you wait, shed a tear for former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich as he inadvertently joins the vast right-wing conspiracy. (Ten years and going strong!) This is amusing too, from one of the lefty blogosphere’s leading lights. Follow the comments, as always.
Update: That didn’t take long.
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That’s just not true, 76. Do I need to even rebutt that? C’mon now… give your head a shake.
Feel better?
Good.
Carry on…
apacalyps on January 24, 2008 at 9:09 PM
The enemedia don’t want to talk about Iraq now, Tim, because they don’t want to report any good news.
ReubenJCogburn on January 24, 2008 at 9:09 PM
maybe Russert will tear into Paul once or twice, but I doubt it.
jp on January 24, 2008 at 9:10 PM
Can someone find this quote McLiar claims he never said?
csdeven on January 24, 2008 at 9:10 PM
McCain’s throat looks like quiche.
fiatboomer on January 24, 2008 at 9:10 PM
I disagree with your use of 2 Timothy. I would have gone with the tickling ears verse myself, in chapter four. Personally, I don’t think Romney’s faith is at all relevant to his ability to be president.
Mitt Romney has not tried to convert people to his faith. He just wants to be president, and this evangelical Christian is going to caucus for him next weekend.
Slublog on January 24, 2008 at 9:10 PM
How can you? He plays politics with his religion. It’s the reason I don’t like him.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:10 PM
Russert is ripping into Romney. Not cool, Tim. Softballs for Huckabee: The MSNBC Florida Debate.
malan89 on January 24, 2008 at 9:11 PM
They don’t get much Gold either. I had to learn that the hard way.
Tuco on January 24, 2008 at 9:11 PM
Here comes HuckaBigot.
Wait for the Jesus remark……..
csdeven on January 24, 2008 at 9:11 PM
Russert’s trying to get these folks to fight Romney
flyboy777 on January 24, 2008 at 9:11 PM
Gee. McCain’s buddies in D.C. think he’s swell. Who’da thunk it.
Deety on January 24, 2008 at 9:11 PM
Oh McCain! Your “extensive knowledge of economic matters?” WHAT!?
Troy Rasmussen on January 24, 2008 at 9:11 PM
csdeven, here’s the link, nytimes.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:11 PM
Here comes the populism rhetoric.
csdeven on January 24, 2008 at 9:12 PM
Huck sounds like a dem…I guess its his populist schtick at work.
jp on January 24, 2008 at 9:12 PM
Huck just jumped into the warp zone.
fiatboomer on January 24, 2008 at 9:12 PM
What could you be talking about? Ohhh, yeah.
malan89 on January 24, 2008 at 9:12 PM
McCain is a sack of crap.
csdeven on January 24, 2008 at 9:12 PM
I’m tired of your requests for deeper analysis of Huckabee, when you have NOT done the same with other candidates.
Who is the only Pro Life Pro Marriage Candidate?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZHlpuHM6OU
apacalyps on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Highway construction is a long term stimulus package? No wonder highway construction never ends.
Troy Rasmussen on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Nuh uhhhhhh….
That’s Al Sharpton’s plan for economic revitalization.
askheaves on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Huckabee and the new New Deal. Don’t call him a liberal. Just call him a conservative with liberal tendencies.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Huck is proposing another CCC
bnelson44 on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Huck is channeling FDR
Mark1971 on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Did you build your bridges with Chinese money huck ? Oh I forgot your bridges never fall
William Amos on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
WHO LET RON PAUL IN THE DEBATE??? WTF?
F = fudge for all you evangelical hucksters
CABE on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Wrong NRA Huckaschmuck!
Great we need a Republican FDR.
Deety on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Cool Romney is not falling for the taunting to fight
flyboy777 on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Why don’t you go volunteer your time at a Huckabee call center or something? You’re not welcome here.
malan89 on January 24, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Yea, that’s what I thought. But I am glad he didn’t take the bait to go negative
bnelson44 on January 24, 2008 at 9:14 PM
GAWD…I want to pry my eyes out.
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:14 PM
And that is why Mitt Romney hired Alex Castellanos in 2006.
He is the ad man.
EJDolbow on January 24, 2008 at 9:14 PM
Actually, I have looked into the records of the other candidates. Your assumptions are wrong.
Huckabee’s record makes him unacceptable to me.
Stop assuming.
Slublog on January 24, 2008 at 9:14 PM
yeah Mitt
lookin good on taxes
windansea on January 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
Mitt needs to grow a pair and give McCain a black eye, rhetorically speaking.
doubleplusundead on January 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
Who is your candidate???
apacalyps on January 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
If it was permissible to be a pro-life Democrat these days, he’d be one. Remember all the people in Arkansas who were surprised that he ran for governor as a Republican.
ReubenJCogburn on January 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
am I the only one that is almost certain the immigration issue won’t be brought up?
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
It’s not a bad idea, though. If you’re going to spend money, spend it on necessary infrastructure.
Big S on January 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
I think Mitt is smart to be generally positive. It seems like he has a slight lead in FL, so now is not the time for risky moves.
locke on January 24, 2008 at 9:15 PM
paul is there but getting no questions, wonder if any chance for a newsletter question to him which Fox balked on?
jp on January 24, 2008 at 9:16 PM
Hors sh!t! McCain! Trust? My A$$!
Troy Rasmussen on January 24, 2008 at 9:16 PM
Wall Street Journal:
John McCain explains his eclectic–and troubling–economic philosophy.
flip on January 24, 2008 at 9:16 PM
I agree actually.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:16 PM
Woo, here comes Cranky McStormfront.
ReubenJCogburn on January 24, 2008 at 9:17 PM
I think that’s the point. Most of us don’t have a candidate. At least not to the point where we can have our candidate casually throw out a WPA-style program for long-term economic vitality and still be gung-ho for them.
askheaves on January 24, 2008 at 9:17 PM
McCain on economy
no more bridges to nowhere!!
windansea on January 24, 2008 at 9:17 PM
Slubbo, you will be b*tchsmacked into the fiery furnace of Hell for speaking ill of God’s Chosen Candidate, so saith the Lawd!
doubleplusundead on January 24, 2008 at 9:17 PM
Hey, why no talk of the Wesley Snipes Tax Revolution?
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:17 PM
Ron Paul actually made sense for a second….. and then it became a foreign policy issue.
henzou on January 24, 2008 at 9:17 PM
Wow, Paul sounds more and more ballsy on domestic issues every day…I hate me for saying that.
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:18 PM
Just think what would have happened this week without the Fed.
bnelson44 on January 24, 2008 at 9:18 PM
Ron Paul is trying to cram every single one of his talking points into one sentence. Nobody would follow even if he wasn’t full of crap.
fiatboomer on January 24, 2008 at 9:18 PM
That’s his M.O. He’s 50% perfect, 50% a bag of nut.
askheaves on January 24, 2008 at 9:19 PM
Thank God Rudy retold the Saudi Prince story again. It had almost been a week since he told it.. I was beginning to forget.
henzou on January 24, 2008 at 9:19 PM
I want to smack Paul every time he uses the word “empire”. What a lying sack of crap.
ReubenJCogburn on January 24, 2008 at 9:19 PM
Ug, not the Saudi check again. Boring.
askheaves on January 24, 2008 at 9:20 PM
Did Ron Paul actually make sense? (Had to mute it about 1 minute in, had to take a phone call)
lsutiger on January 24, 2008 at 9:20 PM
You guys are insane.
Huckabee would destroy Hillary in a the one-on-one debates. She is so boring to listen to, she speaks AT people and not with them. Huck would shine big-time. Besides, he has beaten the Clinton machine. He didn’t just win once, not twice, not three times but four times in a statewide election against the Clinton political machine. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton campaigned against him every time he ever ran and he won.
I tell ya, it’s like debating Democrats these days, fellas.
apacalyps on January 24, 2008 at 9:20 PM
Also, via Team Rudy’s rapid response fact checkers, from the Boston Globe:
‘The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,’ McCain said. ‘I’ve got Greenspan’s book.’”
flip on January 24, 2008 at 9:20 PM
Weak, Rudy.
fiatboomer on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM
“When you’re in a hole, stop digging” – - No idea who said it.
In politics, if the opposition does it, let them.
Entelechy on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM
HAHAHA! Guess he didn’t! ROTFLOL!
lsutiger on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM
He made a lot of sense for the first 30 seconds.. and then he blamed all of the troubles on foreign policy issues for the last 10.
henzou on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM
Rudy doesn’t look good
bnelson44 on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM
If I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.
apacalyps on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM
I wonder if the Saudi Prince’s dad worked in a mill.
Mark1971 on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM
I disagree, Mitt needs to say to the conservative base “I’m the best you’re getting”, and there’s no better way to do that than smack McCain in the mouth like Fred did to Huck.
doubleplusundead on January 24, 2008 at 9:21 PM
STRAIGHT TALK!
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:22 PM
Well the argument would have to be on style not on substance. If Huck got to the general, he’d probably change his positions to just a shade to the right of Hillary’s.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:22 PM
A little bit, yeah, before he wandered off the reservation. Same old, same old–domestically he’s not all bad, but outside our borders he’s a disaster.
ReubenJCogburn on January 24, 2008 at 9:22 PM
Long term in economics means 10+ years in the future. Highway construction that lasts this long is reckless spending. Necessary infrastructure is a good investment, but only when it’s needed. Huck makes it sound like highway construction will generate long term jobs like a new factory would. It won’t.
Troy Rasmussen on January 24, 2008 at 9:22 PM
Wow. Russert is asking hard questions, and no one on the stage is whining.
Imagine.
(If McCain says “straight talk” one more fricking time…)
Slublog on January 24, 2008 at 9:23 PM
McCain is part of the problem in Washington. He has no credibility to say he is going to clean it up.
csdeven on January 24, 2008 at 9:23 PM
NO, you do NOT have permission to click here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPJN0aD01vA
apacalyps on January 24, 2008 at 9:23 PM
Dude, would you please go back to posting comments on YouTube? You’re wrecking my debate Miller Time.
fiatboomer on January 24, 2008 at 9:23 PM
Is the Huckster campaign paying you by the word for your bull$hit? How about STFU already…we get it…you heart the Huckster.
jwp1964 on January 24, 2008 at 9:24 PM
If he could do that with the hammer Fred used, that’d be awesome.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:24 PM
Russert is a fcuk-stick. I would have flat out denied the basis of his question. What in God’s name does the president have to do with the price of gas, or supply? As**hole.
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:24 PM
Huck – Class Warrior Supreme!
AUINSC on January 24, 2008 at 9:24 PM
I’m sure the Democrats appreciate Russert campaigning for them. Way to be objective, Tim.
ReubenJCogburn on January 24, 2008 at 9:24 PM
Or talk about being part of or a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution.
doubleplusundead on January 24, 2008 at 9:25 PM
Huh. So Huck says that illegal immigrants don’t like the economy.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:25 PM
Yeah, I think Huckster’s going to start singing Woody Guthrie any minute.
ReubenJCogburn on January 24, 2008 at 9:25 PM
Why are these guys letting Russert get away with this line of questioning?
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:25 PM
Yay…class warfare and Dickensian rhetoric from Huckabee!
Yay!
Slublog on January 24, 2008 at 9:25 PM
These are legit questions.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Mitt “I wont run as a Republican I will run as my own guy”
Huh ?
William Amos on January 24, 2008 at 9:26 PM
I’m liking that Mitt isn’t taking it as a given that Republicans are the root cause of all our woes.
askheaves on January 24, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Mitt – Scores some points here.
AUINSC on January 24, 2008 at 9:26 PM
“When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses.” That may be the quote of the night, Mitt.
fiatboomer on January 24, 2008 at 9:27 PM
In that pic from the main page, Chuck looks like a squirrel in a wind tunnel. A little bit of recent surgery perhaps?
firepilot on January 24, 2008 at 9:27 PM
Stop it with the Change Mantra Mitt !
William Amos on January 24, 2008 at 9:27 PM
Well Tim, I think your characterization is irresponsible. And I hate to start name-calling…BUT…you are a Democrat-Commie-Lib-Hack.
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:27 PM
“When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses.”
Romney’s submission for line of the night.
Boom goes the dynamite!
Kid from Brooklyn on January 24, 2008 at 9:28 PM
You want more compassionate conservatism? Maybe you should have a meeting of the minds with apacalyps.
Spirit of 1776 on January 24, 2008 at 9:28 PM
This is the 19th debate. I think we have all heard all this before from all of them.
bnelson44 on January 24, 2008 at 9:28 PM
someone smack Paul with his $400 million worth of Pork request
jp on January 24, 2008 at 9:28 PM
Spirit, the Russert-assumptions make the questions invalid and make Russert an invalid
ColdBore76 on January 24, 2008 at 9:28 PM
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