Who Won the Debate?
Romney, McCain clash on conservative values
MSNBC-Republican Mitt Romney said John McCain used dirty tricks by suggesting shortly before the Florida primary that the former Massachusetts governor wanted a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, as the two men squared off in a spirited debate Wednesday night.
Coming 24 hours after McCain defeated him in the Florida election, Romney vented his frustrations over the Arizona senator’s claims.
January 31st, 2008 at 7:20 am
Romney Accuses McCain of ‘Dirty Tricks’
January 31st, 2008 at 7:25 am
FROM POLITICO
McCain declines one-on-one debate
.
January 31st, 2008 at 7:32 am
Romney falls into McCain trap on Iraq
January 31st, 2008 at 8:54 am
Does it even matter about these debates? I mean the GOP is set to nominate a guy who votes against tax cuts because “they are for the wealthy”. He wants to add .50 a gallon tax to fuel, and abolish the First Amendment (great idea from some guy — McCain should not be able to use his opponents’ name in speeches 30 days prior to an election).
On conservative merit, Romney and Huckabee easily won the debate…but does anybody care?
Rush is right…the GOP is lost unless something major happens between now and Super Tuesday. The party will not survive a McCain nomination.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:28 am
bb
I know that Paul is almost a non-issue now; but, the poor guy didn’t get to say five words the entire time. Whatsmore, the five words he did get to say were spot on in regards to the economy. Of course, his foreign policy is nonsense but he came off looking sympathetic because he didn’t get to speak and when he did he didn’t actually verbalize his foreign policy (which would have cancelled out any sympathetic feelings).
It’s too bad. If nothing else, Ron Paul brings a discussion and ideas to the table that needs to be given light. I loved his answer in regards to S.D. O’Connor.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:14 am
To all Georgians:
As you know, I have not voiced support for any candidate to this point. In fact, I’ve stated over and over that I respect and honor Senator McCain’s military service to our Nation, and that has not changed. However, having said that, I feel compelled to vent a bit about the good Senator;
1. He supports limitations on free speech (McCain-Feingold)
2. He supports amnesty for criminal aliens (McCain Kennedy)
3. He supports legislation on “climate change/global warming/Kyoto protocols” (McCain - Lieberman)
4. He supports adding .50 cents per gallon to gas, but DOES NOT support drilling in ANWR and off the U.S. Coastline.
5. He is NOT as strong on National Security as he would have us believe. In fact this goes out to ALL of you, not only Georgians;
Senator McCain wouold like to shut down the F-22 program. The 5th generation fighter is manufactured in Marietta, Georgia, but aircraft parts suppliers are in 42 states around the Country. EVERY responsible analysis indicates the U.S. needs 350+ aircraft to replace aging aircraft. Senator McCain wants to shut it down putting literally tens of thousands of Americans out of work.
As you’ve probably noticed, I don’t care for the good Senator. I read a posting here that Senators Chambliss and Isakson from Georgia intend to endorse McCain as early as today. I called each of the Senators to express my disapproval. I will follow that up with e-mails and letters. Neither will ever get my vote if this is true.
Here are the telephone numbers for the Georgia Senators;
Chambliss: (770) 763-9090
Isakson: (770) 661-0999
I strongly recommend anyone from Georgia who agrees with this position contact your Senators. Further, those of you in states affected by McCain’s ridiculous positions should get on the phone and tell your Senators and representatives how you feel.
Thanks for letting me vent.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:47 am
It was reported than Chambliss and Isakson endorsed McCain.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:51 am
FROM PP
Sgt Mac you can talk to Chambliss and Isakson yourself!
McCain Rally for Georgia
January 31st, 2008 at 10:51 am
What do you mean, Paul’s almost a non-issue? His poll ratings are only getting higher: he’s at 12% in Georgia, 10% in Illinois, and in each state so far he’s garnered more votes than the states before it. And as his message reaches more and more people, more people support him. He’s still got more money than any other GOP candidate, except Romney, and his funding shows no signs of letting up.
And when they pull stunts like they did in last night’s debate by rudely cutting him off after a few seconds TWICE, and otherwise virtually ignoring him, that tends to backfire on them, sending more people to look into Paul’s message and sign on with his campaign.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:57 am
I admire Sgt’s attempt to dissuade support for McCain, but it’s blatantly obvious that you’re trying to appeal to people who sup from the government trough, which is precisely the number one problem we have in this country. Jan Paul has provided ample documentation of just how entrenched this country is on government handouts, and if it continues at the same pace, we’re all in trouble.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:02 am
John -
I just called BOTH offices and questioned this report. BOTH say it’s false and that neither has made a decision on which candidate to support.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:04 am
This was From CNN SGT MAC
…McCain is also set to receive the endorsements of Georgia’s two Republican senators, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, in the next two days, according to two GOP sources involved in the planning.
California and Georgia are two of the 22 states holding nominating contests on Super Tuesday next week….
January 31st, 2008 at 11:10 am
I encourage everyone to boycott this controlcongress.com blog until the admins correct the filter problem that blocks every other post I write.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:58 am
John
What don’t you understand? I KNOW what CNN said, and BOTH Senators deny it.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Sgt. Mac,
I agree with all your reasons against McCain except that you honor his service. All of us who served put ourselves in harm’s way with the same chances. Service to his country? Big deal. His father was an Admiral and he knows nothing of my second class type citizenship, at home or at war. He certainly did not return home with the same experience as the unconnected average service person.
Besides, that was 35 years ago. What has he done lately - that’s what counts. And it does count - I will not vote for him.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Aubrey,
I agree that Huckabee and especially Paul were given less time, but neither is really a factor other than taking votes from Romney.
The GOP has one chance at putting forth a semi-decent conservative candidate, Huckabee and Paul dropout before Super McCain Tuesday. Not going to happen so it looks like there will be two liberals on the ballot (not counting Bloomberg, McKinney and Nader which would increase the total to five) in November…very disappointing.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Great post Mac! But it seems to be too little, too late.
What is it with the GOP putting forth mod to lib candidates every four years starting with Eisenhower, Nixon, (Goldwater temporarily breaks pattern, but he lost in a landslide), Nixon, Nixon, Ford, (Reagan, the savior of conservatism who interrupted the pattern), Bush41, Bush41, Dole, Bush43, Bush43 and now likely to be McCain? It’s no wonder so many are disillusioned with the party of conservatism.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Sgt Mac
How about a wager that McCain gets the endorsements of both Isakson and Chambliss?
January 31st, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Ga Patriot -
Having served with a Hanoi Hilton guy during my career, I was appalled at the treatment they received at the hands of the VC. McCain acquitted himself very well during that period. I know LOADS of guys who came back injured from Viet Nam as well as the gulf war, and none of these guys went through what McCain and others went through. I’m not a psychiatrist, so I can’t say McCain has lost his mind (there are those who think this is the case) or he’s just decided to be a liberal socialist. What I do know is that the guy I served with was badly tortured and proably suffered from PTSD as a result. I can’t find it in my heart to “knock” these guys under the circumstances.
They did MORE than any of us have a right to expect.
I DO, however, agree with you about “what has he done lately.” What he’s done is precisely what I listed above and I left out being one of the “Gang of 14″ who looked to derail judicial appointments. I won’t vote for him either, but no human being should have to suffer the way he and others did. For that, I honor his service.
Bart -
Maybe it’s a question of letting the leftists walk away with the white house. Let them take the Country down the wrong path and we’ll get things straight in 2012 when a real Reagan conservative takes over.
It cracks me up when you see the “polls” about how McCain is the ONLY one who can beat Hill and Barack. Talk about mis-information! The MSM feed us this codswallop and, unfortunately, many, many people believe it. When the New York Slimes endorses a republican, it should tell any normal, rational American that the endorsee is a puppet and nothing more.
I will write in a candidate before supporting McCain.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
John - how about a wager that the comments in moderation stops people from posting? My #19 is missing. This is ridiculous.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Maybe the GOP leadership believes the only way to beat a Democrat is with a “democrat” of their own.
Quote:
Underscoring his victory is a fascinating fact newly evident, now that we have had a Republican primary in a state which did not permit Independents to participate: The GOP primary electorate isn’t very conservative.
Asked how they’d characterize their own ideology, only 27 percent of Florida GOP voters said they were “very conservative.” They backed Mitt Romney by 44 percent to 20 percent. Another 34 percent said they were “somewhat conservative,” and they broke even between Romney and McCain 33-32.
A further 38 percent said they were “moderate” or “liberal” - and they backed McCain by 44-22.
So it is not so much that McCain converted conservatives, but that Romney ran out of them - there weren’t enough of them to give him the Florida delegation.
Source
I also read where only 20% of the U.S. voting population are actually “conservative.” So, is it the party or the people that are the problem.
I have said that the party should run on principle and lose the election. The party believes that winning the election should be the priority. So, we end up with “compromise” where we never really see whether “conservatives” or “liberals” are the problem.
Compromise means we get no clear image from legislation and Congress. We get a hodge podge of things that keep digging us deeper and deeper in a hole. I say run on principle and don’t compromise even if you give one party complete power with a President and veto-proof Congress and if the nation implodes under them or grows under them, at least we will know.
As it is now we are going to implode anyway, so why not run on principle. At least if you lose and are right, the people will know who to turn to when the crisis hits under the other party’s control.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:01 pm
http://tinyurl.com/yvrmbf
Link for article
January 31st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
John -
Re #18 - your wager idea.
Not interested. If either supports this RINO, he will lose the vote of many, many Georgians including me.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Sgt. Mac,
Although I only went to Desert Storm I, I don’t mean to diminish the hardships suffered during POW capture. However, he did not volunteer to be a prisoner - it happened. In fact, few “volunteered” to serve in Viet Nam, most were drafted. It could have and did happen to many others, but he did not do anything special to serve as a POW - he did not jump out and say take me and let my fellow soldier go. He did his mission, was shot down and captured. That is not something to necessarily be applauded - but volunteering to serve his country could be. Neither qualifies him to be President, however. And calling me a bigot for wanting to protect citizenship for those who do not break our laws, and thinking that citizens would not pick lettuce for $50/hr. convinces me to write in a candidate. I hope the Republicans in Congress will not work with a Democrat to destroy our nation further. Look what happened when we had a majority and a Republican president. Better nothing get accomplished than a merger with Mexico.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Chris - re: #10
Don’t patronize me.
This is why Paul won’t win. What “hand out?” This is a National Defense issue, NOT a hand out! Are you so blinded by your flawed ideology you can’t see the truth?
This Nation’s front line fighters (F-15s) are falling out of the sky because they’re so old. The last air to aor F-15 was built in 1986 - 22 YEARS AGO.
A MAJOR tenet of the Reagan administration was to re-build a military decimated by people who think like you. Fortunately, there are those who really understand the issue is bigger than a political campaign.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
GA Patriot - I don’t recall calling you a bigot. I’ve called Hugh a bigot on a number of occasions and I stand by those comments.
I agree with you on the issue. To me, there is NO issue more important than protecting our borders and assuring our sovereignty.
I believe the first step to fiscal sanity is to stop putting the welcome mat out for these people. If they want to come here LEGALLY, that’s another issue.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
YOU made it an economics issue when you threatened the demise of all the jobs associated with that program. And if it’s a “national defense” issue, then why are you tapping on the shoulders of people of the other states affected by the program’s demise? The entire country would be affected in that case, not just a few states that are home to the companies supplying parts to the F22 program.
YOU made it an economics (government handouts) issue when you threatened to yank all those jobs away if the program is ended.
If worn-out F15s are falling out of the sky, build more F15s, and quit using them so cavalierly that they need to be replaced so often. The people decimating the military are the ones sending our men and materiel all over the globe for no good reason, other than to keep jobs afloat at taxpayers expense.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:28 pm
No, McCain called me a bigot. And probably meant you too. Certainly many others who did not agree with amnesty.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Sgt. Mac said
I will write in a candidate before supporting McCain.
=======================
I agree and will be doing the same.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Ditto #29.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:12 pm
You who believe the GOP is no longer the party it used to be may want to read this article.
quote:
Who Hijacked the Primaries?
by Brett Winterble
With John McCain’s all-too-easy road to the nomination paved through Florida and now nearly complete one thing is clear: The Republican Party has been hijacked.
Human Events
Now, Bart, and others that aren’t really happy with John McCain, is this article hitting the mark as to why McCain has done so well?
January 31st, 2008 at 4:38 pm
The article I just sent you got me to thinking.
The Liberals so screwed up their states, especially in the metro areas that they are bailing out. They are being replaced by legal and illegal immigrants. But, rather than admit they screwed it up, they are going to new places and demanding the same things they used to mess up their own state.
Last year, Massachusetts was the only the state in the union to lose population. This year, three’s company; neighboring states New York and Rhode Island join Massachusetts as the big losers.
Mass. 6,398,743 -0.1
N.Y. 19,254,630 -0.1
R.I. 1,076,189 -0.3
==================
That came out in 2005.
This came out last year
The Census Bureau has released its population estimates change for the year between July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007. The 10 fastest growing states are those that have typically voted for Republican presidential candidates in the last 20 to 30 years and tend to have more fiscally conservative state governments. Most of the liberal northeast take up the anchor positions. Michigan and Rhode Island were the only two states to actually lose population, and for the second year in a row.
===================================
The fact that some of the Blue states didn’t lose population is due to immigration according to some articles I read (don’t know if that is actually true so maybe you that live in those states can say “yay or nay.” California, I recently read, would be losing population if not for legal and illegal immigration out-numbering departures.
What this is doing is taking GOP states, especially states that were only slightly GOP and turning them into Democrat party states. Add the general trend of the nation to the left under socialist policies and constant propaganda the Federal Government’s job is to make life “fair,” and you have why this nation is headed deeper into trouble regardless of who gets the job of President. Congress will reflect those changes and they aren’t good. This isn’t just about a disagreement over policies or one party better than the other (both are bad) but an entire shift of thinking for the role of the Federal Government. This is “democracy in action,” and no longer a Republic protecting the nation’s borders and uniting the states in common defense of it. Thus, as a democracy, we are in deeper trouble than most know. As I posted in an earlier comments, John Adams and other founders greatly feared a democracy.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” -
— John Adams
January 31st, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Chris
You’re a typical ideologue who knows nothing of National Defense. I recommend you do a bit of research before you post your drivel.
YOU may think it’s fine and dandy to let our National Defense suffer because you disagree with the current posture in Iraq, but YOU and people like YOU will be the first ones to complain when we’re unable to defend ourselves. There are thousands of people who work very hard to ensure this Country has the best equipment on the planet and you may not like it, but it has to be paid for. YOU may call that a “hand out,” I call it the federal governments Constitutional duty. Recommend you take a look at the Constitution under “Provide for the National Defense.” and maybe you’ll learn something.
People don’t like replacing the roof on their homes, but they do it to keep out the elements even though it’s an expensive proposition. The same holds true for securing the Nation. Freedom isn’t free. You Paul heads seem to think the Constitution is fine when it suits you, but ignore it at its very core because of your wrong-headed ideology.
Keep trumpetting the “Ron Paul” message. See how far it gets you in Novemeber.
GA Patriot -
You are correct. McCain called anyone who disagrees with his amnesty plan a bigot.
Real Americans were able to stop the train last summer, but I’m afraid it’s moving again and its got a full head of steam
January 31st, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Chris,
Paul got 3% of the Florida primary. He’s almost a non-issue. Sorry. I was upset too when I realized my candidate (Thompson) wasn’t gonna make it. Like I said, the best thing about Paul is the awareness to economic frugality and his constitutionalist approach.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:56 pm
SgtMac, re your post #6:
Great post! My only comment is a question - why do you use the expression “good Senator”? He’s a sorry Traitor (again, nothing negative about his prior military service!) I will make those phone calls to Isakson and Chambliss tomorrow and I won’t mince words. I already spoke with Isakson some months ago and told him his prior actions re “amnesty” betrayed America. I even gave out a handout to all their at the meeting, saying the same thing. Guesss Johnny doesn’t care what the citizens think?!
And SgtMac, Bravo on your post #19 where you said you would write in a name before voting for McCain!
We do have some common ground!(as you’ve noted before)
January 31st, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Here’s what American Patrol says about McCain in today’s feature:
http://tinyurl.com/275lrd
Check out the embedded links.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Hugh,
For only $30 you can lunch with Saxby and Johnny at the GA Christian Alliance lunch Sat. McClown might be there as well. Already have tickets - my husband and I will be wearing our “Where’s the Fence?” shirts. With all this immigration invasion has cost us (hit by unlicensed driver and lost job to H1B visa half price engineer), its a bargain to meet my traitors face to face. Go to their website.
Not much of a price to pay - look at the Ramos/Compean situation.
No, they do not care what you think. Saxby is up for re-election and no one is a real challenge to him. So where is the price he paid for his treason?
January 31st, 2008 at 9:47 pm
GAPatriot,
I usually go to that event, but will boycott this year. Sadie Fields is a Neo-Con, and when she invited David Horowitz as the key note speaker, that was the last straw. (I hope you are aware of the book “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy”? - it’s all true!)
These folks are “Isralie Firsters”, and as I’m an American, I want no part of them. Unfortunately, the evangelicals are getting sucked in, hook, line, and sinker.
I agree, it would be a good opportunity to tell Isakson and Chambliss to their faces what I think, but that opportunity might now even arise. These types very much like to limit their exposure to patriots! Thanks for the suggestion and am sorry I won’t get to meet you.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:10 pm
The elites, RINO’s, & the GOP establishment have chosen their candidate. What a sorry mess.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Better hope for some changes on “super Tuesday.”
However, with the same Congress, what can any President really accomplish in the way of needed reforms in the Tax code, entitlements, etc.
Although if it is a Dem. Pres and Congress, they may actually work on Social Security as long as they get the credit for doing it.
The previous attempt under Bush wasn’t because they didn’t want reform but because they didn’t want the GOP to get credit for it.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Also, don’t be surprised at other reforms that surprise those who elected them. The biggest road block to reform has been neither party wanting the other to get credit for anything.
We will have to see but, they may be in a position where they have to reform or see the economy collapse and the government lack the funds it needs for social spending.
A lot depends on what happens between now and January 2009 when the new President takes office and how the economy is doing. The next Congress may have no choice but enact sweeping reforms.