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Wed: YouTube meets the GOP
posted at 2007-11-28 23:43 | Last modified 2007-11-29 11:22
Tonight's main event? The CNN/YouTube GOP debate. Yeah, I know the format's been dissed by smarter pundits than the barkeep. But I like it because it's impossible to prepare for all the curveballs that show up - and that tells you a lot about how fast a candidate can think on his or her feet.
The candidates were introduced by FL Governor Charlie Crist, who was elegant, Hamiltonian (George, not Alex), and way better tailored than anyone else on stage (except Cooper, of course). The camera adores Crist, and it seems mutual. Bet there’s a TV gig in his future.
First blood – Giuliani v Romney. Romney attacked Giuliani for his record as mayor of a “sanctuary” city for illegal immigrants. Giuliani retorted with an attack on Romney for employing a firm using illegal immigrants at his mansion. For a minute there, I was waiting for the mouthguards to come out.
McCain - did really well. Best moment was the dressing down he gave Mitt Romney over torture: “Life is not "24" and Jack Bauer. Life is interrogation techniques that are humane and effective…my friends, this is what America is all about. This is a defining issue.”
Thompson – glib, funny, and utterly vague. On Iraq – “we should be there as long as we need to be but no longer than it takes.” Plus, he touched the third rail – Social Security reform - and he threw in Medicare, too. Ouch. Sorry, Fred, that rumbling sound is your 55-64 “Law and Order” demographic heading for the door.
Paul - interesting. Says conspiracy theories about a North American Union are true. Cue the black helicopters. Now we know why his biggest following is on the interwebs. Still, he stuck to his guns…but he didn’t get a lot of time to explain himself.
Tancredo – says he's against “immigration” of tainted Chinese toys. Right. If you didn’t think he was a monomaniac before tonight, you probably do now.
Hunter - Who? Most memorable moment: lecturing video questioner on gun safety, plus a gratuitous allusion to his son serving in Fallujah. Not so good.
Best Line
Huckabee – win, place, and show
- Cooper “The question was, what would Jesus do? Would Jesus support the death penalty?
Huckabee: “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office, Anderson.” - Questioner: "Do you believe every word of the Bible?"
Huckabee to Giuliani: “Do I need to help you out on this one?” - Huckabee on cutting the IRS: “Most people in this country are more afraid of an audit than a mugging, and there’s a reason why.” (Crowd goes wild.)
Jaw-dropping question of the night
Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr, with 43 years service including Special Forces, told the candidates he’s openly gay, and asked why they assumed military men and women are too unprofessional to serve with gays and lesbians.
Hunter: It’s bad for cohesion to ask people to serve in units with people they don't like. [So we shouldn’t expect racists to serve with African Americans?]
Romney: It depends on what the generals tell me. [If his about face on abortion didn’t sink him earlier, his about-face on gays in the military (was for, now against) did. He couldn’t have danced any faster if he tried.]
McCain: My sources tell me “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” is working.
Update: As it turns out, Kerr was on a steering committee for Hillary Clinton. While it's not clear whether that would've disqualified his question, it should have been disclosed - and the fact that CNN didn't know that makes you wonder how carefully they're checking out these sources. Cooper's a little red-faced at the moment.
Worst follow-up:
Cooper interjected a question about today’s Politico story alleging that, during Giuliani’s romantic getaways with his mistress, the former NY mayor billed his police escort to unrelated agencies.
Giuliani: [I’m paraphrasing here] I don’t know anything about that.
Cooper: "Great."
[No, Cooper, not great. Not even close.]
Tavern CW:
Winner? Huckabee.
The audience absolutely loved this guy. He started off a
little shaky (i.e. on immigration), but warmed up fast. Had most of
the best lines of the night, and got the warmest applause for
them…largely, I think, because his answers consistently focused on
finding common ground, not dividing or excluding. Even his jabs were
good-natured.
(Disclosure: Huckabee’s been my dark-horse pick for months, and tonight's why. The guy's a brilliant communicator. Maybe it's Arkansas.)
Close second: Giuliani
He said what he thought, defended it even when the crowd didn’t like it (like gun control), and generally refused to equivocate. Hard to know how many followers he picked up, but he probably didn't lose many either - which is all he needs to do as national frontrunner. (Nothing would help him in Iowa, anyway, where he's at a dismal 12%.) He got boos (they all did), but overall he sounded much more confident than Romney or Thompson did.
(Update: I initially had these two as tied, but after watching the rebroadcast, I have to give Huck the edge.)
Loser? Romney.
He came off as a well-coiffed, anxious mess who spent most of his time equivocating and hedging. To be fair, some of that had to do with the questions he was asked, most of which put him in a defensive position from the get-go.
But even when he had the opportunity to do better, he didn’t. Like the Red Sox question at the end – he could’ve knocked that out of the park, but (a la Kerry) he whiffed it. Maybe it’s Massachusetts.
BTW, Bill Bennett says Romney won, which makes you wonder whether he bothered to watch the whole thing.
Hot topic? Immigration.
It's interesting to hear so many post-game pundits suddenly talking about immigration as a top issue. The polls may not bear this out, but just from talking to people, I've thought for a while that immigration would play a big role in ’08. Whether you think we should welcome undocumented workers or deport illegal aliens, you cannot ignore 12 million people. And both sides agree the current system isn’t working.
Who do you think won? Vote here.
