As I tried not to fall asleep during the colossal two hour Dearborn debate, I couldn’t help but notice a recurring theme. During each of the topics without fail, candidate Rudy Giuliani would bring up his pet idea of capitalism as applicable to everything and anything.
[editor's note, by Ross Smith] The author is Kelly McDonald, Assistant Professor and Director of Forensics at Arizona State University.
Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson appeared in his first primary debate with fellow Republican contenders at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, Michigan's CNBC debate. Under the banner title, "The Republicans, The Economy and You" the financial network featured Chris Mathews and Maria Bartiromo asking questions of the nine candidates. There were no introductory or concluding statements by candidates and CNBC cut away for several commercial breaks during the scheduled two hour session. The format was freewheeling - much like prior debates - no particular order of the questions or time limits on answers.
While Thompson was given particular attention by the moderators - given the first question, acknowledging his participation in this debate, and prompted on a particular question on his "specifics" for social security reform - he failed to really capture the stage, appearing almost hesitant at times, agreeing in large measure with comments by his stage rivals and failing to articulate specifics of his proposals, tending to favor glossy generalities.
Obfuscation was the winner in ABC's "This Week" Republican primary debate from Des Moines, IA. The top-tier (as well as the rest of the field) stayed largely true to form while John McCain did not meet expectations in jumpstarting his campaign. The host, George Stephanopoulos, despite his stated goal of hosting a "real debate." failed to generate anything like the "mayhem" he was seeking. Perhaps the biggest loser (and/or winner) was the person not onstage (and I don't mean Fred Thompson).
THIS WEEK:
Rudy's fear-mongering
Obama's response
Earth Day and Oklahoma City comments
He side steps around Bush's Iraq policy
But then praises him in Houston...
More below the fold...
Rudy responds with tact to the tragedy at Virginia Tech.
And wins points for having been pro-gun control before it was cool.
But does Rudy hate America?
And will Thompson be Rudy's running mate?
Also....
Conservative extremists think Rudy winning the GOP nod is the worst case scenario.
Liberal extremists accuse Rudy of being a draft dodger and a vampire.
Rudy's still ahead in the polls...
but there's a lot of debate over his stance on public funding for abortions.
And he may not do his own grocery shopping.
Does not remembering his position on Terry Schiavo make Rudy senile?
A bona fide flip-flop on his wife's potential attendance at Cabinet meetings...
and some fundraising stats.
Also, he's sticking up for Don Imus.
Rudy's still leading in the polls...
He wants us to give Gonzales a break...
He's getting money from Hillary haters...
His campaign is focusing on his economic policies...
Oh yeah, and Steve Forbes joined his campaign...
And the question that's on everyone's minds... What will Fred Thompson's impact be??
SPECIAL REPORT: GIULIANI & CHAVEZ?
-THE SKINNY: Rudy's firm (not Rudy, though) lobbied for Citgo in Texas, Citgo = Venezuelan state-owned oil company, Chavez = President of Venezuela, transative property of politics... Rudy + Chavez = partners
-Rudy's responses
-How people are responding to Rudy's responses
-How much do we really care? (not answered, but pondered)
SUPER LONG CATCHUP ROUNDUP:
NB- All Citgo/Rudy/Chavez material will be dissected in a special report tomorrow, on my regular posting day.
-Rudy's new MySpace page and YouTube feed
-More of the same from social conservatives
-Rudy hates black babies?
-Rudy's son not campaigning, Rudy asks for privacy
-Kerick: Rudy's scooter
-Firefighters disagree with Rudy over 9/11
-CPAC fallout
-Some new polling data
-And much, much more...
Although my focus has mainly been on Mitt Romney and his bid for the Republican nomination, I was lucky enough to attend a fundraising dinner for the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) which featured Rudy Giuliani as its special guest and keynote speaker. After a brief introduction by RPV Chairman Ed Gillespi (former RNC Chair), Mr. Giuliani took the stage. He seemed quite at ease speaking to the crowd and even opened with a joke, saying that there were more Republicans present at the dinner (about 150) than there are Republicans in all of the city of New York. (Continued below the fold...)
Rudy's "on a roll":
-The BIG QUESTION: Will evangelicals vote for Giuliani if he's nominated? Why? Why not? Everyone has a different answer and a different reason for it.
-Rudy talks about his Democrat days and why he switched
-Adding more staff and setting up for Iowa
-Damaging DVD out -- but how much is spin and how much is reality?
The news on Rudy this week:
-He's ahead of Clinton in the polls
-He doesn't have as many MySpace friends as his opponents
-Debate on whether his "repackaging" of his social views is working
-He praises conservative judges
-"Yeah, I guess" may not be good enough for a Presidential announcement
-CA primary may be his golden ticket
New for Rudy this week:
-Rudy's leaked Vulnerability Study - and his "Weirdness Factor"
-Compares Bush to Honest Abe
-Still ahead in almost all the polls
-Shifting Language on Abortion
-Which Rudy are we seeing? -- The "Good Rudy" or the "Bad Rudy"?
Big Issues for Rudy This Week:
-Almost/Sort of announced for the Presidency
-Is Rudy a real conservative? Too conservative? Not conservative enough?
-Rudy still ahead in the polls
-How much does the public know about Rudy's positions on social issues? What difference will it make?
-High speech fees, money made from 9/11 experience may come back to bite him
Rudy Campaign Roundup:
Rudy Pulls Ahead of McCain (It's Now a Rudy Romp!)
New Position on Judges
NY GOP chair disses Rudy?
Is Rudy even a GOP candidate?
| Next 15 >> |
Conservative
Centrist
Liberal
Specialized
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Unless otherwise expressly stated, all original material of whatever nature at www.DebateScoop.org and any related pages, including the weblog's archives, is licensed under a Creative Commons License, copyright, Open Source Debate Foundation.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
