So, we have some time before the next GOP debate, so I thought it be a good time discuss the debates in general. For one thing, have you changed your mind on who you are currently supporting based on the debates, whether in on a substantive issue, or just on performance.
Myself, I’ve been so disappointed in Rick Perry’s performance, that I just feel uneasy about him debating Obama. Granted, Obama without a teleprompter is like a third grader in a school play, I have higher expectations for whomever the GOP nominee will be.
I have consistently been impressed by Newt Gingrich’s debate performances, and his strategy of keeping the eye on the ball: Obama.
Herman Cain has banked his entire campaign on this 9-9-9 plan, yet fails to adequately explain his plan, which is a problem. His lack of foreign policy knowledge also leaves him in the “Potential Vice-Presidential Nominee” column.
There is a good chance that at least three candidates will dropout before the next debate. Santorum, Johnson, and Huntsman have to go. I like Santorum. I’ve met him. But his campaign isn’t going anywhere.
Bachmann and Paul also have to go, but I don’t see either of those two dropping out before the primaries.
I see the real contenders as being Perry, Romney, Cain and Gingrich. I hope between now and the next debate the candidates without a chance stop wasting our time and we are allowed to focus on the candidates who have a chance to win the nomination and the presidency. While polls have shown Newt to not do as well against Obama as other candidates, I think that will change when more people see him in action.
I used to lean towards Perry, but now I’m officially undecided again. But Newt looks better to me all the time, even the polling says he’ll have the hardest time winning in November 2012.
Blogs For Victory 
really have not seen any dynamic leader emerge…im put off by the power of the press pushing conservatives into the corner…the stories and editorials they publish miss the target and they light on such superficial lip service that they fail to gather insight into what these candidates are really about and where they come from…
perry and romney are establishment politicians…gingrich and paul are mostly ignored…as are details about essential policies, the history of these candidates stances and details about what they currently claim…the ability of the lips to move doesnt establish the actual characture of anybody…as we all know politicians will say anything to get elected…and thats what we need to clamp down on…
if the press intentionally ignores the truth on the issues…how can any of us claim to be informed…the catch 22…we only know what they tell us…they treat us like mushrooms….keep us in the dark and feed us shxt…
matt reflections
it’s romney and perry
cain ain’t real…he just got pulled in too far on a presidential run stunt to push his book
and newt….no credibility to the general public
don’t count out paul….he’s got more votes than you think to spoil the whole thing if he wants
so please don’t piss him off!!!!
::))
You describe Cain as not real and Newt as no credibility to the general public…those are exactly the words I would use to describe Paul.
The biggest problem with Gingrich is that he’s a talker (admittedly a great talker), not a walker. He’s an idea man, not a leader. Go back and look up what his own team mates were saying about him in the late 90’s. If I were President, I’d establish a new Cabinet level position called “The Department of new ideas and thinking outside the box”. I’d hire Gingrich to run it, and lock him in a room with a slot in the door to pass him food and for him to send out ideas. The man should NEVER be allowed to have his hands on the reins of power.
I’d have to say, at this point, that no one in the GOP really excites me to the point where I’d consider donating my time or money to their campaign. Cain comes closest, but I’m leaning more and more toward the GMB line of thinking. I’ve stood by and watched my whole life (nearly 67 years) while both parties took turns moving the country to the left, just at different speeds. I’m fully prepared to allow Obama 4 more years, just let him drive the country off he cliff, and deal with the ramifications of whatever follows.
Just my 2 cents.
Spook,
Two words: Supreme Court Judges. Okay, that’s three words, but Supreme Court Judges and holy crap!
I’d insert a joke here about unqualified low-wattage ideologues with no discernible judicial skills but imagine a few more Kagen and Sotomayor types on the Bench.
You have the right idea on one thing; work to replace as many dims and RINOs at every level; it’s not Lugar and Shimkus that will stop the descent into the maelstrom; it’s Ryan and Paul and Rubio that will.
count
I heard again today the left is screaming Rubio is ineligible.
the Hypocrisy is laughable.
at least Rubio has a REAL BC, and is not kenyan.
are you saying hes not eligible because he wasn’t a natural born citizen?
why should that disqualify him? what difference does it make if he was caesarian or popped through a kooch? I mean, seriously, natural born babies got cone-heads, real pointy like, and caesarian babies got round heads cuz they weren’t squeezed through the glory canal.
besides, its not like they remember how they were born. I’ll bet Obama doesn’t remember if he was born in a hut or at a hospital in Nairobi. all that matters is that he was born and not a rubber suit that the joint chiefs of staff take turns wearing.
I gotta go, I think they will be here soon.
that makes three of us here, Romney = UGH stay home drink beer.
Going into it my choices were in order Jeb Bush, Palin, Gingrich, Cain….anyone but Romney. Perry then came in and he is a flop so he never made my list.
I think Cain would be a horrible vice president, that job is for someone who knows Washington DC. So my leaning right now is put Cain at the top and Gingrich as Vice President. Cain’s weaknesses in foreign policy and the like aren’t any weaker than Obama’s and Obama relies on Clinton. Cain can rely on Gingrich. When a question comes up on foreign policy in a debate he can just say, “I’ve got Newt, the smartest man in DC as my personal counselor, and because of that the American public can be assured that we won’t make the same mistakes the Obama administration has in this area.”
At this point – I am voting for Gingrich, and depart from Spook on this a bit, which is rare, but I am just not sure why people find him so offensive. I don’t care if he ruffles some feathers, or if he is difficult to deal with sometimes, I am looking for a guy that has the experience and the courage to get things done, not someone who wins a popularity contest.
Cluster,
Let me qualify — I’d probably vote for Gingrich if he were to get the nomination as warts and all he’d be an immense improvement over Obama. But I’d have to hold my nose, and I’m really getting tired of doing that.
I have gotten use to holding my nose unfortunately, but considering that since 2000 (and yes liberals, this includes Bush), our debt has increased by more than $8 trillion (Bush added over $4 trillion and now so has Obama). So we have gone from a debt of under $6 trillion to now over $14 trillion – and that’s insane!! I am not overly thrilled with any of these candidates BUT we have to start turning this thing around, and I believe Gingrich gets that. I am not so sure the others do, with the exception of maybe Cain and Bachmann.
Spook
sure is tiring.
I have to go for Cain in Jan.
cluster
do you live in Fla?
we will offset each other, Cain me, Newt you.
Ill have to pretend im a donk and vote twice 🙂
I live in the racist state of AZ.
Of course you do….LOL
TEA!!
Doug: “those are exactly the words [no credibility] I would use to describe Paul.”
You must be very young. The credibility gap between Ron Paul and Herman Cain couldn’t be more stark. Besides being a physician, Ron Paul also has been an elected representative for three separate spans, with over 20 years in office. He’s a known quantity with a consistent record and a following that may not be very broad, but whose loyalty is very deep. You may not agree with Paul (I don’t on a number of matters) but you know where he stands, why he stands there and nobody can call him shallow or a johnny-come-lately.
Cain may be homespun and likable, but he has zero track record as a policymaker or grappling with geopolitical matters. He is the very definition of a johnny-come-lately, a flash in the pan. There’s no evidence he has given any but the shallowest thought to national economic or foreign policy, whereas Paul’s thought on these matters goes back decades. Paul’s political commentary is archived in places like Lew Rockwell.com and can be evaluated in the light of history for its accuracy and consistency.
Moreover Ron Paul has just begun a multimillion dollar ad campaign. He is putting significant money where his convictions are. Can anybody say for certain what Herman Cain’s convictions really are?
Cain may be homespun and likable, but he has zero track record as a policymaker or grappling with geopolitical matters.
Seriously, look where we’re at with people whose backgrounds ARE in policy and geopolitical matters. Biden was picked for VP primarily because of his foreign policy expertise, and he’s the poster child for STUPID. I’m not pushing Cain, but I can’t imagine that he could possibly do worse than the current bunch.
dennis, I don’t see where your comment deals with credibility. The average person in this country thinks Ron Paul is a loon, that is what I meant by having ‘no credibility to the general public’.
I don’t think he’s a loon, but more of a Don Quixote, however, to the general public he is seen as a loon, something neither Cain nor Newt are seen as.
Do I trust Ron Paul to walk the talk? You bet, but that has nothing to do with the credibility that I speak, that is more steadfastness then ‘credibility’ in my opinion.
maybe we should start a write in Palin drive eh?
Cain
for now.
the rest = used tires.
The actual vote is still a long way off but since I have done everything I can to make sure when the s__t hits the fan–it will not hit me I have been looking into what would happen if no one really steps up and the public allows Obama to succeed in his plan to destroy America. Is there enough left for the Phoenix of Constitutional Americans to rise from the ashes?
Right now, I am still looking at getting the right people in the right places. Cain as POTUS could appoint people like Gingrich, Palin, Paul, etc. where they could do the most good in the shortest time period to right this country while sidelining Progressives for another 40 years.
and Dennis, you should review Cain’s CV before you go off half-cocked but then again–half of anything is a high-water mark for you. Either that or Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City provides “no evidence he has given any but the shallowest thought to national economic…”
I have done everything I can to make sure when the s__t hits the fan–it will not hit me I have been looking into what would happen if no one really steps up and the public allows Obama to succeed in his plan to destroy America. Is there enough left for the Phoenix of Constitutional Americans to rise from the ashes?
DB,
I think there are a lot of us who have been quietly getting our affairs in order and planning for a worst-case scenario. I’m sure my viewpoint is colored by living in a rural area, but I have met lots (and I mean LOTS) of people who plan on being survivors, and who plan on our way of life surviving. One of the dynamics I see playing out is the forming of alliances among like-thinking people whose backgrounds and skills compliment each other. Within my immediate rural community (probably a couple dozen families) we have farmers, engineers, computer geeks, and hunters. If the sh*t really does hit the fan, you don’t want to go it alone unless you are the world’s best multi-tasker. Quite frankly, I look at a worst-case scenario as an opportunity, not as the end of life as we know it.
Spook, db
count me in.
There are a LOT at my AL post who are moving in that direction and we have 7 thousand members.
Not going it alone; however, I have found it strange that I, at 51, take a lot of my upbringing for granted because some folks that are like thinkers have been stopping by at night and on weekends to learn what I took as common knowledge like welding skills and mechanical repair. I am a computer geek by trade but have pictures of me from 4-years old with a tool box in my hand and I am now teaching the basics to folks at are just 10 years my junior.
Hunted, fished, and farmed (really small scale) all of my life and this past year with hip issues has been the most difficult because I can not get outside to do what I like but that should be fixed long before ObamaCare. I have plenty of room and supplies for like minded individuals and that includes friends & neighbors. I am fully prepared to go completely off-the-grid and not have any major setback. Then again, that could be from growing up in Miami. Fl. with hurricanes as a constant and outages from the government last months and also when I finally got to meet some of my more A/C-bound neighbors when the front porch became fashionable again..
As always, I am not here to start this “fight” but will be ready to end it. This is the third or fourth major push by the Progressives and we must defeat it once and for all time if America is to remain what I knew.
DB,
I’m nearly 67, and I’ve started having what I thought were degenerative hip issues in the last few months — sharp pain in my right hip. The orthopedic doc who repaired my rotator cuff a couple years ago couldn’t find anything wrong with the joint, but I was in almost constant pain, especially going up and down stairs. I was to the point where I was considering a cane. A couple weeks ago we were visiting friends on the east coast, and the bed in their guest room was quite a bit firmer than ours. We have a Select Comfort bed, and I have had my side set on 30 (out of 100). After one night’s sleep on a firmer bed, my hip pain disappeared. When we got home I bumped the setting on my side of the bed up to 45 — voila, no more pain. I hope your problem is as simple to solve.
Well, if 2 surgeries and a sleep number bed is as simple–then yes. What I originally thought was a pinched nerve turned out to be what they call avascular necrosis (AVN) in both hips where the head of the femur (Femoral head) dies and the hip collapses on itself normally within 3 years.
In my case, I have gotten a great surgeon and his team to make this as easy as possible and stainless steel (among other components) will make sure I get the full grope package from TSA (who are now patrolling truck stops on the interstate highway system) if I ever fly again.
Not too worried but somewhat disappointed that I finally figured out the perfect Halloween costume and that is the date of my first surgery. Was watching a show on Emperor Penguins when I realized I hobble just like them–all I would need was the costume. That and I am wondering if between surgery 1 & 2 if I will have a tendency to spin in circles?
DB, I’m fully aware of Cain’s curriculum vitae and his stint on the board of directors with the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. Don’t you suspect that was merely an honorary position? It obviously didn’t require much of his attention as he was CEO of Godfather Pizza at the same time. He left Kansas City to become CEO of the National Restaurant Association, so it doesn’t seem his heart was really into economic policy as much as it was into fast food.
It’s curious you feel that brush with the system gives Cain any kind of serious economic credentials when most of your conservative pals don’t feel the same way about Bernanke or Greenspan – actual economists whose education and careers have been devoted to serving the Federal Reserve system. Meanwhile Cain has been involved in the food industry his entire adult career.
Anyone actually listen to what Newt says? He is candid about his mistakes and i think he has matured and learned from them. How many of us want to be judged on how well we handled things 15-20 years ago? There were a lot of moving parts involved in what did and didn’t happen back then and Newt didn’t have control over all of them. He has the brains and experience and maturity we need.
Touchstone, what you say about Newt Gingrich is right – not only in common sense but plain fairness. To demand perfection from others is to obligate oneself to be perfect.
It’s one thing to judge leaders on their policy decisions and their outcomes, but to magnify personal flaws or past indiscretions as if that were the only way to describe someone today is narrow and foolish.
I might add, if all people extended the same tolerance to those across the spectrum from themselves that you’d like to see on your own side, America would experience a great healing.