3 Blind Mice

Tonight I continue my debate coverage as I tackle the Republican debate. The first thing to note about this debate is that there are 10 people participating, so hopefully we see some fiery and outrageous exchanges. Plus only 3 of the ten (Romney, McCain, Giuliani) have any chance of getting the nomination, so the other 7 candidates could go for broke tonight. It also should be noted that Wolf Blitzer is moderating his second debate in three days so we could see CNN go to the hot moderator early in the debate.

4:00- Romney, Guliani, and McCain are all positioned right next to each other in the middle of the stage. Of course this is a coincidence.

4:02- The production of these debates is horrible as a buzzer goes off right during the McCain's introduction. This is worse than game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

4:04- Romney says "non-sequitor" and "null set" during the first 10 seconds of his first answer.

4:06- First shocking statement of the evening as Guiliani says it was absolutely the right decision to invade Iraq. If he wins the nomination he will be seeing that statement a lot come next summer.

4:13- Its hilarious watching the Republicans try to defend the Iraq War. Its like when parents trap a 9 year old in a lie and the kid keeps trying to defend the lie to the end.

4:19- The candidates are debating what weapon system is best suited for destroying Iran's nuclear weapons program. I personally prefer a cellulose encased smart bomb deployed from an F-18.

4:24- Guiliani gives a solid answer by saying the new immigration law is a typical Washington law that is too full of comprises to actually do anything.

4:27- McCain is an interesting guy in the republican race because he is on an island in that he supports the surge and that he supports the immigration reform law that just passed. He suffers in a debate format because everyone lines up against him.

4:32- Duncan Hunter says the fence he proposes on the border would be so big that "anyone who got across it should be signed up for the Olympics" The problem is that under his law the people who could jump the fence would be competing for Mexico.

4:41-The candidates are actually talking about the validity of evolution. This has to be a new low for a debate.

4:48- The candidates are now talking about the validity of global warming. Its hilarious seeing the candidates accept the science of global warming but reject the science of evolution.

4:49- McCain makes a great point about how Navy ships have sailed around the world for 60 years on nuclear power without an accident. Nuclear power seems to be the answer that no one is talking about.

4:54- Ron Paul starts talking about the US overthrowing the Iranian government in 1953. Its amazing how he gets applause every time he speaks yet is considered a cook by the media.

5:00- Sam Brownback says Clinton has not been a good ex-president because he hasn't been active in oversees tragedies like George HW Bush. Brownback might need to go back and look at those Tsunami and Katrina fund raising commercials again.

5:05- Romney says Scooter Libbey should be pardoned because his crime "wasn't the underlying crime of the investigation". So under Romney's logic the police shouldn't prosecute crimes they uncover from other investigations.

5:15- Halftime is over and the hot moderator returns to the debate. She looks better than last night. On Que CNN opens with someone who has family in Iraq, who wonders what the candidates will do about Iraq.

5:17- McCain makes a bold move and stands up out of his seat to address the women who asks the question. The thing about McCain is that he is the only candidate who actually seems genuine about his positions.

5:29- the moderator asks a question from some blogger. CNN shows the question on the screen and the signature on the question is "blogger".

5:33- Ron Paul says the most pressing moral issue in America today is "the acceptance of pre-emptive war". I think the lack of success of the last two pre-emptive wars has shut down this idea for the most part.

5:39-Romney is asked how he can support English as a National language while running ads in Spanish. Romney is flustered. This could be the defining moment of the debate. He is viewed as a flip-flopper and the idea that he wants English as the national language while running ads in Spanish will just enforce that idea.

5:47- Tancredo says bi-lingual countries do not work. China and India might disagree with him

5:50- Blitzer offers up the biggest softball question of the night in asking Giuliani "what is an American". Why not ask Giuliani what he was doing on 9/11.

6:00- The debate ends anti-climatically as McCain states his credentials. Overall I have to say that this debate sucked for two reasons 1) None of the candidates went after each other and 2) They didn't talk about anything with any substance. At times I felt like I was watching a sermon on life values as opposed to a presidential debate.

Anyway i am tired and need to go watch my new Oregon Basketball Highlight DVD.

BaldingReport Out.