The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

REPUBLICAN DEBATE IN MICHIGAN

Posted on | November 9, 2011 | 66 Comments

The Lonely Conservative has all the essentials about tonight’s debate — 8 p.m. ET — to be broadcast on CNBC. Rather than live-blogging, I’ll be updating periodically with links and comments.

BTW, Ann Coulter’s latest column is a must-read, if only for the quote about “idiot Republicans (who should be tracked down and shot).”

UPDATE: At the first commercial break, I Tweeted, “This will be remembered as The Debate Ron Paul Won.” Being an Austrian (i.e., Mises, Hayek) in economics, I swear I get a thrill up my leg when Ron Paul talks purty like that.

Meanwhile, when they tried to bring up the accusations against Cain, the crowd booed the moderators and cheered Cain’s strong response.

Jeff Goldstein observes that some guy named “Seth” has decided all the not-Romneys are “unelectable.”

UPDATE II: At the second commercial break now. Jon Huntsman is getting waaaayy too much time. We’ve heard from Rick Perry maybe 3 minutes, and it seems like we’ve had 15 minutes of Huntsman so far.

Man, the media loves ’em some Huntsman, don’t they?

UPDATE III: Perry can’t even remember all the three government agencies he wants to eliminate. Ouch, that was ugly.

Herman Cain never forgets 9-9-9, by contast.

UPDATE IV: Allahpundit was impressed by Herman Cain’s response to the attempt to raise the accusations: “He knew he’d be asked about it and he came prepared. If, if, there are no more accusers, I think this’ll be seen as the moment that the bleeding stopped.”

Herman just now got a laugh with a repetition of his 999 mantra.

UPDATE V: Debate over, Larry Kudlow said Cain had an “unbelievably good debate tonight,” and called Rick Perry’s brain-freeze “devastating.” Video:

When I was mocking Perry on Twitter some guy said, in effect, would you pick Romney over Perry in a head-to-head? To which I replied, “You posit a hypothetical” — and it’s a farfetched hypothetical, at that. Perry is now 4th (10.2%) in the RCP Average, and is unlikely to improve any time soon. So exactly how and when will this Perry-Romney choice be presented to Republican voters as the only choice they get to make, except in the minds of Perry’s supporters?

I believe Ace has used the term “wishcasting” to describe such ideas.

UPDATE VI: Allahpundit has a round-up of the devastating reaction to Perry’s brain-freeze, including a top GOP fundraiser’s verdict that the Perry campaign is effectively over — which is perhaps too harsh, but does indicate the severity of the damage.

Category: Debates, Election 2012

Comments

66 Responses to “REPUBLICAN DEBATE IN MICHIGAN”

  1. Bob Belvedere
    November 10th, 2011 @ 8:48 am

    As I’ve said before, he looks like my geometry high school teacher, Gus Martinez.  Gus tried a mustache and, instead of looking less angry, he ended up looking like Chuck Heston’s corrupt brother in Touch Of Evil.

  2. Bob Belvedere
    November 10th, 2011 @ 8:49 am

    Diane Kruger – ahh-cha-cha-cha.

  3. Bob Belvedere
    November 10th, 2011 @ 8:57 am

    -I love the idea of hanging the traitors in the State Department.  It’s been a nest of vipers since that pinko Jefferson ran it.

    -The Cain-Gingrich debate is the only way to fly.  Too bad it got overshadowed by the whole Cain michegas.  Every time the GOP candidates agree to participate in these network / newspaper debates, they do themselves a big disservice.  ‘F’ the MSM – even Fox in this case.

  4. Bob Belvedere
    November 10th, 2011 @ 9:00 am

    While you may have made some very good points regarding Mr. Cain, Adj, sometimes your presentation [which I suspect was born out of frustration] has hurt your argument.  It has, at times, been Dan Riehlish.

    SIDENOTE: I’ve been fascinated watching Dan’s transformation on Twitter into a Newt guy over the past few days.  Slow but steady, growing more intense with each Tweet.

  5. Bob Belvedere
    November 10th, 2011 @ 9:03 am

    Don’t forget, as well, that HC is very good on the stump, whereas RP comes off as a Swaggert-like preacher.

  6. rosalie
    November 10th, 2011 @ 10:01 am

    I don’t think it’s the onset of Alzheimer’s.  I think that because he’s nervous his mind goes blank.   Debates aren’t for everyone.   Governor Brewer was the same way, and she announced that she wasn’t going to do them anymore.   He probably doesn’t have that option.  Now if he did  that in other settings, then maybe he has a problem. 

  7. rosalie
    November 10th, 2011 @ 10:04 am

    I admire the fight in Cain.  He came up the hard way and had to work for everything he has.  Through that experience he became tough.  Unlike our thin-skinned president who did nothing all his life.

  8. Anonymous
    November 10th, 2011 @ 10:07 am

    It’s called marketing!  Have you not caught on to the Cain’s campaign strategy?

    They have been getting a lot of flack, but it appears to me that Cain’s team has developed a perfect strategy for defeating Obama.  They realize, just like Team Obama, that marketing and messaging is key.

  9. Steve in TN
    November 10th, 2011 @ 10:29 am

    I’m not saying Cain is guilty (tend toward believing his side of the story) but voice stress and polygraphs aren’t allowed as evidence in court for a reason.

    For one thing, Cain believes what he is saying so the tests are useless.  I actually had a LEO once tell me that he rejected the results of a poly because he thought the subject believed what the subject was saying so it was useless.

    For another thing, investigators tend to look for their answer in the phrasing and manner of their questions, so I’d like to know what this guy’s inclinations are.

    Better evidence are the many people from that time who state nothing happened.

  10. Steve in TN
    November 10th, 2011 @ 10:34 am

    Ok, here’s the joke: “If Herman Cain is allowed to forget all the women he groped, why can’t Perry be allowed to forget one agency he wants to eliminate?”

  11. smitty
    November 10th, 2011 @ 11:04 am

    I think it is related to whether Perry will choke at a critical moment.

  12. CNBC Republican Presidential Debate 11/9/11 | From the Desk of Lady Liberty
    November 10th, 2011 @ 11:04 am

    […] The Other McCain: REPUBLICAN DEBATE IN MICHIGAN […]

  13. Anonymous
    November 10th, 2011 @ 1:30 pm

    It would have taught the press some manners or at least some prudence.

  14. Anonymous
    November 10th, 2011 @ 1:53 pm

    Actually the fact Perry does well in interviews is the solution to his debate problem.

  15. ThePaganTemple
    November 10th, 2011 @ 4:02 pm

    He’s not that good in interviews, he’s just all right.

  16. REPUBLICAN DEBATE IN MICHIGAN : The Other McCain
    November 11th, 2011 @ 5:40 pm

    […] post by Robert Stacy McCain and software by Elliott […]