Republicans gather for fight night in Vegas

[_Abyssinia]

I know some people are criticizing the argumentative nature of some of the candidates responses to each other in the debates but Mike Murphy at NPR disagrees: “Having a spirited primary that ends at a reasonable time — like mid-March — is the best outcome, because you get battle-tested, you get better, but you can unify the party quicker, and the grinding and the clawing stops in enough time for the candidate to pivot to the general election and be competitive there,” he says. “Because a lot of the messages of the primary don’t play so well in the general election.”

 

[_Abyssinia]

Obama’s angry, partisan approach hasn’t worked well this year and may have helped deepen the decline in the president’s approval ratings - Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal

I think what Obama is trying to do is rev up his Left base, because they are a bit tired of him, but the reality is this approach from Obama is going to alienate Independents.

 

[mary_bobo]

i watched a lot of the rerun last night of the debate. i had a better impression of newt gingrich than i have had before. he seemed more self assured and ready to be a major player last night. so i will be paying more close attention to him. i voted for him in this poll. romney and perry got on my nerves last night. perry has that texas swagger that makes me nervous. i worry that there are voters who didn’t care for Bush and will be reminded of GWBush and will be turned off. perry seems like a nice guy and so does romney. Gingrich, Cain,
and Romney are the top 3 for me i think.

Gingrich is a brilliant man and I think he would tear Obama to pieces in a debate. He has the perspective of history and as good a command (if not better) of the language than Obama. Too bad he has so much baggage. God has forgiven him, but apparently many of us cannot.

 

[louis91766]

Gingrich is a brilliant man and I think he would tear Obama to pieces in a debate. He has the perspective of history and as good a command (if not better) of the language than Obama. Too bad he has so much baggage. God has forgiven him, but apparently many of us cannot.

To some extent a President is a model for children and others. Is it really setting a good example to have a President who divorced his first wife when she was suspected of having cancer, and to have cheated for so many years on his second wife, and then to get the Catholic Church to give him a marriage annulment for his first two marriages and to marry again, with his mistress during his second marriage? And wasn’t he the first speaker of the house to be indicted for ethics violations? Even though he may be forgiven for this, these are historical facts which cannot be erased. Contrast that with the Mormon family man Mitt Romney who has had one and only one wife and serves in a volunteer capacity in his religious organisation? Romney appears to be intelligent and articulate also, and perhaps is a man with more common sense and appreciation of family life and family values than Mr. Gingrich.

 

[louis91766]

Another thing that Mitt said which irritated me, that government workers need a pay cut to be on par with their civilian counterparts. First off, why would a filthy rich guy want to save money by fomenting class envy? If they cut my pay, I’d gladly take a job on the outside and make 1.5X - 2X more money. This is the case with many white collar workers in the government who have advanced degrees. They can easily save money by closing bases overseas or cutting the budget for the various departments as a whole without resorting to cutting middle class incomes.

What the government does offer which should be looked at is very generous pension plans and health benefits. The pay isn’t special and in most cases is less. But the same can be said for the military which is the sacred cow of republicans. They are probably overpaid in some cases.

The budget has to be balanced or the dollar will eventually be devalued. Romney is giving possible areas of where to cut the budget. Nothing is certain at this point.

 

[louis91766]

CNN’s bigotry was obvious.

Cooper kept trying to force Perry to apologize on behalf of Jeffress, despite Perry’s repeated attempts to explain that it’s impossible to apologize for something that someone else said.

Cooper seemed to be way over his head in moderating this debate. He did a lousy job and he should have intervened when Perry and Santorum were not letting Romney speak.

 

[scipio337]

Another thing that Mitt said which irritated me, that government workers need a pay cut to be on par with their civilian counterparts. First off, why would a filthy rich guy want to save money by fomenting class envy? If they cut my pay, I’d gladly take a job on the outside and make 1.5X - 2X more money. This is the case with many white collar workers in the government who have advanced degrees. They can easily save money by closing bases overseas or cutting the budget for the various departments as a whole without resorting to cutting middle class incomes.

What the government does offer which should be looked at is very generous pension plans and health benefits. The pay isn’t special and in most cases is less. But the same can be said for the military which is the sacred cow of republicans. They are probably overpaid in some cases.

Why? Because most states can’t fund their pension obligations.

See Greece.

 

[estesbob]

To some extent a President is a model for children and others. Is it really setting a good example to have a President who divorced his first wife when she was suspected of having cancer, and to have cheated for so many years on his second wife, and then to get the Catholic Church to give him a marriage annulment for his first two marriages and to marry again, with his mistress during his second marriage? And wasn’t he the first speaker of the house to be indicted for ethics violations? Even though he may be forgiven for this, these are historical facts which cannot be erased. Contrast that with the Mormon family man Mitt Romney who has had one and only one wife and serves in a volunteer capacity in his religious organisation? Romney appears to be intelligent and articulate also, and perhaps is a man with more common sense and appreciation of family life and family values than Mr. Gingrich.

A man who came to the One True Church late in life. Confessed his sins, asked God for forgiveness. Humbly asked for(and was granted ) an anullment of his previous marriages. looks like a great example for our youth.

 

[Pirate_Talker]

Ok I’ve seen enough clips today of the bickering back and forth in Vegas to vote. Perry talking over Romney and the exchanges between the two. GOP candidates attacking 999and Cain attempting to defend it. Etc etc.

The winner of the GOP Vegas debate was Barack Obama.

Read my lips: No New TEXANs.

 

[Pirate_Talker]

A man who came to the One True Church late in life. Confessed his sins, asked God for forgiveness. Humbly asked for(and was granted ) an anullment of his previous marriages. looks like a great example for our youth.

Isn’t it wonderful that our sins can be forgiven? Many people don’t forget that some people took the easy way out. An example to our youth? We might want to ask what his children think of this and how it affected their lives.

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

A man who came to the One True Church late in life. Confessed his sins, asked God for forgiveness. Humbly asked for(and was granted ) an anullment of his previous marriages. looks like a great example for our youth.

I don’t agree. There’s such a thing as the temporal punishment due to sin. One can’t walk away from the material things one has done just becauseone has gone to Confession. Otherwise, why are Catholic criminals who have confessed their crimes sincerely and been forgiven doing time in prison?

Gingrich is a smart man, but he’s like Marley with all the chains still hanging from him, and America knows it. There’s room for him, but not at the top.

 

[rlg94086]

Read my lips: No New TEXANs.

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

Read my lips: No New TEXANs.

 

[Pirate_Talker]

In my best Elvis…Thank you…thank you very much…

 

[louis91766]

A man who came to the One True Church late in life. Confessed his sins, asked God for forgiveness. Humbly asked for(and was granted ) an anullment of his previous marriages. looks like a great example for our youth.

So a man who divorced his first wife when she was sick in the hospital and married a second time. And then he cheated for several years on his second wife and finally divorced her, and then he marries a third time, you say that this is a great example for our youth? I would say that a man, such as Romney, who stays with his wife thick and thin, and does not abandon his children is a much better example, by far. He is one who observes the spirit of the Scriptural commandment: What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. This idea that you go out and do whatever you want, cheat on your wives, abandon your children and family, then twenty years later express your regret - the idea that this is a good example and a way to lead your life, seems pretty weak to me. Is this what we want for the children of America? Of course there is always room for repentence. But I personally would admire and respect the man who stays with his wife no matter what illness or handicap she develops, and not one who abandons her and his children at the first sign of possible cancer of his wife. Further, Mr. Gingrich was the one and only speaker of the House who was indicted for ethics violations. What kind of great example is that? And how can we forget the trauma that children go through when a parent cheats on their mother and divorces her? Please advise me how this is fair to the children according to Catholic teaching and why it is a setting a good example to put your children through severe psychological trauma?
And we should not forget that even though a sin may be forgiven, there is still Purgatory, at least that is the way it was before Vatican II.

 

[rlg94086]

In my best Elvis…Thank you…thank you very much…

Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley?

 

[CMatt25]

I just want to know “when” will they allow Dr. Paul a fair opportunity to speak?

Peace

I just saw Anderson Cooper addressing this on his CNN show and his analysis of Dr Paul’s speaking time in the debate. Anderson completely shattered the doctor’s and his campaign’s claims of not being given a fair opportunity.

In addition to the math, Anderson explained opening but not closing arguments were part of the agreement between all the candidates. And while he wanted a 2 hr format, the candidates refused and would only agree to 90 mins. When they were past the 90 min mark, the debate was ended.

He also made it clear Dr Paul has appeared on his show more than all the other GOP hopefuls and President Barack Obama combined. And the doctor remains always invited to appear.

Peace to you as well.

 

[Caldera]

I don’t agree. There’s such a thing as the temporal punishment due to sin. One can’t walk away from the material things one has done just becauseone has gone to Confession. Otherwise, why are Catholic criminals who have confessed their crimes sincerely and been forgiven doing time in prison?

Gingrich is a smart man, but he’s like Marley with all the chains still hanging from him, and America knows it. There’s room for him, but not at the top.

Well, he does attend mass every Sunday, so how do you know he didn’t participate in Divine Mercy Sunday and receive a plenary indulgence?

 

[Caldera]

So a man who divorced his first wife when she was sick in the hospital and married a second time. And then he cheated for several years on his second wife and finally divorced her, and then he marries a third time, you say that this is a great example for our youth? I would say that a man, such as Romney, who stays with his wife thick and thin, and does not abandon his children is a much better example, by far. He is one who observes the spirit of the Scriptural commandment: What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. This idea that you go out and do whatever you want, cheat on your wives, abandon your children and family, then twenty years later express your regret - the idea that this is a good example and a way to lead your life, seems pretty weak to me. Is this what we want for the children of America? Of course there is always room for repentence. But I personally would admire and respect the man who stays with his wife no matter what illness or handicap she develops, and not one who abandons her and his children at the first sign of possible cancer of his wife. Further, Mr. Gingrich was the one and only speaker of the House who was indicted for ethics violations. What kind of great example is that? And how can we forget the trauma that children go through when a parent cheats on their mother and divorces her? Please advise me how this is fair to the children according to Catholic teaching and why it is a setting a good example to put your children through severe psychological trauma?
And we should not forget that even though a sin may be forgiven, there is still Purgatory, at least that is the way it was before Vatican II.

Exclusive: Gingrich Opens Up On Catholic Conversion And Embracing ‘Overt Christianity’
usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/05/20/exclusive-newt-gingrich-opens-up-on-catholic-conversion-and-embracing-overt-christianity

People can and do change…

 

[OrdinaryMelkite]

I don’t agree. There’s such a thing as the temporal punishment due to sin. One can’t walk away from the material things one has done just becauseone has gone to Confession. Otherwise, why are Catholic criminals who have confessed their crimes sincerely and been forgiven doing time in prison?

Gingrich is a smart man, but he’s like Marley with all the chains still hanging from him, and America knows it. There’s room for him, but not at the top.

I do agree with you that Newt has too much “baggage” to really win. He’s admitted to a lot of that in the past, but it’s STILL not enough for him to make a break to the nomination.

Personally, I feel Romney, Cain, and Paul won the night.

Perry is DONE. Stick a fork in him. Talk about a supposedly “smart, talented” governor not being able to deal with a debate or give a speech. Sheesh.

I still have hope for Bachmann-------but somehow I doubt she’ll make it past January. Maybe she can hang on long enough to see Perry drop out (IF he does). She can then try to regain fire as an “Anti-Romney” alternative (like Cain).

Paul-----I still agree with a lot of his positions, but he is NOT going to be the nominee. Sorry. He is too anti-Israel, too “let’s leave Iran alone” for the MSM or even me to accept. A sign of this is the debate people not even allowing him to make a closing statement. Again, sorry.

Santorum is a NON-ENTITY here. He lost all credibility anyway when he declared that he has a record of “beating Democrats.” He conveninently left out his major loss to Pro-Life Democrat Bob Casey.

Cain-----needs to flesh out, simplify, and tinker with his 9-9-9 plan, then try to sell it again to the public, and see what happens. Needs to take out the sales tax side of it. Needs to also clarify on his positions. May emerge as the one true alternative to Romney.

Romney--------did OK in the debate, came off just as annoying as Perry did when arguing with each other, but was generally on target, “Presidential,” and scored a direct hit against Cain questioning his 9-9-9 plan. Unless somehting REALLY surprising happens, I see him being the nominee.

Question----where was Gov. Johnson? Hunstsman skipped the debate to focus on New Hampshire, but where was Johnson?

Another question: why can’t Bachmann stop mentioning the fact that she is a MOTHER and FOSTER MOTHER over and over again? (Yes, we know you are that, Michele, we get it).

Anyway-------

That’s my take. Take of it what you will.