LIVE BLOGGING: GOP Presidential Debate

Welcome to The Blue State's coverage of the first 2008 GOP presidential debate.  For 90 minutes, we will hold each candidate accountable for everything they say!  (Remember to keep REFRESHING this page every few minutes):

• 10:08: Here are the rankings.
• 9:33: In approximately 20 minutes, The Blue State will rank how each candidate did tonight, and let you know who we thought won.
• Whew!  I can breathe now.  It's over.
• 9:32: Paul: "I would guarantee that I would never abuse habeas corpus."  (right on!)
• 9:31: Giuliani: We haven't been attacked since September 11th.
• 9:30: Brownback favors partition in Iraq.
• 9:29: McCain on Bush: "I would not have mis-managed the war."  (But you have favored Bush's war policy from the very beginning!)
• 9:28: Giuliani on if Bill Clinton should be in the White House: "It would mean we would be on defense against terrorism."
• 9:27: McCain on Clinton in the White House: It would mean that Clinton is the president, "and we don't want that."
• 9:25: Romney: Referred to Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid "the gang of three."
• 9:23: Paul: Libby should not be pardoned because he was "instrumental in the misinformation" of a "war that we didn't need to be in."
• 9:22: Gilmore: "You have to go to the American people and make your case" -- if Bush decides to pardon Libby.
• 9:20: Romney: Outrageous for Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate someone that was not involved in the leak.  (So perjury doesn't mean anything?)
• 9:19: Ron Paul says a national ID card is "a total contradiction of what" America "is all about."
• 9:18: Brownback opposes national ID card.  "We already have a Social Security number."
• 9:17: Giuliani: "I probably have the most experience" in terms of "dealing with security."
• 9:16: Tancredo: "I will work to protect women's rights" ... "The right to kill another person is not a right that I would agree with and support."
• 9:15: Brownback: "..we're going to win in 2008."
• 9:14: Giuliani on most significant weakness: "I don't know.  I mean, I think my strengths outweigh my weaknesses."  (completely ignored the question!)
• 9:13: Paul: "I have never voted to regulate the internet"
• 9:11: When a Politico.com moderator asked how many of the candidates do not believe in evolution, three candidates raised their hands.  Brownback was one of them.  I didn't have enough time to find the others.
• 9:09: McCain: "I know how to reach across the isle."  (lol incredible!)
• 9:09: McCain on Democrats he will appoint to cabinet: "I'd say the first three are Joe Lieberman, Joe Lieberman and Joe Lieberman."  (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.)
• 9:07: Paul: "Poor people pay more" in taxes.  "We need to get rid of the inflation tax with sound money."
• 9:06: Thompson says he supports a flat tax (No word on how he will balance the budget!)
• 9:03: Romney wants 0% rate on capital gains for middle class.
• 9:02: Romney said the word "market" at least four times in his response about health care.
• 9:01 Giuliani also said he supports embryonic stem cell research.  So in all, Giuliani and McCain oppose it.
• 9:00: McCain says he is for embryonic stem cell research.  All the other candidates are against it.
• 8:59: Romney on embryonic stem cell research....he opposes it!!!  He is against embryonic stem cell research, and Nancy Reagan is sitting in the audience watching.
• 8:57: Paul on crisis decisions: "I guess in medicine I made a lot of critical decisions" ... "I can't of one particular event"  (Man, that hurt!)
• 8:55: McCain: "We need a guest-worker program."
• 8:54: Tancredo taking issue with other candidates about their moderate immigration stances.
• 8:52: Giuliani on his abortion position: "In my case, I hate abortion.  I would encourage" people "not to take that option" ... "I would respond a woman's right to make" her own choice.
• 8:51: Huckabee: Give Bush a grade at the end of his term, but not yet.
• 8:50: McCain favors line-item veto.
• 8:49: McCain on 2006: "We did lose our way" ... "spending lurks completely out of control"
• 8:47: Brownback going after record industry, and talked about "leading by example."
• 8:46: Thompson: Republicans went to Washington trying to change Washington, but Washington ended up changing them.
• 8:45: Giuliani: "I ran the most conservative" New York administration "in 50 years."
• 8:44: Tancredo: "Karl Rove would certainly not be in the White House that I inhabit."
• 8:42: Hunter on Schwarzenegger style of politics.....Went on a rant about illegal immigration.  Was not the question!
• 8:40: Matthews pointed out a contradiction, when Gilmore said before that faith doesn't matter when you make decisions.
• 8:39: Gilmore laid a smack-down on Romney because Romney said he doesn't let his faith influence his decisions.
• 8:38: Thompson on whether businesses should be able to fire a worker because he/she is gay: "Yes."
• 8:37: Paul on moral leadership of conservatism: "If the goal of the government is to be the policeman of the world, you lose liberty."  (That was the best quote of the debate so far!!!)
• 8:35: Thompson: "John's (McCain) not the only guy with a defense background."  (oooh, snap!)
• 8:34: McCain on unity of purpose: "I want to become the president of the United States to defeat our enemies" ... "I know how the world works, I know the good and evil in it."  (Yeah, I'm getting creeped out whenever he talks.)
• 8:32: Romney on his turn to Roe v. Wade: "I changed my mind" ... "I studied it great length on this issue when I ran" ... cloning issue made him pro-life.  (Nice spin there, Romney!)
• 8:30: Thompson: "It (Roe v. Wade) should be left up to the states."
• 8:29: Giuliani wouldn't answer the question on whether overturning Roe v. Wade would be good for the country!
• 8:27: Hunter on compassionate conservative: "Yes, and let me take the rest" of the time for my "answer on Iran."
• 8:25: Romney on what he dislikes the most about America: "The American people are the greatest people in the world" ..."god-loving."  (Thanks for answering the question, Romney!)
• 8:23: McCain on Schwarzenegger being allowed to run for president: "Depends whether he endorses me or not."
• 8:22: McCain: "I will follow him (bin laden) to the gates of hell."  (wtf?)
• 8:19: Giuliani: "They (Iran) looked into Ronald Reagan's eyes, and in two minutes they released the hostages."  (Huh?  That is factually inaccurate.  According to history, the hostages were released before Reagan took office.)
• 8:18: Tom Tancredo appears very nervous, and flopped on whether we should help Israel attack Iran.
• 8:16: McCain on Iran: "The trip-wire is if they acquire these weapons" ... force "is ultimately the final option."
• 8:14: Paul: "We should have a foreign policy of non-intervention"..."Throughout the 21st century, the Republican has benefited" from a "humble foreign policy"..."It follows the constitution"... don't "pretend" Iraq was a threat.
• 8:13: Gilmore: "We didn't pay attention sufficiently to the entire Middle East" following the end of the Cold War.
• 8:12: Huckabee on firing Rumsfeld: "I would have done it before the election."  (Well don't you have a Karl Rove mind!)
• 8:11: Brownback: "We have to engage in Jordan"...investing in "diplomatic" tools to win war on terror.
• 8:08: Romney: "If we leave in the wrong way, Iranian Shiites could grab" the Iraqi south.
• 8:07: Hunter: "The key to winning in Iraq is standing up the Iraqi military."  (But what about a political solution?  Plus, the Iraqis already have stood up!)
• 8:05: Thompson on how to win in Iraq: "support the troops."
• 8:05: McCain: "What were they (Democrats) cheering?  Surrender and defeat?"
• 8:03: Giuliani on morning in America: I moved people toward prosperity, like Reagan.
• 8:02: Matthews: no commercials, 90 min debate
• 8:01: I've been wondering all day, is that a real plane on the ceiling?
• 7:59: Here we go!  Time to hold the righties acocuntable.
• 7:54: Just a quick note before we begin our coverage.  I think Keith Olbermann was really onto something when he was talking about why GOP voters admire Fred Thompson.  Conservatives bash Hollywood, yet it is actors like Reagan and Thompson that they fall in love with the easiest.  Just to note: Fred Thompson is not participating in this debate.  It is rumored that Thompson will make a presidential announcement this summer.
• 7:47: GOP candidates have taken the stage to applause from those that are in attendance at the Reagan Presidential Library.
• 7:35: Arnold Schwarzenegger escorted Nancy Reagan to her seat amid applause from the crowd.

Remember, not all quotes are official until the official transcript is released, which we will post as soon as we can.

Comments

[Chief Editor: Todd]

Thanks for joining us tonight. Feel free to comment as you watch, or lurk as you please. We're glad to have you all. :)

[tlp12]

Thanks for doing this

[Erick]

I'm at work until 9:30 (CST) but I'll be following along with you guys! I'll provide a nice 3rd-party input. And PS - sorry I've been so distant, I'm graduating in two days and just finished moving so life is wild!

Bring on the crazies!! (Chris Matthews not exempt!)

[Erick]

And for the love of God, go Golden State Warriors!

[The Mexican]

I'm rooting for Ron Paul. Should be a good debate, but I know I'll be pulling out the remaining hair from my fauxhawk.

[The Mexican]

8:22: McCain: "I will follow him (bin laden) to the gates of hell." (wtf?)

That was really awkward. The smile at the end sent shivers. McCain's responses have been off-putting, to say the least.

[Chief Editor: Todd]

Congrats Erick on graduation. And HELL YESS....go Golden State.....down with the Mavs.

[granny]

Carter/Reagan election in which Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter (heavily weighted by the fact that the hostages had not been released) was November 1980. Reagan was sworn in on Jan. 20, 1981. The hostages were released within the hour ...

Reagan took the credit.

[granny]

Perhaps I should have said: Reagan "got" the credit, and accepted it.

[The Mexican]

Three people didn't believe in the idea of evolution? Now, it can be parsed, but the question wasn't evolutionism vs. creationism. That hurts more than Paul's indecision on what critical decision of his made the most impact. Paul's holding strong, though.

[The Mexican]

Paul: "I trust the internet more." Something along those lines. That should win big blogosphere points.

[Erick]

My second attempt at writing this at work, having snuck away periodically to catch bits and pieces of the "debate."

- Romney said, "The American people don't want a President governed by polls. If they wanted polls to run the country, they'd just plug in their TVs and run the country themselves."

WE ARE A DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE. That's EXACTLY what we want. President's shouldn't act based on a 51/49 result (in a poll OR an electorate), but if a poll shows an overwhelming majority are for / against something, PAY ATTENTION.

- All the Republicans were asked about the scandals in their party (Abramoff, Foley, etc) and each one said something to the effect of, "It's unfair to characterize the entire Republican party by the acts of specific individuals."

How quickly we forget the vast mischaracterization of Democrats as "morally inept" or "deviant" or simply low on moral values after Clinton's affair. How easily we overlook that anyone favoring a social program (even just in theory) is quickly slammed as a "far left-winger" or "outside the mainstream."

[Erick]

Republicans are so easy to dismiss themselves as a party of individuals (who thus can't take blame or responsibility for each other's mistakes), but the individuals MAKE UP the party. If you don't like what your party represents, change the PEOPLE, not the slogan.

[Erick]

And on a third tangent, Olbermann was dead on with his critique of the Reagan fetish. This is the first Republican debate where I've heard "Reagan" used more than Jesus or September 11. Pathetic.

[The Mexican]

Paul's final comment, without his indecisive moment, should have won him the debate.

[Erick]

9:32: Paul: "I would guarantee that I would never abuse habeas corpus."

We have habeas corpus again?

[The Mexican]

At least, even if the only, Paul acknowledged the abuse of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

[George]

8:22: McCain: "I will follow him (bin laden) to the gates of hell."

But his Iraq policy is in direct conflict with this. I dont want to hear any Republican supporter of Bush tell me how much they want Bin Laden 6 after the fact. I'm not impressed.