The Other McCain

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The CNN Debate: Tokyo Survived

Posted on | June 14, 2011 | 34 Comments

Having declared that the debate in Manchester, N.H., would result in Herman Cain stomping the other candidates “like Godzilla stomped Tokyo,” I’m now prepared to admit that the result was not quite so one-sided. However, I don’t get CNN at the house — some glitch in the cable service limits my choices to Fox and MSNBC — so I am dependent on the judgments of others.

And by “others,” I mean VodkaPundit, who drunkblogged it, because massive quantities of alcohol help clarify the issues.

Mr. G. liveblogged the debate (sober) and declared Cain the winner. 

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post clearly disagreed, but Cillizza is a liberal, which is why he wrote:

A relatively tepid debate with candidates largely agreeing with one another on the major issues of the day.

But wasn’t that true of every 2007-08 debate among the candidates for the Democratic primary? I remember watching (or trying to watch) those debates and wondering, “Why bother?” You had three major candidates — Clinton, Edwards and Obama — and a bunch of guys who had no plausible chance. (Chris Dodd for president? I mean, really?) They were all predictably liberal, and their policy differences were matters of incidental detail. But I don’t remember CNN hitting them with a bunch of “gotcha” questions or trying to set them at each other’s throats.

Da Tech Guy delivers his verdict: “Bottom line: Bachmann wins, Cain remains solid, Newt and Santourm help themselves, Romney remains steady Pawlenty doesn’t help himself enough, Paul is Paul.”

Here’s an Associated Press video highlight reel of the candidates trashing Obama’s economic policy:


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Category: Debates, Election 2012, New Hampshire, Republicans

Comments

  • http://theothermccain.com/2011/06/07/death-of-a-blogger/#comment-222940138 Anamika

    RSM ackowledges his mistake… but it’s all CNN’s fault or something.

  • http://2011.ak4mc.us/ McGehee

    I was right: Mildred did let his hair do the talking.

  • Joe

    Da Tech Guy’s take is very good, except I think Romney helped himself a bit. 

    Meanwhile the most disturbing Weiner wiener DM was released today.  Does the depravity of this man know no bounds? 

  • http://profiles.google.com/japhen Jamie Timon

    Congratulations to  John King for winning the Most Horrible Moderator In History. His grunts in an effort to curtail lengthy replies were nearly as infuriating  as Pawlenty’s and Santorum’s wordy replies that were purely fluffy platitude at it’s finest. Hermain Cain did alright, but could have delivered his message about Muslims in his Cabinet with greater tact.

    I would agree with Da Tech Guy with the exception that I would put Santorum below Romney.

  • Anonymous

    And once again, Anamika responds to the cardboard cutouts in her head….

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=588368258 Lisa Graas

    Nothing in the AP video from my two favorite candidates, Santorum and Bachmann? Groan.

  • http://profiles.google.com/japhen Jamie Timon

    bahaha: “5:04PM Everybody is talking about their tons of kids. I half expected Tim Pawlenty to pull out his wallet and show photos, since he only has the two.” -VodkaPundit

  • Joe

    Trooper York at Althouse described the debate last night as “betting on a spring training game.”  Ahhhhhh…yep.  That is how it felt. 

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    STFU.

  • Joe

    And yes John King is not ready to ump a big league game. 

  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    I’m with Mark Steyn [emphasis mine]:

    The trouble is it’s all “This or That”. As Newt pointed out, most of the questions posit ridiculous choices: Are you in favor of amnesty for illegal immigrants or are you in favor of deporting 20 million people? Are you in favor of seizing private property in New Hampshire for a Hydro Québec power line or are you in favor of continued oil dependency on psychotic dictators? The remainder fall into cutesie-pie stuff that John King lacks the personality to pull off, and the last embodied in its perfect post-modern stupidity the awfulness of these “debates”: “What have you learned during the past two hours?”

    Hmm. What I learned is that John King makes Tim Pawlenty look like Lady Gaga. Other than that, I also got the distimct impression that this season’s debates seem unlikely to be effective forums even for acknowledging the profound and existential crises facing the nation, never mind addressing them.

    But I agree with Rich that Michele Bachmann was very strong. (Here’s my favorite picture of her – I hope it doesn’t ruin her campaign.) I also agree that the answers on Afghanistan about deferring to the commanders in the field were pathetic – for a couple of reasons:

    First, as I said in NR a couple of issues back, you can’t win a war unless you have war aims – and war aims are determined by a nation’s civilian leadership. So, if Romney & Co mean what they say, it helps explain why America has nothing to show either for a decade in the Hindu Kush or for three months over Tripoli.

    Alternatively, if they don’t mean it, then they’re just pandering in a bumper-stickerish “I So Totally Support Our Troops I’ll Take My Orders From Them” kind of way. And this political season ought to be one not for panderers but for tellers of hard truths.

    Stop futtsing around!  America’s very existence is at stake here.  Whether we survive as a free people under a Constitution is very much in doubt.

    WOLVERINES!

    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/269526/re-or-mark-steyn

  • Joe

    Stacy, lets have the $5 tip jar contribution and you get to vote whether Anamika stays or goes. 

  • Joe

    The only RSM mistake is letting you hang around. 

  • http://912member.blogspot.com just a conservative girl

    I think that Cain was a loser last night only because they didn’t give him enough questions. 
    To me the big winners were Pawlenty and Bachmann.  Michele really stood out last night.  On twitter during the DOMA question I saw a lot of response from the left that she punted the question or went back from her values.  To the contrary, she gave the perfect Tea Party answer.  States rights is very important to the Tea Party and I thought she nailed it.  While she personally disagrees with it, the states have the right to answer the question of marriage, not a federal issue except that she would uphold DOMA on the federal level.

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  • Nospam

    …needs ketchup.

  • Nospam

    I’ll agree about Bachmann, but I think Pawlenty muffed his chance to make himself shine.

  • http://www.redstateeclectic.typepad.com AngelaTC

    Stacy, CNN streamed the debate.  :) 

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  • Joe

    Agreed, Pawlenty did not do anything fatal, but he did not help himself last night. 

  • http://twitter.com/RedDogReport Brian O’Connor

    For those who watched…

    Who do you think won the New Hampshire Debate?

    Brian O’Connor
    RedDogReport.com

  • http://twitter.com/RedDogReport Brian O’Connor

    And although Tokyo may have survived…

    John King may not have.

    Brian O’Connor
    RedDogReport.com

  • Anonymous

    I’m in!

  • Anonymous

    Get lost, you lying dirtbag.

  • Anonymous

    Predicting the future is always a difficult proposition. I accept full responsibility for this embarrassing departure from my usual inerrancy.

  • http://www.redstateeclectic.typepad.com AngelaTC

    I’m a Ron Paul Republican, and I also like Bachmann.

    There. I said it.

  • Anonymous

    When you have a career batting average over 0.500, it’s not at all embarrassing to hit a line drive to the shortstop in the first inning. 

    Anamika, on the other hand, is below the Mendoza Line.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    The two worse mistakes that have anything to do with this post are the two your mother made, the first one by getting pregnant with you and the second one not aborting your skank ass.

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    That’s odd, everybody else says Pawlenty didn’t do too good.

  • http://twitter.com/Mutnodjmet Leslie Eastman

    Bibi Wants USA to go back to 1958 Borders…
    BEFORE HAWAII WAS A STATE!      Features some chestnuts on Obama (including a major temper-tantrum), a summary of GOP debate thoughts, and some key graphics.  IMO – the only good thing coming out of the debate was the focus on Obama.

  • http://2011.ak4mc.us/ McGehee

    “What have you learned during the past two hours?”

    That John King should keep his day job.

  • http://thatmrgguy.wordpress.com/ Mike

    Thanks for the link.

     I gave Cain the nod because he actually answered the asinine questions by John King without the extra flourishes put out by Romney and Pawlenty. I’ve always liked Ron Paul, but he goes off on a tangent with monetary policy on every other question and most people don’t understand it and/or don’t want to hear it.Also, Romney tried to make the debate about Obama and not about what policies he would propose to make things better. YMMV

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