TAMPA, Fla.
Greetings from the Florida State Fairgrounds where we’re about to get under way with the CNN/Tea Party Express debate.
UPDATE 9:52 p.m. ET: Herman Cain: “I’d bring a sense of humor to the White House, because America is too uptight.” And that’s it! LET THE SPIN BEGIN!
UPDATE 9:50 p.m. ET: Ron Paul just name-checked Austrian economics!
UPDATE 9:45 p.m. ET: Rick Perry: “I agree with Governor Huntsman.” Commercial.
UPDATE 9:44 p.m. ET: Woman from Afghanistan asks a question. Gets an answer from . . . Governor Asterisk, who advocates a cut-and-run.
UPDATE 9:42 p.m. ET: Rick Santorum slams Ron Paul: “You said that it was our actions” that caused 9/11. “That’s irresponsible.” Accuses Paul of “parroting Osama bin Laden.” Paul gets booed when he responds.
UPDATE 9:40 p.m. ET: Ron Paul wants to reduce “occupying” foreign countries.
Da Tech Guy is also blogging the debate.
UPDATE 9:39 p.m. ET: Newt talks national security.
UPDATE 9:38 p.m. ET: Herman Cain talks energy independence. Wants a “regulatory reduction commission.”
UPDATE 9:37 p.m. ET: Governor Asterisk. Again.
UPDATE 9:36 p.m. ET: Perry. Perry Perry Perry. Perry. I’ll be interested to see exactly how much time the Smilin’ Texan got tonight.
UPDATE 9:35 p.m. ET: Romney gets to Perry’s right on immigration, endorsing the border fence.
UPDATE 9:34 p.m. ET: Governor Asterisk accuses Perry of treason? Whoa!
UPDATE 9:33 p.m. ET: Perry. Perry Perry Perry. Perry Perry Perry.
UPDATE 9:32 p.m. ET: Bachmann gets cheers for criticizing Perry. “That’s the American way.”
UPDATE 9:31 p.m. ET: Perry defends in-state tuition for illegals. “That is the American way.” Some boos in the audience.
UPDATE 9:30 p.m. ET: Santorum slams Perry for giving in-state college tuition to illegals.
UPDATE 9:29 p.m. ET: Perry: “The idea that you’re going to build a wall from Brownsville to El Paso” is impractical.
UPDATE 9:27 p.m. ET: Rick Santorum talks immigration. Slams Perry. “Secure the border.” He’s pro-immigration.
UPDATE 9:21 p.m. ET: Michele Bachmann: “It’s unconstitutional!” (Talking about the individual mandate in ObamaCare or RomneyCare. Take your pick.) “I’m committed to repealing ObamaCare.” Commercial break.
UPDATE 9:18 p.m. ET: Ron Paul defends freedom. Gets applause.
UPDATE 9:16 p.m. ET: Rick Perry slams RomneyCare as the model for ObamaCare.
UPDATE 9:15 p.m. ET: Romney is asked about RomneyCare. He “absolutely” defends it.
UPDATE 9:13 p.m. ET: Herman Cain on how to fix health care: “First, repeal ObamaCare in its entirety.”
UPDATE 9:12 p.m. ET: Rick Santorum slams Perry on Gardisil. “No government purpose served” by the mandate: “Big government run amok.”
UPDATE 9:10 p.m. ET: Bachmann brings up the “big drug company” that profited from Perry’s Gardisil decision.
UPDATE 9:09 p.m. ET: Bachmann calls Perry’s Gardisil decision “flat-out wrong.” Turns it into a slam on ObamaCare.
UPDATE 9:07 p.m. ET: Rick Perry admits he made a mistake on Gardisil.
UPDATE 9:06 p.m. ET: Ron Paul talks about executive orders. Says, “The executive order should never be used to legislate.”
UPDATE 9:05 p.m. ET: Mitt criticizes the Fair Tax.
UPDATE 9:04 p.m. ET: Newt: “We have a problem of overspending. We don’t have a problem of undertaxing.” Name-checks “the Obama depression.”
UPDATE 9:02 p.m. ET: Newt gets in a shot at General Election — cheers! “Doesn’t [Obama] realize that every green tax credit is a loophole?”
UPDATE 9:01 p.m. ET: Governor Asterisk. He’s getting too much time. Any Huntsman is too much Huntsman.
UPDATE 9:00 p.m. ET: Mitt Romney is pro-Fed.
UPDATE 8:59 p.m. ET: Michele Bachmann refuses to criticize Perry on the Fed. Perry calls the Fed’s inflationary policy a “travesty.”
UPDATE 8:56 p.m. ET: Herman Cain wants to audit the Fed and fix the Fed. During the commercial break, I was in the smoking area with two Cain staffers who were pleased that the time is being “spread around” much better than during the NBC debate, when Cain got the least time of any candidate.
UPDATE 8:52 p.m. ET: Commercial break!
UPDATE 8:51 p.m. ET: Governor Asterisk.
UPDATE 8:50 p.m. ET: Herman Cain: “I was a worker before I was an executive and before a business owner. . . . Yes, I know how to be pro-worker. . . . I understand work, because that’s how I came up.”
UPDATE 8:48 p.m. ET: Newt Gingrich: “The American people create jobs, not government.” Invokes Ronald Reagan.
UPDATE 8:46 p.m. ET: Ron Paul is a Texan. Not a Rick Perry fan.
UPDATE 8:45 p.m. ET: Rick Perry: “Mitt, you were doing pretty good until you got to talkin’ poker.”
UPDATE 8:43 p.m. ET: Mitt Romney praises Texas. Not necessarily praising their governor, of course.
UPDATE 8:42 p.m. ET: Herman Cain: “We need a bold solution.” He talks up his “9-9-9” plan.
UPDATE 8:41 p.m. ET: Michele Bachmann says “it’s easy to turn around this economy.”
UPDATE 8:38 p.m. ET: Rick Perry: “He’s gonna pay for ’em all with raisin’ your taxes!” (Talking about Obama’s jobs plan.)
UPDATE 8:36 p.m. ET: Question from Portsmouth, Virginia: “What would you do to get the economy going forward?” Governor Asterisk gets the first shot.
UPDATE 8:33 p.m. ET: Michele Bachmann talks personal rresponsibility. And now . . . commercial!
UPDATE 8:32 p.m. ET: Ron Paul wants to cut money for foreign wars. Proposes elimination of Dept. of Educatioon and Dept. of Energy.
UPDATE 8:31 p.m. ET: Mitt Romney talks balanced budgets.
UPDATE 8:30 p.m. ET: Rick Perry will not repeal Medicare prescription drugs benefits.
UPDATE 8:29 p.m. ET: Rick Santorum talks Medicare. Also, they just showed Ali Akbar in a crowd reaction shot.
UPDATE 8:27 p.m. ET: Newt denounces the “Washington mythology” about balanced budgets. Gets all wonky about it.
UPDATE 8:25 p.m. ET: Rick Santorum talks about his 1994 campaign. “The people of Pennsylvania wanted someone who had the courage to tell them the truth.”
UPDATE 8:23 p.m. ET: Newt Gingrich gets cheers for slamming Obama.
UPDATE 8:21 p.m. ET: Governor Asterisk.
UPDATE 8:20 p.m. ET: Ron Paul’s turn and then Herman Cain. “I don’t care what you call it — it’s broken!”
UPDATE 8:18 p.m. ET: It’s gonna be the Romney-Perry show all night, isn’t it?
UPDATE 8:17 p.m. ET: Now Romney’s turn to talk about the Ponzi Scheme Monstrosity. And now Perry responds. “It’s time for us to get back to the Constitution.
UPDATE 8:15 p.m. ET: Rick Perry talks about Social Security the Ponzi Scheme Monstrosity. “We’re gonna fix it!”
UPDATE 8:14 p.m. ET: Michele Bachmann gets the first question about Social Security, and she says Obama “stole” Medicare money.
UPDATE 8:12 p.m. ET: Ready to RUMMMBBBBLE!
UPDATE 8:11 p.m. ET: Diana Nagy sang the national anthem. Now the candidates are introducing themselves.
EXPECT FURTHER UPDATES . . .
UPDATE: Protesters out front:
Bishop Tavis Grant of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
SDS? They’re still around?
