performance

[Ball]

This just in.

Independents in NH and much of the rest of the country DON'T LIKE THE WAR. They don't think we should be there, and they don't like all the FEAR the terrorists stuff.

If they were watching tonight, they now know that ONE Republican stands with them.

The people still drunk on the neocon koolaid weren't going to vote for Paul anyway.

No, they'll vote Obama.

(yes, I know Obama is pro-war, but most people don't know that)

 

[Ball]

well, mainstream America prefers style over substance unfortunately.

Exactly.

This is NOT an intellectual debate. It's a popularity contest.

Romney did the worst, but Ron did not to the best.

I think Huckabee will beat Fred, and McCain will take NH by a wide margin.

Ask yourself this: why is Obama so damned popular?

 

[familydog]

Exactly.

This is NOT an intellectual debate. It's a popularity contest.

Romney did the worst, but Ron did not to the best.

I think Huckabee will beat Fred, and McCain will take NH by a wide margin.

Ask yourself this: why is Obama so damned popular?

What is your reasoning for thinking McCain will take NH by a wide margin? Maybe you can educate me because I just don't see it.

 

[Thomas Paine]

I only saw the last half of the debate and thought Ron Paul did fine and remained above the fray. I can't speak to the first half of the debate.

 

[Ball]

lets let the NH voters decide how this turned out shall we?

Brace yourself for a high McCain turnout.

The whole pro-war shoutout made the independents jump parties, sad to say.

 

[glts]

Ron Paul is a visionary. He was nothing but brillant as usual.

 

[hasan]

you guys realize tht this debate was watched by dems, reps, and indies because both the

debates were together rite? this means indies can now compare his positions with obama and

co. if this doesnt convert indies nothing will.

 

[RNPol.com]

no i think the issue that keeps the indies off ron paul is the dissolution of the federal departments......i dont think indies like the sound of that

 

[ChickenHawk]

no i think the issue that keeps the indies off ron paul is the dissolution of the federal departments......i dont think indies like the sound of that

Yep, the federal departments and programs that Ron Paul wants to eliminate where created by a popularly elected Congress and signed into law by a Popularly elected President. It shouldn't surprise anyone that most voters don't want those things eliminated. I'm sure the fact that many of these departments and programs are unconstitutional would bother the average person right up until they find out eliminating it might have some sort of negative effect on them.

 

[shagywashere]

The thing is the guys laughed at him without backing any points whatsoever....they all looked ignorand nt athey laughed because they don't have a rebuttal! Instead of laughing, why don't they answer the question? Because they can't! So they have to gang up on him and ridicule him without even making a point.

 

[driller80545]

Ron got absolutely hammered. He did poorly on the "islamofascism" issue, and he REALLY did poorly on the healthcare question.

Monetary policy and healthcare?? Wasn't even relevant. Sure, monetarism in general causes inflation in all areas, but Ron did a poor job making the tie and focused solely on the monetary issue. That left the door open for Thompson to belittle and ridicule him.

He did better with the immigration and oil issues, but I am guessing people had already tuned him out by then if they were unimpressed with the foreign policy debacle. Too little, too late.

We gained nothing and probably lost ground with this debate. He became flustered when they all attacked and laughed at him, and did not look the presidential part one bit.

With regard to the other thugs (er, candidates): Giuliani, Romney, Thompson and McCain are PUNKS and THUGS. They are absolutely disgusting. At least Huckabee showed a little bit of decorum. Romney is so arrogant and smug it defies belief.

<<< sigh >>>

This is pretty much my impression too. I don't know what he could have done to counter the ridicule though. Shouting would not have been very "presidential". Maybe he could have demanded that the moderator let him get his point across without the interuptions. Or maybe what he did was best. I don't know. Maybe it would be best if he didn't associate himself with this group anymore. Just be a different republican and don't grace them with his presence. It was a tough and demoralizing situation for such a fine man to be in. I think that the moderator should have thrown a couple of the bums out of the room!

 

[lvp1138]

I think this was the best debate yet. I loved the format. The host was engaging and was not afraid to take shots at the candidate.

I liked that he had something negative to say about all the candidates, except Paul

 

[Thurston Howell III]

A Huckabee troll? How Christian. Shouldn't you be hanging a dog or something?

I almost blew coffee through my nose! That's classic.

 

[Tidewise]

I don't guys. I challenge you to look through my posts (or my donation records or my street work) and call me a troll, but I have to agree with much of the OP that Dr. Paul was not assertive or coherent enough in the first half of the debate. But he was also in the toughest position with five warmongering Neocons jumping on him and interrupting him.

Since I recorded it and FF'd through pretty much everything except for when Dr. Paul was speaking, I can't say much about the other candidate's performances (doesn't matter how they performed because they are all pro-Federal Reserve Note megagovernment warmongers),

That said, I thought Dr. Paul owned it in the second half, especially on oil/dollar/euro/gold and I thought his Obama response was perfect.

The Federal Reserve Note truly is the root of all evil in our country - it infects every issue on the table; you can't talk about any national issue without talking about our currency. In someways it is a very simple issue but for those who don't understand currency it can take too much time to tie it all together.

 

[familydog]

Ron Paul puts himself in that position of being jeered at. When he debates, he talks very quickly and appears angry: it sounds like a rant. He also sounds repetitive. I can almost predict what he is going to say at each debate: 'humble foreign policy', 'how would you like it if China came here and set up bases?' etc etc... This is why the others laugh at him: because he sounds like an angry old coot. I have come to accept that Ron Paul is who he is; he cannot change. He cannot become a brilliant orator overnight. He does not think quickly on his feet. He doesn't understand the nuances of how he comes across or how his message may appear to other people. He may be bright enough to be a doctor but he is at core an eccentric and not a "people person". And he is stuck in his ways being 72 years old and is not open to advice or criticism. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Oh well. Let's see how things go.

Lol.

 

[Shiva_Rodriguez]

My whole family sat down to watch the debate. After Giuliani's first little speech on fighting Islamic terrorists, we all poured ourselves a drink and settled in for a long night.

What we were paying attention to wasn't Dr. Paul. We know exactly where he stands on the issues. But we were watching the other candidates shoot themselves in the foot while playing to a largely independent crowd.

When the other candidates start yapping about how we have to keep on fighting and policing the world, Dr. Paul has little to do other than state he opposed the war and then sit back and let the candidates hang themselves by promising to continue an unpopular war.

I don't think the audience is stupid. I think they have a pretty good idea of how much this war-mongering is costing us and how it affects our economy, and the other candidates can snicker all they like about Dr. Paul's suggestions. I think the viewers understand more than we may give them credit for.

They may have gored Dr. Paul on subjects that would take longer than a minute to explain to an average citizen, but they couldn't accuse him of flip-flopping or pandering. It sounded like a good many of them were playing the "who's flip-flopped the most" game, and of course Dr. Paul wasn't eligible to participate in that.

I think at this point is is extremely important for all the canvasing and outreach supporters in NH to be prepared to clarify any issues that couldn't be explained with a soundbite answer or a 30-sec commercial. Dr. Paul's solution for the economy is complicated... and that seems to be a weakness in debate forum.

Just my two cents.

 

[partypooper]

The "Luxemburg" comment by Romney, causing the entire audience to laugh, was NOT GOOD. How could you possibly conclude otherwise??.

he had to be prepared for that comment because it is raised repeatedly. the argument says that they attack as because we are free and because they want to rule the world, and his reply is "why don't they attack canada or sweden".

the reply to that is the luxemburg comment - because we are the biggest; sure, they are not going to attack luxemburg. but that is a fallacy, actually. why would they start with the biggest country? it would make much more sense to attack luxemburg first, because they could more realistically win it. even hitler didn't begin with USSR. so dr paul had to have a response prepared for this comment.

i agree with you that his performance has not been very good, though i don't think it was worse than usual. dr paul comes to debates woefully unprepared, and, as a result, is very repetitive and has a hard time answering questions effectively. the fact that he repeats himself so much also allows other candidates to 1) attack him more effectively, knowing what he is going to say 2) "steal" good-sounding bits (follow the constitution, founding fathers etc).

 

[R_Harris]

Ron Paul puts himself in that position of being jeered at. When he debates, he talks very quickly and appears angry: it sounds like a rant. He also sounds repetitive. I can almost predict what he is going to say at each debate: 'humble foreign policy', 'how would you like it if China came here and set up bases?' etc etc... This is why the others laugh at him: because he sounds like an angry old coot. I have come to accept that Ron Paul is who he is; he cannot change. He cannot become a brilliant orator overnight. He does not think quickly on his feet. He doesn't understand the nuances of how he comes across or how his message may appear to other people. He may be bright enough to be a doctor but he is at core an eccentric and not a "people person". And he is stuck in his ways being 72 years old and is not open to advice or criticism. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Oh well. Let's see how things go.

Excellent analysis. As I stated, I worked on his campaign in 1984. What many posters have stated over the past several months are things I saw back then - he does well one on one, giving speeches, and with small groups. In formal debates, he falters badly.

He did the same things back then that are stated above - he makes the same points time and again, he comes off angry and ranting- and people end up writing him off as a nutcase.

Sadly, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

On Wednesday, I may post about the campaign - because I am seeing the same campaign issues and problems now that existed back then. But that will be on another forum, and I will save my piece for now. I already have a feeling about tomorrow's outcome . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[partypooper]

Excellent analysis. As I stated, I worked on his campaign in 1984. What many posters have stated over the past several months are things I saw back then - he does well one on one, giving speeches, and with small groups. In formal debates, he falters badly.

He did the same things back then that are stated above - he makes the same points time and again, he comes off angry and ranting- and people end up writing him off as a nutcase.

interesting. i thought his poor debate performances were partly due to his age, but it seems to have been a problem all along.

 

[jacmicwag]

Well, he did good on Leno last night so that can't hurt. Also, remember - the early debates brought tons of new people in. I don't care if 75% of the viewers think Ron is a nut case. If we can get the other 25% to vote for him, we may win the nomination anyway.