Rate Ron's Performance in the Debate

[Joseph]

I voted 10 because Ron Paul showed a consistent principle of not wavering even among unpopular issues. Ron Paul answered the questions in that Ron Paul way which is why we love him so much. I thought second place was Gary Johnson, Herman Cain 3rd, and the other two losers deserve to be set up with strait jackets and put in a rubber room together.

 

[Andrew-Austin]

I didn't like Ron's performance as much as I thought I would. I blame it on the questions, though. They weren't very good questions for him, but hopefully the next debates won't repeat them over and over. I think Ron should say the word "Constitution" as much as possible. He didn't do that tonight.

I think he should limit his Constitution talk, as its easily one of the most boring talking points the greater libertarian leaning crowd has come up with. Always talking about the Constitution makes libertarianism look a lot more shallow to outsiders.

People only care about the morality and utilitarian effects of policy. Some people care about appealing to authority figures ("the founding fathers"), but I think these people are in the minority.

 

[SimpleName]

Ron did great in the likability department. Jokes, charisma. Much better than the 08 campaign with the wording and organization of answers. 8/10, trying to part with all possible bias. The others, though, did enough. Empty rhetoric all over, as expected.

 

[HarryBrowneLives]

He did fine, but agree (for a long time now) he needs a coach. If you watch him live he does very well. A lot more one liners a lot more relaxed in front of a Revolution crowd. I think he needs a coach to work the bugs out a little and settle his mind down a little. It's kinda like a great 3 point shooter being too jacked up before or at the start of a game.

 

[HarryBrowneLives]

He did much better than anytime I can remember at being spontaneous, likeable, and funnny. Which lead me to give him a 7 vs a 6.

 

[PineGroveDave]

I gave him a "7". He did well, but not great. Yes, he stayed "on message". Yes he answered the questions and didn't dodge like Santorum and Pawlenty....BUT!

I'm gonna say this 'til I'm blue in the face...His image is in dire need of polishing. I want RP to win so badly I can taste it, but I can't do anything for the man but support him. Somebody else (are you listening admins and mods?) needs to get in front of his handlers and effect some changes or else he will most assuredly lose (much to my chagrin). I'm not so concerned about his speaking ability as I am more about his projected "image". Get your hand out of your pocket Ron! Stand up straight! Face the camera!

He should, IMHO, "dumb down" some of the topics he speaks about. The concept of "sound money" is foreign to most Americans. How do I know? I'm a manager and I used the very same term in a discussion with my crew one day (8 technicians)...not one of them knew what I meant by "sound money".

 

[sailingaway]

Pretty good night for him, in my opinion. I gave him an 8.

But apparently Herman Cain "won" the debate. I don't know what those people were watching, but okay.

I'm thinking there was a little under the table pizza involved for a hungry crew....

 

[sailingaway]

I gave him a "7". He did well, but not great. Yes, he stayed "on message". Yes he answered the questions and didn't dodge like Santorum and Pawlenty....BUT!

I'm gonna say this 'til I'm blue in the face...His image is in dire need of polishing. I want RP to win so badly I can taste it, but I can't do anything for the man but support him. Somebody else (are you listening admins and mods?) needs to get in front of his handlers and effect some changes or else he will most assuredly lose (much to my chagrin). I'm not so concerned about his speaking ability as I am more about his projected "image". Get your hand out of your pocket Ron! Stand up straight! Face the camera!

He should, IMHO, "dumb down" some of the topics he speaks about. The concept of "sound money" is foreign to most Americans. How do I know? I'm a manager and I used the very same term in a discussion with my crew one day (8 technicians)...not one of them knew what I meant by "sound money".

I was on justintv chat with a bunch of Dems who came on to hoot and they were impressed by ron, one said he'd vote for Ron in the general. I suggested that since Dems didn't have primary it couldn't hurt to register GOP and vote in the primary, then they could still vote however they wanted in the general. They specifically liked his hand in his pocket on the Bachmann answer. They liked that he was spontaneous and natural.

We are used to it with him, but everyone else is only used to politicians...

 

[John Q Public]

I gave him an 8. He didnt get many questions and he did stumble a little at the end. I would like to mention that Herman "Mr. Fed" Cain would get a 1, Tim "0 chance" Pawlenty gets a 1, Rick "clueless" Santoro gets a 1 and Gary "Libertarian but not close to Ron Paul" Johnson a 4.

 

[sailingaway]

Welcome to the forums, JohnQ!

 

[LisaNY]

10/10

He is the only candidate truly speaking extemporaneously and not from prepared talking points. He is the only candidate that comes across as having an in depth understanding of history and modern issues.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Paul4Prez]

10 out of 10. I was shocked at how well he did. He slowed down and explained himself clearly and defended liberty unapologetically. He seemed far more confident and comfortable than the other candidates, and owned the crowd. He seemed much more Presidential than he did in 2007. Wow.

 

[PineGroveDave]

They specifically liked his hand in his pocket on the Bachmann answer. They liked that he was spontaneous and natural.

We are used to it with him, but everyone else is only used to politicians...

Don't get me wrong, I loved it too. It projects a degree of "casualness" and comfort rarely displayed in someone who is "propped up" in front of the media machine (Santorum?)...So yes, I agree...but this isn't about me. Hell RP could be up there on stage in PJs and slippers and I'm still voting for the man. It's mainstream America that counts. Back in the 60's Nixon and Kennedy debated. "Technically" Nixon stayed on task and performed well but Kennedy creamed him....wanna know why? Nixon was shown on TV as tired and slow (bags under his eyes...etc) whereas Kennedy was vibrant and polished...Image is everything. Perception is reality. This campaign needs people with their heads rooted in reality and aren't so delusional about the mans ideology.

 

[nate895]

a few home runs, a few stumbles - 7
showed he had the most debate experience


gave a lot of bait for the haters

+1

 

[FreedomProsperityPeace]

I give an 8/10. He wasn't very clear in his answer to defaulting on the debt, which was a question right in his wheelhouse. He also tripped up a bit in his closing statement. But overall he was great. The rest of the questions, I was really impressed by his answers.

 

[svobody]

I'd say 7.5. He looked comfortable, at ease - almost like he realizes this is his last go around, and at this point in his political career, the haters can truly F off. He also looked like a man, who unlike last go around, realizes this his moment. Just seemed really at peace with the situation. I felt he had a good rapport with the crowd as well, and that the audience seemed to anticipate his responses.

Also, he crushed the Bachman and drug question. They avoided feeding him any real economic policy questions, but no worries, those will come. Yes, he stumbled in the closing remarks, but only because he was eager to talk about issues, not pump his website or pander for donations. Definitely seemed the most authentic out of anybody on the stage, and you could tell he had "been there, done that".

 

[Dave Aiello]

I really enjoyed reading through the responses so far. Did anyone watch the post-debate coverage? Besides the room full of godfather pizza employees, how'd it go?

 

[Kludge]

I really enjoyed reading through the responses so far. Did anyone watch the post-debate coverage? Besides the room full of godfather pizza employees, how'd it go?

According to Luntz's dial-worshiping focus group from Retardistan, Cain won (something like a 80%+ majority) and he's now everyone's first pick. They're also ANGRY at Mitt Romney for not attending.

 

[Chowder]

I give him a seven. He stumbled and that cost him points. On the drug issue why didn't he talk about prohibition?

Of course, they only gave him 30 seconds in each response. (I timed it myself) They told the crowd to hold the applause but didn't do the same for Puck Fawlenty. They asked him only 4 questions 3 of them were stupid irrelevant and designed to trip him up.

Ron Paul was so excited he spoke too fast but also he was aware of that fact that they were going to cheat him of his time.

Still Ron Paul won the debate. Santorum acted silly. Pawlenty got mostly softballs plus he gave droning instances of his family (who cares about that). Cain was the best speaker but I didnt' like his answers. Johnson did okay but got treated like Ron.

This was not a debate. This was a stupid Q/A session where NO body debated. This was crap!

MSM: new plan to defeat Ron Paul. Give him the stupidest questions to answer. Make him trip up by cutting his time. Give him the least amount of questions and make him stand off to the side. Not in the middle.

 

[ForLibertyFight]

I give him a 6. He needs a coach to polish up his messages