The Third Republican Debate

It's going to be a full six weeks before the next one -- I may go into debate withdrawal. I can't stop watching them. Sorry I forgot to post on Sunday's Democratic debate, maybe I'll get around to that. But it's just not as entertaining. My favorite Republicans are Ron Paul and John McCain, and they consistently do the best. Although I disagree with McCain on the war, he is very heartfelt and legitimate. I also appreciate Paul's strict reading of the Constitution - we wants less government and less nation-building. Good ideas. Rudy continues to say "If you don't vote for me, the terrorists win."

Here's a breakdown of Rudy from HuffPo. I couldn't write it any better myself.

"By contrast, Rudy Giuliani seemed a tad unhinged. He tried to have it both ways when it came to terror and national security, claiming on one hand that the sacrifice of American lives in Iraq 'is one of the reasons we're safe now in the United States,' while on the other hand repeatedly raising the specter of Islamic terrorists who will do us all in if we don't put him in the White House."

McCain from HuffPo:

"This was vintage McCain. Perhaps energized by being in New Hampshire, home of his greatest political triumph in 2000, he provided the two most emotional moments of the night. The first came in his response to a question asked by Erin Flanagan, whose younger brother had been killed in Iraq eight days before he was scheduled to return home in December 2005.

McCain rose from his chair and, his voice choked with emotion, thanked her for her brother's service and offered 'a little straight talk' on the war, which he said had been 'badly mismanaged for a long time,' leading to 'unnecessary' deaths."

Fox News with a debate debate overview:

"The 10 candidates yielded Bush no quarter during a spirited two-hour debate Tuesday night, as they contrasted their positions on a host of issues with those of the unpopular president.

"It's a typical Washington mess," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said of the immigration bill Bush wants Congress to approve.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas said: "The president ran on a program of a humble foreign policy, no nation-building and no policing of the world, and he changed his tune."

"I think we were underprepared and underplanned for what came after we knocked down Saddam Hussein," former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said on the topic of Iraq.

"I never heard such a piling on of a sitting president who's of the same party," said Linda Fowler, a government professor at Dartmouth College. "They were as tough on him as the Democrats were."

Fowler attributed the criticism not just to polls, which show the president's popularity mired at 35 percent, but a recognition within the GOP that it must redefine itself if it is to avoid a clean sweep from power in 18 months.

"When parties are struggling with their identity, there is an attempt to go back to first principles, so in many ways, the most striking criticism was not just that the war had been handled incompetently, but that the party principles had been abandoned. That's the first step in positioning one's self to be the `true Republican,"' Fowler said.