Ron Paul.  What a guy.

You’re exactly right about the FOX crew, and the dems fear.

Don’t care, but it’s nonetheless relevant to a certain extent.

But Rudy handled the question well enough.

Tough, fair, balanced questions and moderating.  No wonder the Dems couldn’t face them.

I don’t think so, unlike the diner “real people” questioner.  But he can’t really provide a palatable answer to it, though he took his best shot.

matters not one iota to this woman blogger.  How about you guys?

Paul wan’t to do away with the three-quarters of our intelligence and federal law enforcement and talks about curtaining “Presidential authority”.

Que?

Why has McCain not signed ATR anti-tax pledge?  Ducking the question while trying to cover his opposition to the Bush tax cuts with faint praise of them.  Good segue to anti-spending/anti-pork message, though.

Wallace not letting him duck the question.  “I’ve been in this business a long, long time” - is that something a politician should be saying?

Brownback: turning answer into another family values meme.

Why hasn’t Giuliani signed?  Ducking the question even more egregiously than McCain did.  Yeah, yeah, he cut taxes in New York City, but why hasn’t he signed pledge?  “Taking one pledge” line sounds Paulesque.

Romney signed pledge, so why did he raise state fees and fines in Massachusetts?  Well, he didn’t raise income tax rates, lowered them instead.  Strong answer, and he signed the ATR pledge.  Kill death tax, zero tax on investment income up to $200K, another shot at Opie.  Excellent.

Huckabee is about to bury himself with “fair tax” nonsense.  How’s he going to repeal the 16th Amendment first?  What makes him think the IRS won’t be utilized to administer his VAT?  It’s a vastly more invisible tax than the income tax.

Wallace is openly ridiculing Paul (eliminate IRS, CIA, FBI), and somebody is laughing like hell at it on air.  So that’s why they let him in this thing.  Every court needs a jester.

Why McCain refuse to sign?  Weak answer;  The past record is not guarantee of future results, as they say in financial prospectus. 

Giuliani’s got the experience answer.  Right on “one pledge”.

Romney’s raised taxes record is not pretty.  Fee-Fee?  Should not throw haircut digs at Edwards.

 Oh, please, no consumption tax.  Imagine people raising 5 kids having to pay consumption taxes!

Ron Paul may have a good point about the inefficiency of the bureaucracy, but he loses me every time. 

Giuliani makes a great point with the “one pledge”. He’s right that the process of signing this pledge or that one would lead to an entire catalog of pledges that candidates would be asked to sign.

NYC “Didn’t understand” supply side economics?

Oh well - Hillary was going to win in New York, anyway.

Down for most of the night. Not good.

Heh, heh…

Great answer from Hunter about Gitmo’s “conditions” and lack of crime, something Democrats can’t say about their own jurisdictions.

PS: Stepped on Fausta’s point….slow typist.

Romney: rebounding well on this question - “Do whatever it takes to protect American people”.  “Most important civil liberty is to be kept alive”.  Nicely done.

To Tancredo: “Would you approve torture?”  Defined as what?  Water-boarding isn’t “torture”.  If any interrogation technique outside the bounds of Miranda rights constitute “torture,” then we can’t defend ourselves, and we’re screwed.

McCain: America’s reputation more important than preserving American lives.

Our enemies ALREADY torture our people, for real.  He piddled away his “Surge” answer with this one.

Giuliani: Keep Gitmo open?  Parallels with emptying prisons of dangerous criminals.  Release jihadis where?  Who’ll take them?  Just turn them loose?  “When has a nation ever won a war when its only debate is how soon it’s going to retreat?”  Home run.

Hunter echoes Rudy.  Points out that we’ve released too many jihadis already, they’re treated too well in Gitmo, we should get tougher, not looser.  You can engage in that level of candor when you have no chance of winning.

Brownback takes swipe at Dick Cheney.  Vaguely echoes “Bush is a puppet” meme.

Giuliani, Hunter: good points on who the prisoners really are.

Duncan, good point on “not one prisoner has been murdered,” unlike the prisons in the Dems districts.