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The Spectacle Blog
Manchester, New Hampshire — “I think this was the fourteenth or so debates, and I think this was Mitt Romney’s best debate,” said a Romney campaign surrogate in the spin room after tonight’s debate. He praised Romney for “taking the attacks from the other candidates, absorbing them, and rising above them.” The surrogate? None other than former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty’s failure to hit Romney effectively at a debate in June, when he failed to stick by his attack on “Obamneycare” in what he and his former staffers now think of as the fatal mistake his campaign. Pawlenty endorsed Romney about a month after withdrawing from the race, of course, but there’s still something slightly surreal about Pawlenty now showing up at debates only to praise Romney’s performance.
The boilerplate spin (which probably wouldn’t have been much different no matter how the debate went) was largely accurate; no one really laid a glove on Romney tonight. If anything, Pawlenty exaggerates the extent to which anyone even tried. Mitt beamed as Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich went after each other in a knife-fight for second that left the frontrunner without a scratch. He was helped along by the preposterous moderators, more interested in discussing contraception and gay marriage than healthcare, where Romney is vulnerable. Mitt could hardly have hoped for a better night.
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More Blog Posts by John Tabin
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/01/08/romney-unscathed
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Casey Abell| 1.8.12 @ 12:53AM
"He was helped along by the preposterous moderators, more interested in discussing contraception and gay marriage than healthcare, where Romney is vulnerable."
As long as Santorum is around, we're gonna hear about birth control and gay marriage. Get used to it. Santorum is the Spectator's guy, after all.
Dan| 1.8.12 @ 1:22AM
Hey Case,
We're going to be getting hit over the head with all things homo from here till November.
And that was always going to be the case regardless of whether or not Santorum gets the nomination.
Casey Abell| 1.8.12 @ 1:23AM
"And that was always going to be the case regardless of whether or not Santorum gets the nomination."
Santorum makes it a lot worse. No reason to pretend otherwise. You think anybody would be talking about birth control otherwise?
RJ| 1.8.12 @ 2:04AM
Regarding tonight's moderators, Dick Cheney's biography reminded me of the close working relationship between the debate moderators and the Democratic candidates. In Cheney's Vice Presidential debate against John Edwards, the moderator asked Edwards late in the debate a question about gays, which Edwards used to tell the audience that one of Cheney's daughters was gay. In the next debate, the last Presidential debate, the same thing happened with the moderator asking John Kerry a question about gays, in which he again told the nation that Cheney's daughter was gay. It wasn't an accident or coincidence. The media are the propagandists for the liberal movement and work to promote liberal Democrats. Likewise, do you remember some of the racist cartoons that liberal political commentators published about Condi Rice. The liberal elite are not friends of gays or blacks, but use them to gain power, which is what they really treasure. We can't afford to forget that during this race. The media will be as dirty as they can be to try to defeat the Republican nominee.
m| 1.8.12 @ 6:01AM
Newt Gingrich won the debate. Not Romney! If Romney does get the nominee, GOP will lose the White House because Romney can't do the debate too good with Obama.
hook| 1.8.12 @ 7:03AM
If only Santorum was protestant. He would make a great V.P. candidate. Huntsman is done I think and Perry will be I think.
m: Romney will out debate Obama if he is sensible enough to insist on moderators who are not part of the MSM or at least two moderators, one not being part of the MSM.
We dont want Obama getting the questions before the debate which I wouldnt put past his idiotic "base" in the media.
Gingrich had some of best lines about "asking the wrong question," etc But Romney was not damaged. Repubs need to follow Reagan rule.
Bumr50| 1.8.12 @ 7:21AM
hook-
"If only Santorum was protestant. He would make a great V.P. candidate."
Go F*** yourself.
Clint| 1.8.12 @ 7:51AM
" Gingrich Super PAC to attack Romney for Bain Capital work?
The effort to derail Mitt Romney’s presidential quest heightened dramatically on Friday when a super PAC associated with Newt Gingrich outbid all comers for the rights to a scathing 30-minute attack video depicting Romney as a greedy, job-killing corporate raider “more ruthless than Wall Street.”
In a season filled with negative ads and rhetorical crossfire, the striking feature of the film, aside from its mini-documentary length, is its authorship. The film was made by Jason Killian Meath, a former associate of Romney’s top strategists, Stuart Stevens and Russ Schriefer. Meath had worked for the Romney campaign in 2008, creating much of the ad content for that failed effort. He left Stevens and Schriefer’s firm, SSG, in 2010. Meath declined to comment on his project, referring inquiries to the pro-Gingrich PAC Winning Our Future…
“A story of greed,” the narrator intones. “Playing the system for a quick buck. A group of corporate raiders, led by Mitt Romney. More ruthless than Wall Street. For tens of thousands of Americans, the suffering began when Mitt Romney came to town.”
The Tea Party Rebellion Is On The East Coast.
Oldefarte| 1.8.12 @ 12:08PM
Clit why is Axelrod repeating your words? ['....Newsmax....Obama Adviser Axelrod: Voters Have Trouble Trusting Romney Sunday, January 8, 2012 09:54 AM....WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's chief campaign adviser says conservative and moderate Republicans are having problems trusting GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney.Strategist David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week" this morning that it's clear Romney is running into resistance from a majority of Republican voters, given that his support is under 25 percent in most national surveys and some early voting states.Axelrod also took aim at Romney's work at the Bain Capital private equity company. Romney has never substantiated his claim that he was a creator of more than 100,000 jobs while leading Bain. Critics cite jobs lost at Bain-acquired or Bain-supported firms that closed, cut back or shifted employment overseas.Axelrod criticized Romney as "a corporate raider" and said "bringing a Bain mentality" to running the economy undercuts Romney's candidacy.......']
martin j smith| 1.8.12 @ 9:00AM
Tell me some one out there in the universe and splain to me why these candidates for President a) participate in debates run by the Socialist or is it Communist Party and b) during these debates they do not go after Romney. I have my own thoughts but I am curious to hear others if any dare to offer any.
Pete| 1.8.12 @ 1:33PM
Obama wants them to go after each other and do his dirty work for him.
Eric Dondero | 1.8.12 @ 9:19AM
Did anyone else notice the Romney hand in the pants look? Body language experts no doubt would say that's a sure sign of relaxation with one's surroundings.
And how 'bout Ron Paul with the freudian slip calling himself a member of the "Democratic Party"? What a blooper that was. Oddly, it's getting very little coverage anywheres.
Pete| 1.8.12 @ 1:32PM
The slip was that he meant Romney.
Clint| 1.8.12 @ 7:01PM
Uh Oh !
It's Startin'.
" Fleeing U.S. Prosecution
In fact, it was prosecution, not persecution, that drove Romney's great-grandfather Miles from the U.S.
Miles Park Romney led his family south of the border to escape imprisonment for polygamy, which Mormons called "plural marriage" and which was banned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the late 19th century.
When Mitt Romney's father George (1907-1995) was a small child, the Mexican Revolution broke out, and the family fled Colonia Dublan, a colony in the north, back to the U.S.
Many of the Romneys, however, chose to remain behind, and most of them are dual citizens.
"We certainly have a love for both countries," Leighton Romney said. "I think that having two countries that you love and two countries that you can serve or be a beneficiary of their service is a great thing."
The Mexican branch of the family is very supportive of their famous relative, and hope Mitt Romney will be more open about his Mormon faith and his Mexican heritage as the race goes on. The GOP candidate has never visited his family across the border, but Leighton Romney feels he and the family have nothing to be ashamed of.
"I don't think that any candidate for any office would shy away from their religion," he said. "I think it's something to stand up and be proud of."
bill| 1.8.12 @ 10:56AM
Romney was shred in ABC's debate over contraception and gay rights. He was wrong on those issues, and will get trouble in SC.
Santorum was disoriented.
Gingrich was scripted.
Ron Paul was bright and shine.
Huntsman was going nowhere.
Rick Perry was articulate and presented bold solutions, even though he was given least amount of time. That's so unfair.
Pete| 1.8.12 @ 1:31PM
Perry goes to the back of the line since he performed so poorly in Iowa. That's how it works.
bill| 1.8.12 @ 3:18PM
IA has population over 3 million, while USA has a population over 312 million. 49 states still have to pick their GOP nominee. Also, IA has caucus, not a primary. Only 122,000 out of 1.5 million eligible voters participated on Jan 3, 2012 caucus.
IA caucus is a circus.
bill| 1.8.12 @ 11:04AM
Romney is for
-abortion
-gay marriage
-pull out troops from Afghanistan
-individual mandate
-cap and trade
-RomneyCare
-card-check
-reducing defence budget
Romney may buy NH with money but he cannot win in SC and FL. Rick Perry will win in SC and FL, and get the GOP nod. Santorum voted for raising the debt celling for 5 times, and voted against "right to work state." He cannot win in NH, SC, or FL. He'll be out after FL primary. Gingrich has a lot of baggage, going nowhere. Forget about Huntsman.
Pete| 1.8.12 @ 1:29PM
What I saw was a befuddled Romney. It wasn't a bad performance, but he talks so much in generalities, that he starts braking down when asked details. He actually is too much like Obama. They would have the dullest debates since well Mc Cain and Obama.
Sac a main Prada | 1.10.12 @ 4:27AM
Sac Prada Soldes
Sac Lancel Pas Cher