You couldn't watch it, or you wouldn't? You wuss! Fred was very nervous at the start but relaxed as time went on. As usual, Ron Paul was just mentally...insane. Fred did OK, but actually, most of the questions - and answers - from everyone sucked. (Geezers are hard to please.)

Rudy and Romney looked best (and I'm not a Romney fan). Fred looked old and tired. He started so poorly that as long as he didn't faint in the end, anything was an improvement.

I watched the last half and did a nice fat blog post.

Romney and Giuliani performed the best, I think, apart from a few moments for Tancredo and Thompson.

Mitt Romney's eyebrows have a mysterious seductive quality.

Giuliani sounds like he's trying to sell something with all his talk about selling stuff.

Tancredo was able to steer his answer onto illegal immigration with remarkable skill not found very much outside of the extreme sports.

Thompson seemed like he obeyed the time limits better than most, for all his talk about opposing the business of forcing candidates to articulate their policies in trite soundbites.

Those of you taking shots at Fred Thompson shall...well..never mind...you won't exist tomorrow and if you do your head will be ripped off and shoved up your ass!

I missed the first running of the debate after I got to caught up in a book, and missed the encore because House was on, but from the clips I've watched and the things I've read, Fred! didn't kill as many people as I thought he would. He must be feeling merciful.

Ron Paul FTW!

Now I feel dirty.

Fred just did OK. Rudy and Mitt were a little more polished in their delivery than Fred. Ron Paul was passionate and still nutty, claiming there hasn't been an imminent threat on the US for 200 years and the 19 Islamic terrorists on 9/11 were "thugs".

I have to admit I admire a man who gives a one word answer to a stupid Pres. debate question.

Should the feds step into a labor dispute?
Fred's answers... "No." What an awesome moment!!

Then Fred had to elaborate because the woman commentator needs more babble and Chrissy's gets all pissy with Fred's answer. Then Fred ripped Chrissy's head off and drinks Chrissy's blood from his still steaming skull... or at least that is how it should have been if this were a just world.

Just watched the encore. Fred Dalton Thompson, the next president of these United States, did very well, but should never wear yellow. That tie made him look old and tired and sort of jaundiced. He spoke concisely and with appropriate humor, often lost on the moderators.
They all did well, Rudy is so pushy he always does well, Mitt is like a really smart Ken doll, I honor McCain's military service so much I concede points even when he's wrong, and Brownback is right: this country rocks.

Ron Paul is ... insane. A true, principled Libertarian of the first order, but insane.

Do the two parties really expect anyone to pay attention when they still include wackos like Kucinich, Ron Paul, and that old guy on the dems' side whose name isn't worth remembering?

Each side would probably be better off holding televised poker games- that would probably tell us more about the candidates than canned answers...

I got my thoughts up over at my blog. Here is the nutshell:

FRED! did well enough. Rudy did really well. Romney BLEW IT with his lawyer-talk about defending America. Paul is a kook. Everyone else was irrelevant.

Here's my photographic take on the debate.

Even though I'm a huge Fred! fan, I went into this with an open mind. I wanted to hear what everyone had to say (except RuPaul--why is he even still in this race?), and then really make my decision.

Fred! is still getting my vote. He answered every question succinctly, and even though he was a tad nervous to begin with, he still came out swinging, and definitely won my total support.

I would have to say that Guiliani came in second, but I still won't vote for him. I'd rather give my vote to Mitt than to Guiliani. He made several great comments, but by and large, he didn't swing my vote over to him. To me, he came off like a used car salesman. Slick. But that always drives me running from someone. Be honest, don't swagger, and give straightforward answers.

Which is really why I liked listening to Fred! answer his questions. Far too many of the others linked totally different subjects to whatever the question was about to try to get their ideas in. How does illegal Mexican immigration have anything to do with our trade agreements with China? Seriously. Let alone the price of oil!

I think what clenched it for me was the question about forcing big oil companies to use an amount of their earnings to invest in other energies. Sorry, do NOT think so. That's like saying that a non-government owned online dating service MUST include homosexuals, even though they don't want to. IMAO? It's the same thing as No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service. It's their company. Let them deal with whatever they want to deal with. If I don't like it, I won't do business with them. The government has no right to force them to cater to special-interest groups, misguided as they may be.

Fred! You've already won. I bask in your glow.

Fred did great! We expect him to be as rehearsed and smooth as TV, and he will be, on the stump. He needs to work on delivery and polish at these 'debates' and he'll get better at the next one. Looking forward to it. The best was telling Chrissy 'that's your opinion, Christopher', after Chrissy said 'you should've just said no'. Seeing Chrissy makes one want to hurl. I heard the girl with him told him to behave or she wouldn't do it with him. It's good to see Fred in it and looking good!

Hey, all I know is my Yanks won four World Series when Rudy was mayor and diddly squat since, so I look forward to Opening Day '09 in the new Yankee Stadium as Yankee Fan One President Rudolph Giuliani throws out the first pitch (hopefully a strike like Dubya in the '01 Series).

C'mon, people, how do you top that for political theater? The pomp, the pageantry, the palpable tension as the massive police and Secret Service presence guard against every terrorist's wet dream; some beer truck backfiring and F/A-18s taking out half the South Bronx...it's gonna be faaantastic!

What the hell's Thompson (provided Hillary's panicky Vince Foster phone tapes surface) gonna do? Pray the Titans make it to the Super Bowl so he can give a little wave from the owner's box? Boooring...

You want revenge for 9/11? Then put the guinea whose town got clobbered in The White House - believe me, he's all about vendettas. Let's make it happen, Republicans!

There was a debate?

Off topic, but there seems to be some British guys making off the wall comments about US troops in Iraq. Check them out and kick some ass!

http://ifyoulikeitsomuchwhydontyougolivethere.com/

Fred did fine but Chris Matthews walked out of the room alive and his nuts remain un-kicked...a huge disappointment for this viewer!

I think Thompson's answers will come off a lot better in print then they did on TV. If you're a glass-half-empty type, he was a lot less polished than the other candidates, particularly Romney and Giuliani. It's obvious they're very comfortable in a debate, and probably put a lot of time into preparing for this one. Thompson wasn't nearly as polished, and came off looking not nearly as well as the other two on TV.

I'm not sure how that'll play with the people who watched the debate, though (political wonks, mostly conservative). The glass-half-full perspective is that Thompson was the least rehearsed of the candidates, and seemed to give real answers ("No."). He was BY FAR the least dependent on canned talking points (Did you know Romney's from Michigan, and Giuliani was mayor during 9/11? They seem so reluctant to bring it up.). I think everyone was expecting D.A. Arthur Branch, and were probably disappointed. He didn't look like an actor; he looked like a solid conservative who more than held his own in a debate. His response to Romney at the end ("and to think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage") was PERFECT.

As an aside, I don't have any problem at all with Romney's "consult with the lawyers" answer. Maybe going to law school has warped my thinking, but launching tactical strikes (not declaring war) is definitely a gray area in the separation-of-powers. I don't have a problem with a guy that says "hey, I'll have to get with the experts to see what authority I have under the Constitution." Would you prefer he said "screw it, I'll do what I want"?

I thought that Thompson started out shaky but got stronger as the night went on. Certainly, he got the better of Chris Matthews.

Romney had a strong opening, got into a squabble with Guiliani that neither of them won, and then stumbled on his Iran answer.

I saw a lot I agreed with from many of the candidates.

Personally, I think they need to limit it to just the top teir - Guiliani, Thompson and Romney. Maybe McCain and Huckabee. Tancredo, Hunter, Brownback and especially Ron Paul need to go.

I just finished watching it on tivo. All the top candidates did well. Hunter was the only one to hit the free trade question very well. We cannot have free trade when the other side subsidizes all their exports to make them cheaper. Favorite answer - Brownbacks answer to what the biggest economic problem facing America. The breakdown of the family. Least favorite answer - Rudy's answer to if we need a third party - "the 2 party system has worked fine." That's the thought process that has led to the Republicans voting so many overspending loons into congress and president. We only had 2 choices to vote for - evil and eviler.
D

Guiliani: He is good. Smooth. But still too many things (tangible and intangible) to win my vote. I think being a New Yorker is still a liability. Less so since 9-11, but still.
Romney: Hmm. Not so good. I don't care if he is a Mormon and was the Mass. gov. But to win me over he needs to loosen his tie a little and try not to appear so canned. Seductive eyebrows and all.
FRED!: He did fine...he warmed up as time went on. He seemed tired and old though. I don't believe that is true but just sayin' how it looked. The last 15-20 minutes were his best.
McCain: He seemed tired too...I thought he did pretty good for the most part but didn't really shine much. He seemed a little confused at times.
Huckabee: I like this guy! He just needs a little more face time. He was the only one who said anything too interesting re taxes.
Hunter: While an argument can be made against becoming excessively protectionist, I think a lot of Americans know that we have allowed things to swing way too far the other way and would like to see them more in balance. I think Hunter would get a lot of traction if there were any kind of (G-d forbid)serious terrorist drama or too many, more incidents of tainted Chinese imports.
Tancredo: I want to like him more but he needs to branch out a bit. And hire a public speaking coach. Too much sputtering about the illegals. Okay, already...we all hate them and want them to go away!!
Brownback: Huh? I know I am supposed to think he is cool and all but I don't remember why. I think he said one thing I liked but I don't know what it was now.
Hmm, who else?
Oh, yeah...that shrieking lunatic Paul. He just gets more annoying every time you see him. I hate that he took up so much time and tried to fast forward my DVR every time he opened his yapper. Goof.
Winners and losers. I dunno. Nobody really screwed up too bad, although Mitt's "consult the lawyers" remark made me wince. I don't think it is good policy to remind Americans that their lives are dictated by the most despised group in the country.

I was actually at the event in person. Several of us volunteers from the University of Michigan - Dearborn got to sit in on the debate. By lucky circumstance, I was placed in the center of the fourth row behind Chris Matthews. During the commercial breaks, some of the candidates would walk to the landing at the edge of the stage to talk with the audience. I didn't leave my seat during the first two breaks, and when I got up on the third break, Fred Thompson stayed on stage. That dashed my plans of getting a picture with him.

We met with John McCain briefly after the debate, and he signed my volunteer credential card. Mitt Romney also came over to see us and take some pictures.

In terms of the debate itself, I would say that Romney did the best, with the exception of his "lawyer" comment. Giuliani was pretty well polished, but he didn't bring as much charisma as Romney. Thompson was imposing and kept to the point with most of his answers. All of the candidates were too charitable to the UAW. Together with Granholm, the UAW has been running our state into the ground. Thankfully, I should still be able to find employment when I return to the west side of state after I graduate in May.

As an aside, Mrs. Thompson was a couple rows behind me, and I recognized her even before she joined Fred on stage at the end. She looks just as good in person as she does in photos. Way to go Fred!