Republican Debate (January 30)

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  • All times Eastern
  • 9:34 PM: Debate ends.
  • 9:30 PM: Question: Would Ronald Reagan endorse you and why?
    • Romney: Reagan would agree with his platform: win in Iraq, encourage pro-life values, drill in ANWR, change Washington's system as an outsider, no McCain-Feingold Law. Compares himself to Reagan in terms of being independent.
    • McCain: "Ronald Reagan would not approve of someone who changes their positions depending on what the year is." Feels that, like Reagan, he sticks to his principles.
    • Paul: Supported Reagan in 1976 and 1980, and Reagan campaigned for him in 1978. Says he's not sure what Reagan would do right now, but argues that Reagan was a strong supporter of the gold standard, one of Paul's big issues. Reagan was also concerned about runaway inflation and its ruinous effect on the economy.
    • Huckabee: Finds the question inappropriate and presumptuous. "I'm not going to pretend he would endorse me. I would love that. But I endorse him." Argues Reagan was not a policy wonk, but a man who loved America and inspired Americans. "He loved America and saw it as a good nation and a great nation because of the greatness of its people." Wants to recapture that can-do attitude about America's future. "He brought this country back together and made us believe in ourselves."
  • 9:29 PM: Question for Huckabee: Do you think it's more important to have a common touch or to have leadership ability?
    • Huckabee: "Leadership is about seeing the whole field." Thinks the Republican Party will be in trouble if they don't find a way to communicate to common Americans struggling with everyday issues.
  • 9:22 PM: Question for Romney: What makes you more qualified than John McCain to run the military as Commander-in-Chief?
    • Romney: Though he regrets never serving in the military, he does not think it's mandatory to be a good President. The new challenges are not like the challenges of old, which he compares to checkers, but is more like 3-dimensional chess. "My objective is to keep America the strongest nation on Earth." Abraham Lincoln, he argues, was not a military expert but turned out to be one of our greatest presidents.
    • McCain: Thinks Romney is a fine man, though as a businessman, he sometimes had to fire people. McCain thinks his background qualifies him uniquely to lead, which is why four former Secretaries of State (including two from the Reagan era), Norman Schwarzkopf and national security experts support his candidacy.
    • Paul: The President is Commander-in-Chief of the military, but not the economy or the people. The people should run and manage the economy. The President should just insist on lower taxes and sound regulation. "We want the people to be free. We don't want to manage the people and tell them how to live." The Commander-in-Chief should have a wise foreign policy that does not needlessly sacrifice lives and money pointlessly.
    • Huckabee: Still complaining about not getting enough time and questions in this debate. Agrees with Romney that governors are better prepared than anyone else to be President. Joking, he says he was a governor for longer, he's taking this as an endorsement from Romney. Feels that federal officials (like McCain) don't know how states work, but state governments have to know how Washington works. Wants a new leadership that respects the 10th Amendment. "Governors don't get to specialize," but have to manage multiple issues and understand how they all inter-relate.
  • 9:18 PM: Question for McCain: What makes you more qualified than Mitt Romney, a successful businessman, to manage our economy?
    • McCain: "Because I know how to lead. I ran the largest squadron of the U.S. Navy." He has the vision and knowledge and background to take on Islamic fundamentalism and national security. McCain feels he can hire managers and experts, but that he has the unique qualifications and judgment to be President. "I won't need any on the job training." Discusses his experience in prison camps and the inspiration he received from Ronald Reagan.
    • Romney: "[McCain] is a fine man and a man I respect, and I particularly respect his service in the military and courage..." But people don't look to Senators to lead, but look to Governors, because they have experience as organizational leaders. Senators, on the other hand, are legislators. "The key leadership of my life is 25 years in the private sector helping build business, turn a business around..." and then doing the same for The Olympics. People starting up small businesses are leaders; you can't hire managers to do those jobs. "I'm proud of my experience as a leader and I will use that leadership skill...to make sure you get them right, to make sure we have the right kind of leadership in the White House."
  • 9:15 PM: Question for Huckabee: Does he agree with Bush, who trusts Russian President Vladimir Putin, or McCain, who does not.
    • Huckabee: Does not think he can "read people's souls," like George Bush claimed about Putin. He judges people by their actions, and therefore somewhat distrusts Putin. We must reflect strength of the world. "You have peace through strength, not vulnerability...If we're going to engage them, we must make sure we have enough troop strength..." Opposes extended National Guard commitments.
    • Romney: Finds Putin's actions troubling. "You see a leader who wants to reestablish Russia as one of the great powers of the world." To do so, Romney argues, he eliminates a free press, terrorizing political opponents and so on. Feels Russia wants to use energy to take over the world. China wants to use communism and a "Wild West" form of free enterprise to take over the world. Al Qaeda wants to destroy everyone. Then, there's America, which believes in personal freedom and free enterprise. Wants to turn hostile countries towards modernity. There will always be war, but we can do everything in our power to prevent it by urging moderation and having a strong military.
  • 9:10 PM: Reader Question for Paul: Do you agree with McCain that we should have troops in Iraq for 100 years?
    • Paul: Doesn't think they should have gone in the first place. They're arguing, he says, technicalities about a failed policy. We should decide instead whether or not we want to run an empire. Compares our current era to the '70s, when we tried to pay for domestic needs and war. Recalls that Republicans were once elected to stop wars, in Korea and Vietnam, whereas now they discuss long-term engagements in countries that have "nothing to do with our national security." Calls the McCain-Romney argument silly. Wants wars only if there has been a declaration of war.
    • Huckabee: Did not come to the debate to umpire arguments between McCain and Romney, and resents being left out of the discussion. Hopes it doesn't take 100 years in Iraq, but believes "we need to leave with victory and we need to leave with honor." A bad conclusion in Iraq will destabilize the entire region and create a situation that Al Qaeda can exploit.
    • McCain: "It's a false argument." Argues that troops with be in Iraq just as we have long-term troops in Kuwait and elsewhere. "We need to protect America's national security issue. It's not a matter of presence, it's a matter of casualties. We are succeeding." He has put his political career on the line to support the Surge. "We're not going to talk about timetables. We're going to talk about winning." His experience allowed him to judge that Rumsfeld needed to go and that General David Petraeus had a winning strategy.
  • 9:00 PM: Question for Romney: Does he support a timetable for phased withdrawl from Iraq?
    • Romney: "Absolutely, unequivocally no." He's offended by McCain's suggestion that he does, in fact, support such a timetable. He says we have timetables but only in terms of how we're making progress, not about withdrawing. "I will not pull our troops out until we have brought success in Iraq." Refers to bringing up such a charge right before a primary as "dirty tricks" that would be opposed by Reagan.
    • McCain: The Democrats thought they had a mandate to get us out of Iraq, and he opposed them to stand up for what he believed in. Romney, on the other hand, refused to weigh in on the Iraq Troop Surge because it was politically risky. In April of 2007, when Harry Reid said the war was lost and we needed to get out, McCain opposed timetables whereas Romney argued that the President should agree to timetables.
    • Romney: Interrupts to argue that McCain is using a quote of his out of context to imply that he supported timetables for withdrawl. An argument breaks out. Romney says that he is the expert on his own positions, not McCain.
    • McCain: "I have fought for this Surge. I have said, 'We need to have this succeed...If we had waited in the weeds until we leave, then Al Qaeda would have won..."
    • Anderson Cooper: Interrupts to provide the full quotes. Feels it's open to interpretation.
    • More cross-talk and argument between McCain and Romney.
    • McCain: "Timetables was the buzzword for people who wanted to get out.
    • Romney: Insists again he meant timetables to measure and gauge progress, not to withdraw from Iraq. Always said he would not support a Congressional ruling on a specific date to withdraw.
    • McCain: Will continue to raise the question as to whether or not Romney can handle the war against Islamic fundamentalism.
    • Anderson Cooper: Again interrupts to ask Romney why he was not willing to take a position on the Surge.
    • Romney: His responsibility was running a state, not running American foreign policy. His discussions with Fred Kagan encouraged him to support a surge, even before the full program was announced. Again insists he does not favor specific dates for withdrawl.
    • McCain: The critical time was after the firing of Donald Rumsfeld. At that point, McCain claims, Romney favored timetables, which was the buzzword for those who wanted to withdraw. Also takes issue with Romney's characterization of this argument as an attempt to play "dirty tricks" by the McCain administraiton. "The fact is, your negative ads have set the tone for this campaign."
  • The Associated Press: McCain: Romney Favored Iraq Withdrawal (January 26, 2008)
  • 8:57 PM: Question for Romney: Asks about Peggy Noonan's statement that Bush "broke the Republican Party." Is the Republican Party better off than it was 8 years ago?
    • Romney: He doesn't think so, but blames Washington and not President Bush. Supported Bush's Social Security policy, but it was shot down by the other side, who said, "What, me worry?" Also feels that the 9-11 attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were a distraction. "He kept us safe this six years, and that's a very important legacy that he left for the Republican Party." He watches the Democratic candidates "with horror" who support getting out of Iraq rather than winning. Feels the party has weakened itself by overspending. He made progress, however, including No Child Left Behind.
  • 8:47 PM: Question for Huckabee: Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor, and took a lot of flak from supporters because she was pro-choice. Does Huckabee feel that was the right decision?
    • Huckabee: Wants to let history judge Reagan's decision, but he reaffirms his pro-life stance. "The issue of the sanctity of human life is a lot bigger than being anti-abortion..." It recognizes that all people are equal. "I'm pro-life; I value every human being." He would make every decision on the side of life.
    • Paul: "I wouldn't have appointed her." He would chose a more strict constitutionalist.
    • McCain: "I'm proud of Sandra Day O'Connor as a fellow Arizonan." However, he would appoint a judge like John Roberts or Samuel Alito.
    • Romney: He would appoint judges who follow the Constitution and don't legislate from the bench.
  • 8:44 PM: Question for McCain: Asks about 2000 immigration proposal, which included a pathway to citizenship for illegals who were here. If his original proposal now came to a vote in the Senate, would he support it?
    • McCain: Even though he says it could not come to the Senate, he says he would not vote for it under any circumstances. "We're all in agreement as to what we need to do...The fact is, we all know the American people want the border secured first." As a border state governor, he says he knows how to secure the border quickly. Further argues that he'd go after employers who hire illegal immigrants, which would cause a lot of people to leave America voluntarily. Securing the border is a national security issue.
  • 8:41 PM: Question for Romney: Asks about previous quote implying that we could deport illegal immigrants within 90 days.
    • Romney: For those here illegally, no amnesty. People who have come here recently, they get sent home quickly. If they have kids in school, you make arrangements and then get them to move home. People who have been here a while and have settled down in America, they are allowed more time to make arrangements. "No special deal that says, because you're here illegally, you get to stay here for the rest of your life." McCain-Kennedy Bill, he says, let people stay here illegally for $3,000.
  • 8:39 PM: Reader Question for Huckabee: In order to curb illegal immigration, do you support changing the law to give citizenship only to the children of legal American citizens?
    • Huckabee: "That doesn't fix the problem." Feels a secure border fence is mandatory to deal with this issue effectively. He does not think Americans are angry because people want to come move here; they are upset that lawbreaking is permitted and accepted. Wants to start a process where people living here have to go to the back of the line and wait their turn to immigrate here. It ensures people living here can keep their head up and need not fear the law or deportation.
  • 8:36 PM: Question: Why did he originally oppose the Bush tax cuts and why does he support them now?
    • McCain: Lower and middle income Americans need more help. Cites his experience in the Reagan Revolution, changing America's terrible economic situation with tax cuts and spending restraint. In 2000, he argued that his package of tax cuts were tied to restraints in spending. Disagreed when spending got out of control and when there were tax cuts without cutting spending. "Republicans lost the 2006 election not over the war in Iraq, but about spending." If he had won the argument then, we could have even more tax cuts today.
    • Romney: The "Bush Revolution" and the downturn he faced in office demanded a tax cut. He feels Reagan would have supported it and that McCain was wrong to oppose it. Too much federal spending on entitlements; up to 70% of total spending by the start of the next administration. We should cut entitlements and expand the military. Wants to meet the promises we made to seniors, but cut back on help for everyone else.
  • 8:33 PM: Reader Question: Do you have a plan to help people with bad credit buy homes and pay mortgages?
    • McCain: "You don't lend money to people who can't pay it back." He feels we should punish Wall Street greed and enhance the transparency of our financial and housing situation. Feels that mortgages should be simplified and we should adjust the mortgages of people who are eligible for better terms. Likes the rebate idea because part of the problem is psychological. "One place where Ron Paul and I are in total agreement: spending is out of control."
  • 8:28 PM: Question for Huckabee: Asks about his suggestion to expand I-95 down the Eastern Seaboard to stimulate the economy.
    • Huckabee: Bush's tax rebates will stimulate the Chinese economy, because Americans will go buy cheap imported products with their new money. Fixing our crumbling infrastructure will pump money into our nation and repair traffic problems. Americans spend 38 hours a year stuck in traffic. "My point is, and it's not just I-95 from Bangor to Miami...The point is, infrastructure in this country has been neglected."
    • Romney: Repairing infrastructure always helps the economy. Cites his experience with the Big Dig. But a road project will not stimulate the economy quickly enough. Admits that the Big Dig leaks, cost too much and was badly managed. "An economic stimulus plan has to put money in the hands of consumers and businesses now" so the economy doesn't tip down. A road project takes too long.
    • Paul: Paul argues that the money to build the highway would also come from foreign investment. Argues that our money is tied up in building an empire; the solution is to cut spending. "Where do you cut spending if you want to spend some money?...We need to free up the market. We can't expect the government to do everything."
  • 8:21 PM: Question: Do you agree that Governor Schwarzenegger that California should be free to enact their own environmental policy?
    • McCain: As a federalist, he feels that states should get to decide their own policy. "I applaud the governor's efforts and that of other states in this region, and across America, to try to limit the greenhouse emissions that are causing climate change." If he and Schwarzenegger are wrong, then all they've done is "give our kids a cleaner world." But if they do nothing and don't eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, it just ends up contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and to terrorists. "It is a global issue and we have to address it globally and I would not agree with any global agreement without India and China being a part of it," but he feels we have an obligation to reduce greenhouse emissions. Feels nuclear power is part of the solution. Cites the pro-America Nicolas Sarkozy as an ally on this issue. "We have to address this issue. We can do it."
    • Romney: Says he sides with states and that he feels that America should be energy independent. He feels buying $1 billion a day in foreign oil is bad for our economy, foreign policy and environment. Supports nuclear power, renewable energy, liquefied coal, etc. Feels if you make changes without the rest of the world, you impose a huge new effective tax on the American people. Thinks if America makes policies they don't make in India and China, polluters will simply go there. "These ideas make sense but only on a global basis."
    • Huckabee: Cites experience as the Chairman of the Governor's Association. he agrees with Schwarzenegger. If he's right, other states will copy him. If he's wrong, other states will absorb the businesses and jobs he turns away.
    • Paul: "California should do what they want. We all recognize that." Feels that property rights should be emphasized.
  • 8:19 PM: Reader Question: How do you reconcile raising money through "fees" with his argument that he's a conservative who would lower taxes?
    • Romney: Charging the public fees for specific services, which can be adjusted, are not the same as raising taxes. Much of it, he claims, adjusts for inflation. Describes "the ultimate conservative approach": find out why people don't have health insurance, discover that they're relying on the emergency care system and then determine that they should "pay their own way." So he said "no more free riders."
  • 8:17 PM: Question: How would Huckabee and McCain respond to Rush Limbaugh's allegation that they would fracture the base of the Republican Party.
    • Hucakbee: "I believe in less government. I believe in lower taxes, not higher." Wants to simplify and streamline government as he did in Arkansas. Limbaugh once praised him for the "Tax Me More" fund allowing citizens to pay more in taxes if they wanted to.
  • 8:10 PM: Question: Do you feel that John McCain would really be a liberal leader? Isn't he more of a conservative?
    • Romney: Discusses McCain's opposition to drilling in ANWR and McCain-Feingold Law. He also discusses McCain's position on immigration, which he refers to as essentially not Republican. Also the McCain-Lieberman cap-and-trade policy forces Americans to pay for climate change, as opposed to China or other citizens. "If you get endorsed by The New York Times, you're probably not a conservative."
    • McCain: Reminds Romney he was endorsed by both Boston papers, including the conservative Boston Herald. "I'm proud of my conservative record," and his bipartisan ability to get things done. Brings up Romney's history of raising taxes and poor record of job creation. Also brings up Romney's creation of a health care system in Massachusetts that forced industry out of the state and saddled the people with a high tax burden. "I've been involved in every major national security challenge this nation has faced." Argues that he is supported by "strong conservatives."
    • Romney: Corrects McCain's statement that his lieutenant governor supports him, and that it was the state's previous lieutenant governor who supports McCain. Also states that, during his term of office, Massachusetts added jobs. Refers to taxes being raised as "fees" for essential services. Argued that he "got the job done," insuring his citizens. He's proud of this accomplishment, though it has been changed by the state's legislators.
  • 8:05 PM: Question: Restatement of Reagan's old campaign question, "Are Americans better off than you were eight years ago?"
    • Romney: Discusses how he benefited the people and economy of Massachusetts. "I'm pleased with what I did when I was Governor...I'm not running on President Bush's record."
    • McCain: "We have had a pretty good, prosperous time." He cites low inflation and unemployment. Americans are uncertain about the economy, he explains, particularly in some parts of the country. (He names Michigan as an example). Supports making Bush tax cuts permanent and eliminate the alternate minimum tax. Looking at the entire eight year period of Bush's administration, he feels that we are overall better off, though we face challenges now.
    • Huckabee: He does not believe we are better off, but blames the Congress, not President Bush. He specifically cites plummeting numbers of new homes.
    • Paul: "We're not better off. We're worse off. It's partially this administration's fault, it's the Congress..." but he also blames the economic system we have and our foreign policy. "When you destroy a currency, the middle class gets wiped out...It has to do with a fiscal policy and foreign policy of way too much spending."
  • 8:03 PM: Anderson Cooper introduces the rules ("there are no rules") and discusses Reagan's rule about not speaking ill of conservatives.
  • 8:01 PM: Debate begins with introduction of candidates and former First Lady Nancy Reagan

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