FOXNews/GOP Debate: On Fred Thompson's Absence
By Nicole Belle Wednesday Sep 05, 2007 12:00pm
Boy, those FOX guys are smarting from being shunned by Fred Thompson. The very first question out of the gate to the Republican presidential contenders was how they felt about Fred appearing on Leno instead of next to them.
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Heather for vids)
Listening to the cheers after Ron Paul's declaration of being the anti-war candidate leads me to think that 1) FOXNews didn't do the same kind of loyalty oath-selected audience that Bush has done and 2) Republicans continuing to support the Bush agenda are going to be very unhappy come November.
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High!
Just because the members of the audience are republicans doesn't mean they are totally stupid. Whether they admit it or not, they see the same things we do and I bet deep down inside they feel pretty much the same way we do about this war and maybe other things too.
"The very first question out of the gate to the Republican presidential contenders was how they felt about Fred appearing on Leno instead of next to them"
Now THAT's what I call a really important question that has
huge ramifications to the population.
Yes watch the clip on Youtube of Ron Paul tearing Huckabee a new one over the war in Iraq and what the hell we are doing. He is the only one on the stage who is not speaking in rhetoric.
One nice thing about being a Republican is you'd never have to think about what to wear. Dark blue suit - check. White shirt - check. Power tie - check.
Hopefully this will encourage the rest of the field to follow Thompson's example, and not show up for any of these "debates" from now on. Then they can run cartoons, which are at least modestly entertaining.
I don't have a sound card on my computer at work and didn't see the debate--pray tell, who asked this brilliant question???
So, one less bloated gas bag at the debate. Big deal.
Did the candidates go out drinking together after the debate, and see which of them could down more "double Guantanamos"?
Did anyone notice that the first 7 questions of the scripted talking points (i.e. Fox debate) addressed immigration, brown people, and gays? Did you also notice there wasn't a single questions regarding healthcare or education.
And frankly I don't think anyone, red or blue, gives a flying rat's ass about Fred Thompson. But boy, he sure smells yummy!
Smells like Old Vice.
Sniveling from the "Boo-freakin'-hoo" network? Isn't that just a normal day on FauxSnooze?
Sorry Nicole, but you are wrong as usual. Ron Paul got all those cheers because of this: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/09/05/paul-supporters-out-in-f...
[deleted--the commenting policy of keeping it civil extends to contributers as well.]
seagull.girl @ 7:
If you know the debate is on Fox, I'll assume that the word BRILLIANT was not sarcastic. For them, that was hard hitting journalism.
And is anyone else getting really sick of McCain's attempt to be Robin Williams in Man of the Year?
Didn't Romney have the same cheers for supporting the war? I didn't watch it, but I got that impression from bits I've read.
Yea but there was a little bit of crowd mentality. Half those in attendance were fox news family members.
I didn't watch...Could anyone who did watch tell me...did the You Tubers have any REAL questions about REAL issues of was it just more of the same old Republican cool-aid gulping kind of thing.
Well, at least Thompson knows which is the more intelligent forum to be on. That said, the man is an idiot like the rest of them (except for Paul).
All the whistling chickenhawks will come home to roost and they will certainly not have roses thrown to their feet, instead they will hear the echo of their plodding and plotting to yoke fear upon the people and realize only then that it is too late to change their tune.
ABout time McCain tells a good joke.
BTW if those applauding Ron Paul aren't part of his fan base the GOP is in big trouble.
Last night the faux news texting poll had Paul at 33%, more than twice that of any other candidate. I couldn't find final results at their website. Given that this polling process is problematic it's still amusing.
seagull,
McCain’s attempt to be Robin Williams in Man of the Year?
The maverick seems to be attempting to make himself out to Rodney Dangerfield, Robin Williams is above McCain's one lining his way to the hall of shame. Robin has character, multiple characters at that and McCain has but one... and it's obviously strained. and delivered poorly.
Gueliani, Romney and McCain would have gotten a better reception if Fox would have paid the audience, like they did with the 1/2 hour news hour audience.
seagull,
Oh! The character in Man of the Year! I should read a bit more carefully next time. Still my comment stands as is, but I wanted to clairify that I had not thoroughly understood before I engaged my fingers.
Peace,
thepoetryman
Wow! Ron Paul got an awful lot of applause for saying he was anti-war. Was that really a Republican audience?
Who can blame Frederick of Hollywood for not attending the debate. It's one hell of a golf cart ride from California to New Hampshire.
it's quite pathetic when the repuliKKKan party is actually to the right of a Libertarian.
It's great to have a populist conservative amongst the GOP candidates to shake things up. I was surprised by the applause to his anti-war statement as well.
Simon White-Thatch Potentloins @ 24:
it might be repugliKKKan without being the 'BASE'(25%).
Blue Buddha @ 27:
The Republicans applauding are the ones who have sons or daughters in Iraq.
Haha @ 12:
How am I wrong? I said that given the enthusiastic response, Fox obviously didn't employ loyalty oaths to determine audience, as Bush has.
Seeing as you've been deleted by the site team, I can only guess you're just looking to find something to complain about.
Paul continues to say what the Democrats are scared to say, infront of an audeince the Democrats are scared to face.
Oh, and Wallace exposed himself and his bias with his "marching orders" question. (for which he got booed by his own audience)
Why do you think FRED is so afraid to attend any Debates?....anyone?
I was in the audience last night.
No loyalty oaths.
They actually gave out a 1,000 tickets to students and they were largely anti-war and were also booing Sam Brownbags' anti-gay marriage comments.
Needless to say, NH's crowd stood head and shoulders above the recent South Carolina "double Guantanimo" cheering crowd.
-GSD
For a time in the 80's and 90's NH was the most Republican represented state in the nation.
But it tended towards the don't tread on me, small government, low taxes, get out of my life crowd.
Sort of the antithesis of the big daddy, security state, bedroom police, religious advocacy Republicans of today.
-GSD
I only watched bits and pieces but I noticed when Ron Paul was asked some questions someone with a mike would laugh derisively. Very professional.
Why do you think FRED is so afraid to attend any Debates?….anyone?
Because his script is so very long and he has not yet memorized it. He may be an "actor" but he ain't presidential material in the least, but he is much like that other actor who became "president" who's name escapes me at the moment. He'll be lopped off in a rather short amount of time when everyone realizes that he's a fraud like the other neocons. Now the Republican Ron Paul may have a shot, but he may also have ideas beyond "the war" that need to be expressed and fleshed out before people so easily fawn over him. The question of his stance on race and racism, especially that of African Americans and Mexican Americans pops readily into my head.
MrMtyzptlk @ 35:
Wallace or Faux News' Brit the toady had live mics. I'm fairly certain it was one of these imps.
"Senator Thompson"??? Does Faux News refer to John Edwards as "Senator Edwards"?
Rusty Shackleford @ 5:
American flag lapel pin - check.
Ron Paul may be a realist about the war, for which I give him kudos, but he is no populist.
Dr. Acula @ 39:
Fair enough, but look at the Democratic debates and tell me how they are dressed is any different. Save for Hillary not wearing a tie. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/04/26/us/27debate-600.jpg
Huckabee is usually clever and witty (Is it wit if you planned on saying it for days? not really) for a right-winger. But he should have quit while he was ahead on the Leno comment. The George Jones reference was stupid, and he flubbed the nickname--it is "no show Jones" not "no show George." The former almost rhymes. The latter doesn't. Huckabee is supposed to be a big musician from the south, so he should have got it right, or, better yet, not said it, because it wasn't really funny like the "I cancelled my Leno appearance" joke. Remember the Seinfeld when George realized that after he made a funny joke, he should just leave the room--"that's it--I'm out--see you tomorrow." That is what Huckabee should have done.
The Fox News sidebar on each candidate's religion and number of kids was pretty revealing.
Thompson's strategy is simply to get the most press he can. It's worked, but now some of that press is bad press, and deservedly so.
Doesn't any of them own a tie with a neon lit hula dancer?
A vieled attampt to make it look as though Thompson is important, after all he's fox news and Ruperts ideal candidate, warmongering retarded neaderthol
Who was that with the annoying hayseed laugh/giggle?
They need to be careful, that laugh/giggle isn't used as an editorial "comment" on the whole republican party in general and the presnut and his policies specifically.
It seems to me that Ron Paul is the peoples candidate, the rest of em are neo-con lobbyist wet dreams.
Leave it FAUX having the first question being about what they think about the "paper bag with feet" entering the race and blowing off their freak show.
I think when Fredo does show up he will either be in hologram form with the podium emitting an Aqua velva scent and his real body will be somewhere in the Caymans. Or there will be a 40 inch plasma TV placed in front of the podiums microphone with Fredo beamed in via satellite wearing a short sleeve Hawaiian shirt answering questions "on a tape delay basis only".......
I've watched all the so called debates, and as painful as it is, all they really seem to be are contests to see who's wanker is the biggest at the end of the night. No ! "Mine's bigger !"...."Says who ?!!!"...."Says me!"...."Now Way !"..."Way!".....Thank you for your answers gentlemen....
The Dem forums are pretty lame as well but and the more I see of these things the more I think the media already "knows" who they are going to "give" the nominations to...even if the "people" vote in who they want...the plutocrats will "place" their cronies on the throne. Example was last night...Paul wins the FAUX peoples vote,,,Insannity said it doesn't count..... we already had one popular vote overturned.
And lastly why do these winger yank fest's always end up with the last question being about Armageddon ? I thought Herman Munster was going to go orgasmic when he was dialing up the fear....
This whole process has become so bizarre I don't know what to think anymore. And that includes both parties given how spineless the Dems have become on a lot of issues. But in no way can a FAUX winger debate with post game coverage be any more surreal.
Fox has endless segments attacking Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn and Tim Robbins and acts like Dead Fred is the greatest star ever
McCain was funny, but wrong, by mentioning that perhaps they were up past Fred's bedtime. They were up past widdle Jeri's bedtime.
Ruthless People, "Frederick of Hollywood," LOL! I would love to see that moniker stick to that paper bag with feet.
Except for Kucinich, Paul is the only candidate saying that we should get out of Iraq NOW (Republican OR Democrat). It seems as if Bush is getting his wish to keep us there indefinitely and we're all drinking the Kool-Aid by buying into this us vs. them mentality that the MSM wants us to have.
Why should we get out now? WMDs, ties to Al-Qaeda, greet us as liberators, Iraq will be a bigger quagmire if we leave. All of these Neocon "theories" have turned out to be wrong. Doesn't it stand to reason that if we do the opposite, that it will turn out right? Besides, the more we "enable" the Iraqi people not to govern themselves, the less likely they will do so. Obviously we have no faith in "the people" to do the right thing. Is that democracy?
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...
I was washing the dishes during the debate so I could see who was talking. In about two minutes I just couldn't keep track of who was saying what to whom.
I think the unhappiest Repubs in Nov will be the ones who don't support Bush.
Huckabee just got confused on the "no show George" thing. He was thinking of Bush and his national guard service, Katrina, etc instead of "no show jones, George Jones.
what was with the graphics beside each candidate, listing their church affiliations? (rhetorical question, of course)
i'd be more interested to see which corporate boards and "think tanks" each candiate belonged to...
The venue held 7,000 at UNH, so a huge block of tickets were open to students, first come first serve. No hand selection! This hasn't happened in a debate here before. Past venues held 700. Also, a class or two got tickets together. So, for once, the state GOP did not control who was there. But as for Young's Restaurant, that crowd was hand picked by someone for sure. It's never even open at night!
Here's a question that Id like to see as a poll on C&L because I think its one that needs to be asked....
What GOP candidate do you think would make the best President?
I understand that this is a liberal site and of COURSE youd like to see the weakest GOP candidate win the nomination so that the Dems can win (even though the strongest GOP candidate, which is Giuliani, guarantees a bluer tomorrow).
Im genuinely curious as to who the denizens of this site would choose as the GOP candidate who would be most likely to serve their needs.
First time I've ever had a pleasant laugh along with some Republicans. The R.Paul and McCain clips were fun.
Thompson is not there because he clearly can't debate. He is simply going to be used as a vote-getter and mouthpiece. His job is to look like a president and act like one. He'd obviously fail miserably if he had to come up with anything intelligent to say that wasn't scripted for him.
That guy Ron Paul is like a Republican Kucinich.
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