Politico: Saturday debate order

[TexMac]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/01/saturday-debate-mitt-v-rick-109861.html



Huntsman (podium furthest to the left)

Paul

Romney

Santorum

Gingrich

Perry (podium furthest to the right)

[sailingaway]

That sucks.

But did anyone here not know that was going to happen?

[JohnGalt23g]

That sucks.

But did anyone here not know that was going to happen?

To the winners go the spoils. We take NH (or at least a good second), Ron will be center stage.

[AlexG]

Paul is by Romney, that's all that matters

[sailingaway]

To the winners go the spoils. We take NH (or at least a good second), Ron will be center stage.

Not if Rasmussen only polls GOP afterwards as they did here. The national polls are GOP only.

[TexMac]

I dunno, how would it be better? Paul next to Romney is OK.

I guess better would be

Huntsman
Perry
Santorum
Romney
Paul
Gingrich

[IterTemporis]

I never thought I would see the day when Santorum would be in the center stage.. I still remember when he complained about how little time he was getting.

I wish Paul was by Perry instead, I don't want him near Huntsman.

Personally, I'd prefer:

Huntsman
Gingrich
Santorum
Romney
Paul
Perry

[Slobodan]

I can't believe Perry is in it, the guy is not very good in focusing on what he believes and articulating it.

[RileyE104]

This is pretty dumb. Romney should still be in the middle with Paul and Santorum to his side and then Huntsman on one end and Perry on the other.

[Apparition]

He could be 25 feet from the last podium for all I care... as long as they give him fair amount of questions and time. That's the REAL issue here.

[Apparition]

This is pretty dumb. Romney should still be in the middle with Paul and Santorum to his side and then Huntsman on one end and Perry on the other.

No such thing as a middle when there's 6 on the stage.

[sailingaway]

I dunno, how would it be better? Paul next to Romney is OK.

I guess better would be

Huntsman
Perry
Santorum
Romney
Paul
Gingrich

Better would be Paul where Santorum is.

[KingNothing]

The more time Santorum gets to speak, the more insane people will know he is.

For what it's worth, I can't wait til Newt jabs at Romney like a toddler and is booed by those attending for just being a dick. And that isn't to say his jabs will be ineffective or off-color. He'll just be a complete dick about it, and people won't like him for it.

[JohnGalt23g]

Not if Rasmussen only polls GOP afterwards as they did here. The national polls are GOP only.

This primary won't go national until at least after Florida, and probably not until after NV. These are all very stylized, very local races, and to some extent your last performance had better be your best performance.

[KingNothing]

Better would be Paul where Obama is.

FIFY

[MR2Fast2Catch]

This is about what I expected, but Paul is next to Romney so it's not that bad.

[FreeTraveler]

Positioning's just fine. We want Santorum and Romney right in the middle of the pile-on. :D

[kuckfeynes]

Good and bad. Huntsman -> Paul -> Romney sends a strong message of outlier -> challenger -> frontrunner. Left side is weighted much stronger than the right, what with Gingrich and Perry. Huntsman and Paul next to each other may encourage Huntsman to be a little more aggressive than he otherwise might, since he obviously has his sights set on us.

And of course it would have been more prudent to have Romney center and exclude Perry altogether, especially considering the magnitude of his lead, but this is the MSM we are talking about here after all... They don't want their posterboy taking too much flack.

[Agorism]

Romney and Santorum get center? wtf

We are polling way ahead of Gingrich and "Santorum"

[rblgenius]

You guys look way too much into the order. When I didn't care any of the candidates, I didn't really care about where the candidates were on the stage. I knew it was all political posturing. Now thats I'm a Paul supporter, I still don't care as long as he gets his fair share of questions

[limequat]

Romney and Santorum get center? wtf

We are polling way ahead of Gingrich and "Santorum"

Not in national.

[socal]

No such thing as a middle when there's 6 on the stage.
They should have the distance to the center (between Romney and Santorum) inversely proportional to the last primary vote totals. That would put Huntsman out of the building.

[RonPaul101.com]

Ricky Frothy center stage, wow... I can just remember a month ago we weren't sure he'd even make the debate stage. The good ol days.

[Kords21]

At least Dr. Paul is in the debate this time.

[Apparition]

At least Dr. Paul is in the debate this time.

That remains to be seen.

[Ekrub]

Glad Santorum will be center stage. I hope he gets lots of time to sink his campaign. Him not being able to talk very much was the best thing for his campaign.

[Working Poor]

The more time Santorum gets to speak, the more insane people will know he is.

LOL maybe he will bring up Armageddon

[LiveForHonortune]

Look, as long as they give him fair time that's good enough.

As we all know, little ricky is his own worst enemy. He'll be destroyed like little ricky II Mr. "Oops" was before.

[jersdream]

Iowa was suppose to be our leaping board. I couldn't be more pissed.

[pauliticalfan]

BASED ON WHAT POLLING IS SANTORUM AHEAD OF PAUL?

RCP average? Nope. New Hampshire polling (where the freaking debate is)? Nope.

They're picking and choosing individual polls. I'm pretty pissed about this. Santorum and Paul should be reversed. Outrageous.

[pauliticalfan]

If you're so inclined, write a message on her wall telling her to change the podium order.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Walter/28611394170?sk=wall&filter=1

[rp2012win]

Romney and Santorum get center? wtf

We are polling way ahead of Gingrich and "Santorum"
Santorum beat us in iowa. We will have a reason to vent if we get 2nd and our debate position does not change for SC.

[ThePursuitOfLiberty]

This is perfect.

Santorum will be center stage and will not be able to successfully attack Romney.
He will also need to articulate his points at center spotlight - it won't work.

Gingrich will be attacking Romney and Santorum.... even though we all believe he's going to go after Paul.

Huntsman will attempt to go after Romney and Paul - will not work.

Perry will be... well, Perry.

I think this sets up beautifully for Paul to go on the offense against Romney and kick this into high gear.


OPTIMISM IS NOT A CHOICE.... IT'S A BELIEF.

If we all BELIEVE that this is a good set-up, we will be ready for success!

[kahless]

Huntsman (podium furthest to the left)

Paul

Romney

Santorum

Gingrich

Perry (podium furthest to the right)


It lines up to fit the bogus media narrative based on ideology. Huntsman to the far left, they accuse Paul of being on the left, Romney a moderate.

[UK4Paul]

They should have Paul levitated a couple of feet.

[69360]

It'll be fun to watch frothy sink himself centerstage. He was better off hidden on the end. Once he opens his mouth he's done.

[Kords21]

I hope the moderators pick up on some of the points in the new Paul ad against him. If not, hope Paul hits him on his debt ceiling increase votes.

[Philadelphia76]

Incredible that Perry has gone from top billing to Sam Brownback territory in such short order. His campaign has been a FAIL of epic proportions.

[svobody]

Good news we're in the center for the Sunday morning debate.

[tbone717]

We need Romney to slip up big time, and Huntsman to look confused as he does sometimes.

[dirka]

Why is Perry even in the debate, he's barely polling 1%. And if memory serves me, Paul was excluded in 2008 with much higher numbers...

[HOLLYWOOD]

What the hell with PERRY being on Stage... he blows off New Hampshire and Texas Two Steps it to South Carolina.

If you are not going to participate in a state, add value for the voters to see, etc... then they should have the right to boot your ass.

Put Buddy Roemer in place of Perry... at least buddy will have a field day slamming the Fraudsters that are front-center.

[Mckarnin]

Good to have Paul away from Gingrich. All signs point to him being angry and ready to tear people up a bit.

[pacelli]

He could be 25 feet from the last podium for all I care... as long as they give him fair amount of questions and time. That's the REAL issue here.

Bingo. Thank you apparition.

[Romulus]

At least Paul isn't between Santorum and Hunstman

[pauliticalfan]

You'd think WMUR would use their own damn poll to determine the podiums. If they did, Ron would be front and center next to Mitt. Ron is at 20% in the latest WMUR NH poll. Santorum is tied for 3rd at 8%.

[mwkaufman]

BASED ON WHAT POLLING IS SANTORUM AHEAD OF PAUL?

RCP average? Nope. New Hampshire polling (where the freaking debate is)? Nope.

They're picking and choosing individual polls. I'm pretty pissed about this. Santorum and Paul should be reversed. Outrageous.

It's fine, most of the debates have been aligned in terms of national polling, and in the 2012 national polling average, it's Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, Paul. Just given who is attacking who though, Paul should be next to Santorum, Gingrich should be next to Romney, Huntsman should be next to Paul, and Perry will get the last spot, but is pretty irrelevant.