Romney Down... Guliani a joke... and Huckabee gaining real support... what now?

[adpierce]

Okay I seriously see the top tier going down... RudyMcRomney is done for as far as I'm concerned after this last debate. We've been seeing ol' Hucks folks picking up steam in fundraising and internet support. His poll numbers continue to rise and I'm wondering if he's not going to be the candidate to beat for us. I'm absolutely serious, we need to start chipping away at this candidate. He's slick like ol' slick willy. He knows that if you crack a joke you can avoid a controversial political issue. Avoid controversial political issues then you never go down on the record saying anything that might lose you votes. It's slickster politics and we need to find a way to expose it for what it is.

We need ammo, we need to learn more about this obscure candidate, and we need to do it quick. I live in Iowa and Huckabee is gaining real support here. I know barely anything about the man's politics because he never really says anything deep in his debates or speeches.

[Menthol Patch]

I'll tell you what we do right now!

1) We go ALL OUT spreading the word about our candidate to our friends, relatives, neighbors, associates, and complete strangers!

2) We go CRAZY donating tomorrow to make Rudysreadinglist a fantastic fundraising day!

3) We work hard 24/7 to spread awareness of the Tea Party!

4) We continue to work hard to GET DELEGATES for the various states!

If we do the above four things we can WIN!

[Midnight77]

I agree. Huck seems to be the candidate to beat at this point. Rudy McRomson went down tonight.

[austin356]

Huck is the threat here.

This is Thompson's home state and he is mentioned much less than the Huckster now.

[austin356]

In All honesty this race is a pretty much dead even 6 way tie.

[dircha]

The only thing I can think to say is that if these neo-consesrvative evangelical christians believe that terrorist attacks on our soil are God's judgment against our nation, then a Huckabee presidency - 4 more years of Bush - is going to bring "God's wrath" down on us we've never seen.

When the war spreads to Iran, it's time to steer clear of any major metropolitan area.

And the continued dangerous escalation of rhetoric against Russia by both Bush and the GOP candidates is only going to make it that much worse.

[voisine]

I was telling my pro-war Republican friend a month ago that it was going to come down to Huck and RP. The current front runners are just coasting on name recognition, Romney having purchased his with ads paid for with his own money.

This cycle, with the incumbent Republican so despised, is the perfect conditions for a dark horse to take the nomination. We've got two of them.

[ronpaulblogsdotcom]

I personally like the angle of putting Ron Paul against Hillary. It lets them see that he can beat her and that the Repugnicans arent in the same league.

[adpierce]

Absolutely true, I think I heard a quote from Huckabee that when asked whom of his republican counterparts he worried about the most he said Ron Paul. He's a bright individual, he's shown he can maneuver very well in debates. He wisely recognizes Dr. Paul is a threat to his campaign. We've got a real fight on our hands. Let's not pull out any stops.

[voisine]

The only thing I can think to say is that if these neo-consesrvative evangelical christians believe that terrorist attacks on our soil are God's judgment against our nation, then a Huckabee presidency - 4 more years of Bush - is going to bring "God's wrath" down on us we've never seen.

Actually, support for Bush and the war has dropped below 50% among evangelicals now. Don't knock them. We can win them over. RP does well with the fundamentalist christian home schooler crowd. They hate and mistrust government more than most.

[synthetic]

Huckabee is running to weaken Romney in Iowa. Rudy doesn't have to spend money in that state with this scheme - and he isn't. Rudy can now spent elsewhere while bleeding Mitt dry financially. Huckabee is just a pawn.

He has almost no money and has no organization outside of Iowa. If theres a Huckabee threat its to Mitt Romney. If Romney can be dealt with then Huckabees record will be exposed in the media and he'll be dealt with. Notice how Huck hasn't been questioned, challenged or reminded of his liberal record, at all, so far.

Its all a game but the teams haven't changed. At the end of the day its still the Neocons vs Paul.

[lastnymleft]

Huckabee begging for more taxes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pLOC4krZI4

[partypooper]

We need ammo, we need to learn more about this obscure candidate

i got impression tonight that might be supporting affirmative action. republicans - including neocons - resent few things as much as affirmative action. if he is in fact for it that would be a gift from heaven.

edit: checked. apparently he doesn't :(.

[Richandler]

Huckabee has this bizarre appeal that is a real threat to US. He is being pimped by every one. Even Daily Kos, the with all of their Republican bashing seem partial to the guy. I just don't get it. His support is growing throughout the nation and will be hard to counter because it is coming without money or in other words it's they're sheep.

[DRV45N05]

My take on the debate tonight:

Paul and Huckabee were the big winners. Ron fought back against attacks, and he gave terrific answers to all of the questions. He schooled McCain in their matchup. Plus, Ron had the absolutely best line of the night: after McCain did his usual "We went to change Washington, but Washington changed us" line, Paul retorted, "WASHINGTONDID NOT CHANGE ME!" Huckabee, as usual, was very good in the debate.

McCain was good tonight, but not good enough.

Romney killed his campaign for good tonight. He was far outclassed in his matchup with Huckabee over tuition for children of illegal aliens, and he was made to look like a weak buffoon when he went up against McCain on waterboarding. He came out of this debate looking terrible.

Giuliani did not have a good night. He was average, at best. He needed a huge night, and he didn't give it.

Thompson was, well... Thompson. Not a single memorable moment from him tonight. He's toast.

[jrich4rpaul]

With the top tier going down, it's time to give this all we have and take the top spot.