Tim, i agree about Huckabee, i like him, better than Thompson or Romney, i look for Huckabee to get some support from the Evangelical wing soon. im not saying that negativley. They dont have anybody better on the issues or faith.

Tim, i agree about Huckabee, i like him, better than Thompson or Romney, i look for Huckabee to get some support from the Evangelical wing soon. im not saying that negativley. They dont have anybody better on the issues or faith.

Ya, I find it funny how Paul has managed to school Rudy, Romney, and Huckabee. Who else will attack him? And why do people continue to think he is a “fringe” candidate when he speaks the truth?

Horrible debate overall, as far as allocating time. 4.5 minutes in a 2 hour debate for Paul- what?

It’s crazy how this has become a popularity contest. When we start electing Presidents because of ‘name recognition’ then maybe we can TiVo life, too, because we’ll need to. Who , We the People, need is someone that will be trusted with our security and prosperity. Huckabee is from the people, not speaking at the people, like the candidates running this like a popularity contest. Huckabee is going to get more recognition as soon as more people get to know who he is and what he will do! Go Huck!

I think Romney won this debate. Personally I am looking forward to seeing him go head to head with Hillary, if all goes well.

I’m getting sort of sick of Ron Paul, as an Iraq veteran. Iraq was not a mistake, though there have been mistakes made.

Fred Thompson makes headlines for his debate debut–and nothing more.

Giuliani disgusts me, as one who did little after September 11th but offer a shoulder to cry on and is profiting from 9/11 more than the terrorists could ever hope to do. It is time to move on, but I doubt Rudy will ever let us forget. His entire image is built on that day.

It is Romney who screams leadership, without having to write a book on it!

First off, this was a round-table interview with Giuliani, Romney, Thompson, and McCain- the mainstream media’s annointed “winners.”

Apparently their viewers’ responses arent too important…to say nothing of on-the-ground support for candidates.

Ron Paul has more cash on hand than McCain.

Ron Paul receives more from active and veteran military donations than ANY OTHER candidate on that stage.

Ron Paul wins every post-debate poll hands down.

Ron Paul beats all the candidates on that stage in head-to-hed straw polls thus far.

Am I missing something? Why did I count one time where Giuliani was asked THREE questions IN A ROW? Why did I count mulitple instaces where Romney and Thompson got two in a row? Why was Paul asked something like 5 questions (three of them “lightning round” questions?

And WHY ON EARTH was it NEVER ONCE pointed out (with the exception of Paul who had to- as usual- tell the truth and sound “crazy” for it) that the President…regardless of what his “team of lawyers advise him” or what “would be a good idea or fair”…CANNOT go to war without 2/3 Congressional approval?!

These guys were talking about getting authorization for military action like it was a salad bar; like it was some arbitrary “choice.”

This is frankly alarming. Our Constitution was written and the checks and balances so designed to safeguard against OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY BEING LED INTO A WAR BY ONE MAN- be he the President of the United States or Howdy-Doody.

It is truly sad that so many people didnt see that moment for what it was…and sad that so many Americans are still playing the illusory “Republican vs. Democrat” game instead of using their heads and keeping status-quo worshipping CFR candidates out of our house.

Ron Paul has my support for telling the truth and breaking with the status quo to side with the people of this country.

For moderates and Hillary-Haters enamored with Ron Paul, do not overlook the fact he is a conservative libertarian and would run under the GOP banner controlled by the Right. Should he win, just WHOM do you think he would staff the executive branch with?

In and of himself, Junior is harmless. It’s the power hungry zealots he’s surrounded him with that do the harm. Certainly it’s important who we put into office, but it’s just as important what Rasputin may be whispering in his/her ear. And given the powers which would be behind Paul, it’s not difficult to imagine which pool he would use.

Claims of fascism may be a bit extreme, but given the evidence available, NO GOP Prez is capable of saying no to the military. What the military wants, the military gets. It may not be fascism, but it’s certainly the bedrock for it. I’m not in the slightest hinting that Paul is a clone of the previous GOPers, he clearly is a cut above them. But it is the ‘package’ that comes with a GOP that needs consideration.

ANYONE but a CON!!

The more I see and read about Huckabee, the more I like Mike. The media appointed front runners really have not displayed the sincerity and humility seen in the Gov. If he gets a decent fund raiser on staff, he could win it all. Right now with his tiny budget, he is trailing Hilary by 8 points 48/40. He is the closest we have to true Reagan conservatism and the anti-Hillary.

Strange how we Americans focus on the political choices GIVEN to us by the media and the “men behind the scenes.”

NONE of these people are worthy of being President. NONE of them can or will get us out of the mess the USA is in. That includes both REPUBS and DEMS.

Somewhere in this vast land is a candidate who will work for the people and not for the Companies who fund his/her campaign.

The corporatocracy has made us forget that it is the PEOPLE who run the government…and not the other way round???!!!

I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore. Anyone else feel that way?????

If Ron Paul doesn’t win we are truly screwed as a country. It is that serious.

Huckabee is just 2% behind Romney in the national polls (despite spending 1/10 of the money). He has passed both Giuliani and McCain in Iowa. Either Huckabee is top-tier, or some of the guys who call themselves top-tier are lying.

Sunshinysmile, Huckabee is better on defense, forgien policy and mostissues than the preachers who ran before and the pros running this time. i agree on the states and abortion. i find some of Pauls statments and platform irreasponsable and shallow.

Ron Paul is the most forthright and honest of all the candidates seeking the presidency.

He is the only candidate that will bring up the important issues facing our nation, such as, the devaluation of our currency, the harmful affects of our interventionist foreign policies, etc.

The rest of the candidates want to pander for votes by using meaningless platitudes.

I’m voting for Ron Paul based on his record in congress and his consistent focus on the real issues facing our nation.

How are Paul’s positions “irreasponsable”. WTF does “irreasponsable” even mean?

your brain too small and rigid to figure it out? Or is a simple spelling mistake enough to send that simple mind into complete logic shutdown?

I thought Huckabee looked good, or at least better than the “front-runners.” None of the top-tier stooges were able to shed that image of “I’m just a hack who will say anything to get elected,” at the debate.

Paul is fantastic. It’s like a Republican Eugene McCarthy – A member of the Presidents own party who leads the antiwar debate. This time it’s the neo-cons instead of LBJ who represent the pro-war group,and that makes Paul’s uprising all the more exciting.

Well, at least to political junkies like mysef who have grown up in the neo-con era…

“Paul said he would not support the Republican nominee “unless they’re willing to end the war and bring our troops home … I’m not going to support them if they continue down the path that has taken our party down the tubes. I mean, we’ve lost credibility because of all our spending, because we have violated the civil liberties of all the American people”

That just about sums up Paul’s badassedness in my opinion.

i went to msnbc.com and went to the matrix, and read Ron Paul on the issues he wants to drill in anwar, he says a baby born to illeagals cant be a citizen, he wants to eliminate medicare, Ron Paul is the one thats pandering and tricking hes not right for president.

Thanks Jed, Sunshinysmile, Anwar is one of the last pristine areas on Earth, Huckabee wants to drill there too. i agree with the founders if youre born here youre a citizen even if your parents are illeagel. i stand by my pandering and tricking remark.

“Anwar is one of the last pristine areas on Earth, Huckabee wants to drill there too.”

So? We’re talking 1% of several million acres of space. There was a time when the Los Angeles Basin was a pristine area on earth, too. That is a real example of development gone crazy (HUGE understatement!) but there isn’t an oil well on every corner there either. ANWR is not some Eden, so don’t treat it like it is.

“i agree with the founders if youre born here youre a citizen even if your parents are illeagel.”

Spelling and grammatical errors aside, you have no clue. Citizenship came into play with the 14th Amendment, post-Civil War, long after 1787. And that Amendment also gives Congress to legislate what “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” actually means.

“i stand by my pandering and tricking remark.”

Maybe you ought to stand in line for a remedial political science class…

tannim, read article 2 section 5,see the term natural born citizen? you cannot deny a baby born here citizenship, without an amendment weither the parent is legal or not. on Anwar you think theyll stop at 1 percent? Save Anwar!

something that raises my curiosity in reading the articles of the constitution that perhaps one of you may be able to clarify for me.

When the founders were putting responsability on the ‘positions of trust or profit’ what were they refering to in the ‘position of profit’ line? I realize that the person in positions of trust are politicians and public servants. Does the ‘position of profit’ refer to businessmen? If so, we have left out a very important part of the restrictions put on businesses within the constitution and it should only require a creative and intelligent team of lawyers to postulate that businesses are not allowed to contribute to the political system monetarily. The constitution gives us the protection against unscrupulous businessmen as well as politicians, yet we have allowed both these groups to dilute our protections and increase theirs.

TIME TO TAKE IT BACK, IT BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE, NOT THE BUSINESSES!!!

It seems ashame that we have to wait for more than a year of endless yak yak yak! for this election to get over with before they start the bombing in Iran. I just bought a new HD Sony Big screen so it would be ashame not to get the opportunity to enjoy the firewoks in all of it’s cinematic splendor until 2009.

Even after the shock and awe of the Iraq invasion the U.S. military still has the largest stockpile of military weapons in the world.

The trouble for me is that in 2003 I had an old RCA 19″ with an anolog display. It did no justice to those precision guided missile strikes that were shot in High Definition.

It’s not about right or wrong.

It’s just we’re Americans…and we love gadgets. Is that so wrong?

Jed,

Wonderful Wikipedia identifies an office of trust as one through executive appointment. But it doesn’t go much further than that. Is Secretary of Defense an ‘Office of Profit,’ or are we talking the Prez’ Chief Of Staff?

Tim, Great Article. You wrote:

“That Mike Huckabee hasn’t caught just a little bit of fire is a mystery to me. He’s charming and funny, and always seems reasonable”

I’m up New Hampshire way where the campaign is in full swing. That Huckabee hasn’t caught on yet is more of matter of minimal money right now.
Romney spends millions on ads and has more name recognition, but Mike’s message and favorability is strong.

Once you’ve met him and heard him talk, he wins you over. I hate to quote Newt Gingrich, but to know Mike is to Like Mike and once people know him the money will pour in. He’s really liked by a lot of Democrats. He got 48% of the African American vote as Governor. He even has a union endorsement (Machinists & Aerospace workers)

It’s a conundrum – He’s a true social conservative yet the evangelical power brokers are avoiding him. They are showing their true colors as really wanting just to be power brokers versus picking a candidate based on their priciples.

And since this Rolling Stone, it’s worth mentioning he’s played in a Rock band for years. He even gave a governor’s pardon to Keith Richards for an earlier arrest/conviction in Arkansas.

that’s where I was reading the text and some explanation of it, but nothing to explain what they meant by positions of profit. I assume it has to be the businessmen, are they not to some extent representatives of the nation and it’s inherent values? or lack thereof?

I think it means someone $$$$, as an employ, from the federal government.

well, senators, presidents, mayors, etc. hold positions of trust but also profit from these offices indirectly (in some cases) and through a salary. I still think positions of profit means businessmen with high influence in the dealings of govmnt.

The positions of trust are elected officials. Appointees are positions of profit.

I still find it facinating that the general consensus would be so easily disallusioned. These presidential candidates are all singing the same tune, given minor exceptions, both Republican and Democrat alike. What we need is to get our economic stability back on track, and not just a temporary fix. What we need is the rest of the world to view us in a better light. What we need is a president who will surround himself with like minded personal, regardless of political party, who will actually work with, and not against, our beautiful republic and (remember this word) reason with the rest of the world. Ron Paul stands out for these very exact reasons. Ron Paul will iron out the wrinkles of our continuous governmental rift. Look at the facts America! Talk is cheap, unless it holds actual value.