Coming to you live from the city where money rules and the majority of people lose big, it’s the GOP Debate in Las Vegas!

We’ll be live blogging during the debate tonight so pull up a slot machine stool and place your bets on the horse that you think will extend their lead or trip and fall!

The debate begins tonight at 5:00 pm PDT/8:00 pm EDT on CNN.

Though there have been a number of debates, this should be an interesting one. Coming on the heels of Occupy Wall Street growing big and becoming more legitimized, Herman Cain’s one-gimmick hollowness rocketing him to the top of the polls, Romney being frozen in the polls with 75% of Republicans wanting someone else and Rick Perry and the verge of tumbling out of the race or climbing back in.

Add to that Romney’s latest quote about wanting millions of Americans to be thrown out of their homes more quickly so speculators can buy them and rent people’s homes back to them at a profit, it should be a busy night for Romney, Cain and Perry as they try to double down on their hands and win big.

Sorry about all the Vegas puns…though the term that really comes to mind when it comes to this Republican field, is “craps”.

 

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MurphTheSurf3
Editor

LOOKING BACK ON LAST NIGHTS GOP SMACKDOWN

WWF- Republican Style

Romney and Perry are polar opposites, representing two distinct brands of conservatism. The GOP’s identity crisis has been going on for years and the emerging GOTP simply confirmed the battle.

Last night’s clash between the establishment and the populist wing laid it out in no uncertain terms. Whoever prevails will determine whether Tea Party-influenced populism translates to national elections and deep control of the Party pushing out what is left of the old centrist establishment.

Which does the GOP care more about: purity or mass appeal?

Romney is a smug bastard, Perry is a dimwit—sums up the source of the personal rift.

The way the two candidates embody their respective prototypes is uncanny.

Romney is the cold, corporate, buttoned-up, practical, paternalistic, East Coast elitist patrician who only looks comfortable in a Brook’s Brothers Suit.

He has no hope of capturing the public’s imagination with a cult of personality but will comfort both moderate Republicans and one-percent banker types who see themselves reflected in his perfectly coiffed, barbered, tanned, and body-trained visage.

Perry is a fiery, folksy, populist, reactionsty, willing-to-go-there conservative with a Texas drawl that appeals to Tea Party frustration and diehard right-wingers, especially social conservatives and Obamacare-haters.

What is also clear is that the more this great rift becomes public the less likely it is than any reconciliation between the sides can take place.

The teavangelists vs. Gopatricians. Which one is better for the Obama reelection bid? Which one is better for the nation- as in having a real choice?

Khirad
Member

GOP Debate thoughts: Foreign Policy.

•Cut foreign aid! Oh wait. The most foreign aid goes to Israel? Umm, nevermind? Oh yeah, and hooray for AIDS!

•We will not negotiate with terrorists. Oh wait, Israel did? But Israel can do no wrong. Confused now, does not compute… Okay, fine, they can, but we still can’t.

•Michele: It’s all Obama’s fault for the conflicts in the Middle East for the “space” he’s “created” between the US and Israel. Is she talking about the Arab Spring? What a stupid bitch.

•Ron Paul calling out Reagan on Iran Contra? Fucking PRICELESS. Dead silence, then Santorum begging for attention stammers, and finally, leave it to Newtster for the hagiographical whitewash.

•I’m at this point not even sure Cain can spell ‘foreign’. My lord he has no fucking clue. I mean, like even less than Palin (who could see Russia from the country of Africa) and Bachmann (who said Hizbullah has missile sites in Cuba).

So let’s think about it, if you’ll indulge me. No matter what: we’re fucked domestically if any of these people were to somehow get elected. But the thought of anyone other than Romney on this stage would be a foreign policy disaster. I mean, Romney would be horrible, but I’m talking apocalyptic type proportions. Everyone who thinks foreign policy doesn’t matter would be changing their minds overnight.

It is funny, yes, this circus. But also fucking scary these people have been vetted this far into the process to still be considered for the highest position in the land. This is potentially very dire indeed.

Having said all that I already called this thing for Romney though, after Perry’s immigration “misstep” of being reasonable and compassionate. I knew he’d sink fast after that.

bito
Member

Khirad on your

Cut foreign aid! Oh wait. The most foreign aid goes to Israel?

A: The whole quibbling about foreign aid was close to absurd. It’s close to less than 1% of the budget and feeds starving people.
and
B: I think the comparison was Israel to Mooslum countries getting a lions share (was it Ron Paul?)
B:1: That’s like comparing federal aid to the Portland and ‘SEATAC’ to the rest of the U.S.
C: We can’t cut MIC.

Any discussion on cutting “fer-on” aid deserves as a way balance the budget gets an hashtag of #Idgit.

Khirad
Member

And of that less than 1% how much of it is military aid? I forget, but it was a good chunk. Could someone tell what equivalent percentage cut to the Defense Budget would equal all of Foreign Aid? I imagine it would be interesting. And what a silly, stupid, asinine red herring the foreign aid question is.

I know symbolically it plays to suffering Americans, but by god, if helping truly impoverished people living like animals doesn’t move you, think about brand America, that shining city on a hill as someone once said, I think.

Well, yeah, Muslim countries combined get more than Israel. Was it Egypt or Israel who got the most alone, or was it even Pakistan? In any case, those are the big three, with the Palestinian Authority somewhere in there with Israel. In any case, it’s awesome to trap them on Israel. Foreign aid bad. Foreign aid to Israel good. What hypocrisy?

Extra:

Herman Cain’s foreign policy: 5 things to know (Video)
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111018/herman-cain-foreign-policy

Oh this is too funny. But for my health and blood pressure, I will not be able to watch it—

GOP debate: Heritage, AEI and CNN to host foreign policy debate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/think-tanked/post/gop-debate-heritage-aei-and-cnn-to-host-foreign-policy-debate/2011/10/18/gIQAKC36tL_blog.html

Khirad
Member
foodchain
Member
foodchain

Gotta go; 5 am comes early to my head. You guys are great!!

foodchain
Member
foodchain

FLASH: in yet another attempt to create news, hp has this headline: “ROMNEY UNDER ATTACK” (sorry, I don’t read it, I just drive by). Hey if they can take Romney down that’s a good thing. Peculiar vision on their part.

Weirdwriter
Member
Weirdwriter

Does it bug anyone else that the setting was so much like a TV show? Celebrity singer of the national anthem, over-the-top glitzy set, introductions of the candidates as if they were game-show contestants.
Crowds cheering as if it were a sports event.

Ugh.

escribacat
Member

I thought so too. That weird red white and blue — it was like the inside of a video game.

bito
Member

Very good observation WW! And one could include the news, twitter and blog sites. We make funny and snraky comments while they are debating, but your comment is quite sobering. These people actually want to be the president of the US and be our representative to the world. What are we treated to? Dancing with the Stars, American Idol? Both sad and sobering.
Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy?

Weirdwriter
Member
Weirdwriter

When in good company, one rises to the occasion — this site, not the debate!

I’m old enough to remember the old days — The League of Women Voters, a much smaller audience sternly advised to refrain from noise. Pretty sober stuff.

bito
Member

WW, again an excellent observation. How much different of a “debate” would it be if it was held with a simple, plain presentation, a very small audience, a panel of ‘old school’ journalists and no cable production hype?

Exactly, a League of Women’s debate and not a CNN @accoopper debate sponsored by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.

This is actually serious, it’s not a game show nor a ‘reality show.’

KillgoreTrout
Member

Well bito, at least on Jeopardy one can see some intelligence being displayed!

KillgoreTrout
Member

Twenty four seven cable news HAS turned politics into a sport. A rather nasty one. It is really depressing. It’s almost unfathomable to what extent our corporate media harms America and the political process. Our twisted media encourage non-stop campaigning by nearly all of the people in Congress, and every two and a half years or so the campaigning for POTUS begins. There is something seriously wrong about this.

Weirdwriter
Member
Weirdwriter

True dat, KT. It bugs me, too, that folks who don’t have cable will miss a debate when it moves off the basic networks. This doesn’t acknowledge any responsibility to the public at large.

bito
Member

The after debate question of the night? 🙂

Ms_UK_American ♕American♚Briton♛
by YouGottaVote
What’s worse: running for Pres & not knowing Libya’s in Africa(Bachmann). Or running for VP & thinking Africa’s a country (Palin)? #p2

foodchain
Member
foodchain

BIto: Not a proud moment for women or men. Trying to decide: Nah, they’re all dumb. Can’t help it. What ever they are smart about is mitigated by how stupid they are at everything else. LOL, Perrry standing Texas style, legs apart, while Mitt touches him on the shoulder. Oooh, can’t make it up. Everyone else, trying to be seen. And Santorum, sounding like a GOP Democrat, all worried about folks. I think I’m laughing.

funksands
Member

Legal immigration requests into the US dropped by 24% in the last two hours.

bito
Member

tweeted,funk! lol

bito
Member

Well, I’m sober damnit, I picked “my jobs program” for the drinking game and only got two sips. 😉

funksands
Member

Bito, lucky you, I picked “Smoot-Hawley” and am looking at a full fifth.

bito
Member

Well tell that Hawley fella to give you a Snoot-Full. 🙂

funksands
Member
bito
Member

Awww, funk, not a ba-da-boom-shiiish. 😆

Khirad
Member

Either that or any mention of Bush.

Like early post-war Germany there seems to be a glaring gap here about a certain so-and-so.

atdnext
Member

Darn. Should have picked “illegals”… Or “9-9-9”. “My jobs program” contains too many big words for that crowd.

javaz
Member

These Republicans are heartless.
How they proclaim that they are Christians is the height of hypocrisy.

I do not understand how religious organizations and churches can support Republicans since they are the opposite of Christianity.

Shame on them all.