RNC Debate: Round II
The lightning round begins: Who is everyone’s favorite Republican president? Reagan. Reagan. Reagan. Reagan. Reagan. And finally, from Ken Blackwell: “Ronald Reagan, who brought me into the Republican party.”
“Good,” says Norquist. “Everyone got that one right.”
Who’s everyone’s least favorite Republican president? Steele and Saltsman pass. Dawson suggests Warren G. Harding. Blackwell nominates Herbert Hoover, “who opened the door to big government.”
Next question: How many guns does everyone own? Blackwell owns seven, which he uses “very well,” and Saltsman rapid-fire lists the guns he owns, ending with a 30 ought 6. “And Ken, I’ll take you on any time.” He means hunting, not dueling, I think.
Steele takes a technology question and makes it rhetorical: What do we stand for? “My momma was a sharecropper’s daughter,” says Steele, “who watched her son become lieutenant governor of Maryland.” The GOP needs to be the party of ambition and individual freedom. A little later, Saltsman raises the same issue. “The Obama administration is going to decide whether you’re a winner or a loser,” he says, by becoming the party of entitlements and bailouts.
Before the debate began, Ron Paul supporters had found the web site where they could submit questions and deluged it. One of their questions gets in: What will the candidates do to keep the r3VOLution going? The candidates all pledge to try.
“We can’t just include people who pass our personal litmus tests,” says Steele.
“I saw the Paul movement in my state,” says Dawson. “We’re a party that needs excitement, and people painting their cars, and putting signs on overpasses.”
“I’ve been to their picnics,” says Anuzis.
“I personally have met with Ron Paul on two occasions,” says Duncan. “I have treated his foot soldiers with respect.”
Related
Rep. Paul Ryan to deliver SOTU response
Chairman of the House Budget Committee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union Tuesday, according to Mike Allen
Rep. Parker Griffith (R-Ala.)
One of the most conservative Democrats in the House -- a freshman who said he couldn’t support Nancy Pelosi again -- is going to switch over to the GOP. Josh
Rep. Paulsen allies with medical device industry to relax FDA oversight
Source: Flickr; Republicanconference (www.flickr.com/photos/republicanconference) On the heels of the Minnesota Independent story last week about U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s cozy financial relationship with the medical device industry, the New York Times reported Tuesday that some health professionals are alarmed by Paulsen’s push to relax Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight
Rep. Patrick McHenry: Please, Conservatives, Fill Out Your Census Forms!
The conservative congressman from North Carolina, a constant critic of the census -- one of the people who sounded the alarm about politicization when the
Rep. Paulsen touts balanced budget constitutional amendment
In a post for the conservative blog True North , U.S. Rep
Rep. Perlmutter criticizes House measure that would eliminate 800K federal jobs
Congressman Ed Perlmutter today issued a scathing statement criticizing the House of Representatives for passing a spending bill that could put nearly a million federal employees out of work. The Colorado delegation voted strictly on party lines, with all four Republicans voting in favor of the bill and the three Democrats voting in opposition. Perlmutter’s statement: “My number one priority is to get people back to work because that’s the best thing we can do to pay our debt and move forward toward economic stability
Rep. Peace, ACLU seek investigation of soldier’s allegations of racial discrimination in Afghanistan
Both Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) and the American Civil Liberties Union agree: There needs to be an investigation into Spc.
Rep. Paulsen, Karl Rove the latest to get ‘glittered’
Rep. Erik Paulsen and former Bush staffer Karl Rove were both showered with glitter at the Midwest Leadership Conference Friday
Rep. Pete Hoekstra Surging in Michigan Gubernatorial Bid
The ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee -- you couldn’t flip on a TV without seeing him in the aftermath of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s botched
School of Hock
A growing number of college grads are defaulting on their student loans as the economy worsens.
