Third Republican Primary Debate (IA)

The third Republican primary debate was held Thursday night, and is now available on YouTube (on multiple channels). Gary Johnson was not invited again, although he did participate by proxy on Twitter. This debate had the same seven participants as the second debate, plus Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah and Obama's ambassador to China.

Before watching this debate, I had fairly negative opinions of Gingrich, Romney, Paul and Bachmann, and slightly negative opinions of Santorum, Cain and Pawlenty. My opinion of Huntsman was basically neutral, mostly because I just didn't know who he was or where he stood on the issues.

Just like the first two debates, I've summarized and responded to each candidate's positions below, and I've scored each position positive, zero or negative based on my gut reaction to it. So, here we go.

Rick Santorum:

•  "America has unbounded potential." When he grew up, he says 21% of the country worked in manufacturing and now it's 9%. To get it back up, he would eliminate the corporate tax rate-- but only for manufacturing. Hell, why only go back to his childhood? Let's take the economy all the way back to 1870, when 75% of the country worked in agriculture. That'll make things better. (-1)
• He would not compromise on taxes, and would not accept any ratio of spending cuts to taxes, even up to 10:1. Then he criticizes Bachmann for not being willing to compromise. "You need leadership, not showmanship." (-1) "We need to get the economy growing. That doesn't mean taking more money out of it. That means creating energy jobs, creating manufacturing jobs, and my plan will do that." Along with everyone else, raised his hand to say he would walk away from a 10:1 deal on spending cuts to taxes.
• He says he was "the first author of medical savings accounts back in 1992". Then he gets really excited-- he always gets excited about moral issues. "We are a nation that has values. We are a nation that was built on a moral enterprise, and states don't have the right to tramp over those because of the Tenth Amendment." (+1)
• "Iran is not Iceland, Ron [Paul]." "The Iranians are the existential threat to the state of Israel." No points for proper article use, but I like that he calls out Ron Paul. (+1)
• Ron Paul sees the world "exactly the way Barack Obama sees it." He says he authored the Iran Freedom Support Act. "When Rick Santorum is President, Iran will not get a nuclear weapon, because the world as we know it will be no more." Hmm. That's probably not what he meant to say... (0)
• He campaigned to help defeat the Iowa judges who required gay marriage in that state, and he doesn't want the Supreme Court to end up deciding gay marriage. He is willing to fight gay marriage state by state. (-1)
• A man who commits rape cannot face the death penalty, but a child conceived from rape can be aborted. "The child is an innocent victim." (+1)
• Asked about the gold standard, he completely ignores it. He wants to audit the Fed and agrees with Gingrich. He says just because Ron Paul is "mostly wrong, doesn't mean he's always wrong." He also says opposing the debt ceiling increase is "showmanship, not leadership," and brings up the excellent point that we're borrowing far too much to stop borrowing overnight. It's refreshing to hear a Republican admit this. (+2)
• Closing Statement: He's been to a lot of places in Iowa, and pays attention to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He also has beat three incumbent Democrats. (0)

Herman Cain:

• The first thing he would do to get the economy back on track is to "make the tax rates permanent." The top marginal tax rate for corporations and individuals would be 25%, with no capital gains tax, and no tax on repatriated profits. All good ideas. (+2)
• Asked to address some flubs his campaign has made, he does pretty well. He says he was misunderstood about mosques, but stands firm against sharia. He also says that he knows a lot more now than he did before, both about the Palestinians and Afghanistan. (+1)
• "America's got to learn how to take a joke." He wants to secure the border "with whatever means necessary", enforce existing immigration laws, promote legal immigration as a path to citizenship, and empower the states to deal with it. "It turns out that America can be a nation with high fences and wide open doors." I like the wide open doors, but I do not like the high fences. (0)
• Along with everyone else, raised his hand to say he would walk away from a 10:1 deal on spending cuts to taxes. (-1)
• Rick Perry is "just one more politician" who will make the non-politician Cain stand out even more. (+1)
• Our "energy strategy is directly related to national security." He takes seriously Ahmadinejad's threat to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. He wants to increase American oil production to bring down the world price of oil and so "put a squeeze" on Iran. Uh huh... Foreign policy is not Mr. Cain's strong point, I see. Although I would like more domestic oil production. (0)
• He says Romney's Mormonism doesn't bother him, but it does bother others in Atlanta, because they can't relate to it. (0)
• He did not agree with raising the debt ceiling, but he's pretty vague on what he would have cut instead. He mentions using "performance metrics" which is good, but I don't think those would have been available right away if the debt ceiling wasn't raised. (0)
• Cain reiterates his four points on the economy from his first question. He also says, "If a company were to decide that they want to take some of that money and pay a bigger dividend, so what? It's their money." (+1)
• He would not return to full enforcement of No Child Left Behind, because education choices should be made at the local level. (0)
• Closing Statement: "I represent growth. [...] Send a business problem-solver to Washington, DC." (+1)

Ron Paul:

•  I simply do not understand Paulites. Ron Paul's first answer is a whole lot of rambling and never really answers the question of what he would do to turn the economy around that could get through a divided Congress. He wants interest rates to be higher, and eventually settles on cutting taxes. Asked if he could get that through a divided Congress, he gets a deer-in-the-headlights look for a few seconds, and then goes on a rant about militarism. (-1) And yet, somehow, after this train wreck, he gets raucous applause from all the Paulites in the audience.
• He opposes requiring employers to verify immigration status. "Why do we pay more attention to the borders overseas and less attention to the borders here at home?" Cue rant on militarism. He does turn it around though with a strong statement against giving entitlements to illegal immigrants. (-1)
• Along with everyone else, raised his hand to say he would walk away from a 10:1 deal on spending cuts to taxes. (-1)
•  "The federal government can't go in and prohibit the states from doing bad things." Um, yeah it can. What about Jim Crow and segregation? (-1) He gets to mention "medical savings accounts" which is great, but he doesn't go into it at all because he runs out of time.
• Rick Perry "represents the status quo." Paul says he's different from the other candidates and Perry will draw votes away from them, not him. (+1)
• It's "natural" for Iran to want nukes, and the Soviets had tens of thousands of more nukes. Economic sanctions are precursors to war, we should just leave Iran alone and let them build nukes. (-1)
• Bachmann "turns our rule of law on its head." He kind of makes a good point about judging whether someone is a terrorist or not, but then he gets into the Obama administration wanting to assassinate American citizens and "that affects all of us eventually." Paranoid rants like this just reflect badly on sane libertarians, especially without Gary Johnson there to provide a sane alternative. (-1)
• Iran has "some militants" but they're not a threat. People like Santorum are just talking up war propaganda. (-1)
• "Why do we have to have a license to get married?" This is one of the few issues where I agree with Ron Paul completely. We don't need marriage licenses at all. (+1)
• "The Fed creates the business cycle." Which is why before 1913 there were never any recessions. (-2) 
• Closing Statement: "My cause has been the cause of liberty, and I am convinced that liberty does not come from our government but it comes from our creator. [...] It is under the principles of liberty that you have the greatest chance of achieving peace and prosperity." He doesn't like the wars, he likes the gold standard, he doesn't like regulations and taxes. (0)

Mitt Romney:

• Mitt won't give a timeframe on recovery, but he does have a plan to get there. First, make the corporate tax rate competitive. (Good.) Second, make regulations work for businesses not for bureaucrats. (Possibly good, depending what he means by it.) Third, have trade policies "that work for us, not just for our opponents." (Whoa. Why are our trade partners suddenly our "opponents"?) Fourth, energy security. Fifth, rule of law. Sixth, institutions that build human capital. (All three of these really depend on what he means by them.) Seventh, the government shouldn't spend more than it takes in. (Good). (0)
• He says he signed the Cut, Cap and Balance pledge. Would he have vetoed the debt deal? He'd rather talk about Cut, Cap and Balance more. (-1)
• He claims he created tens of thousands of jobs while at Bain Capital in a hundred different companies, while the question focused on jobs lost at a single company. If people "want to choose somebody who understands how the private sector works," it's Romney or Cain, Romney says. (+1)
• "We are a nation of immigrants. We love legal immigration." He wants to secure the border and crack down on hiring illegal immigrants, while encouraging "the best and brightest" to immigrate to America. (+1)
• "I don't believe in raising taxes." While governor, he got an increase in Massachusetts' credit rating. He balanced the budget every year while he was governor, but he doesn't mention that in Massachusetts the governor is constitutionally required (PDF) to submit a balanced budget. (-1)
• Along with everyone else, raised his hand to say he would walk away from a 10:1 deal on spending cuts to taxes. (-1)
• Romneycare was good for Massachusetts because the Tenth Amendment allows states to do things like the individual mandate, but not the federal government. He would grant Obamacare waivers to all 50 states. (-1) He points out that states have the ability to require kids to go to school.
• We've helped the Afghanis establish freedom, but "sometime within the next two years" they will have to "earn and keep that freedom themselves." The precise timetable for withdrawal should be established by the generals in Afghanistan. (-1)
• Marriage should be decided at the federal level because people move between states, and he supports a marriage amendment. (-1)
• He wants a personal unemployment account rather than the current system, and would not continue the current plan. Hmm, interesting. I'd like to hear more. (+1)
• Closing Statement: Obama is "out of his depth" and "doesn't understand how the economy works." "In order to create jobs, it's helpful to have had a job." Strong anti-Obama message. Mitt is really good at rising above the back-and-forth between the Republicans and acting like he's already in the general election. The problem is, he's not, and that's not what I want to see. I know they're all against Obama, that's why they're running for the Republican nomination. (-1)

Michele Bachmann:

•  "We can start to see recovery within three months. [...] We should not have increased the debt ceiling." Using the debt ceiling vote to extract concessions from Democrats is good. Insisting that we should have cut some 40% of federal spending overnight is unrealistic. (-1)
• Bachmann's response to T-Paw's criticism of her record is to not address her record at all, but rather criticize T-Paw's. She says he implemented Cap & Trade, praised the individual mandate and said "the era of small government is over." On her own record, she says she fought the individual mandate and Cap & Trade, and introduced the Lightbulb Freedom of Choice Act. (+1)
• "Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama ran Congress, but I gave them a run for their money." Wait a sec, which branch of government is Obama in again? (-1)
• Why did she vote for a cigarette tax increase? Because Pawlenty put a pro-abortion measure in the same bill, so she voted for it because she's pro-life. Huh? As Pawlenty says, "If there were two bad things in the bill... then it's a double reason to vote against it. She voted for it." After a bit of googling, I found that the abortion provision in the bill was a pro-life provision, requiring abortionists to ask women whose pregnancies are past 20 weeks if they would like to give the fetus an anesthetic before the abortion. Bachmann voted for the combined bill, which both raised the cigarette tax and included the pro-life anesthetic provision. I never could've figured that out the way Bachmann told the story. (-1) Even so, there's a very easy answer to the question she was asked. A cigarette tax is fundamentally different than a general tax. Pigouvian taxes aren't intended to raise revenue, although they sometimes do. They're intended to discourage behavior that has negative externalities. Smokers impose a social cost on nonsmokers by spreading their smoke; a Pigouvian cigarette tax corrects that market failure.
• Along with everyone else, raised her hand to say she would walk away from a 10:1 deal on spending cuts to taxes. (-1)
• "The government is without authority to compel a citizen to purchase a product or service against their will." The individual mandate is unconstitutional at both the federal and state levels. While I agree with her opposition to the individual mandate, the Massachusetts Supreme Court disagrees with her reading of the state constitution. (0) I think the individual mandate probably is constitutional at the state level for most states. That doesn't mean I think it's a good idea, but it's probably allowed.
• "I like Sarah Palin a lot." She says there's room in this race for whoever wants to get in. (+1)
• Terrorists from other countries do not have Miranda rights, and we need Guantanamo Bay to fight terrorists. (-1)
• I thought she handled the submissive question very well. Submission doesn't mean respect like she says it does, but as a debate answer it was very good. (+1)
• She supports a federal marriage amendment, and she says she was the chief author on the Minnesota state marriage amendment. (-1)
• "It was very important that we not raise the debt ceiling." She also says Congress gave Obama "a blank check for $2.4 trillion." A blank check doesn't have any amount, by definition. She says S&P has proved her right, and the debt ceiling should not have been raised. (-1)
• The American people want balanced budgets with the right spending priorities, and she led in opposing the debt ceiling increase, she says. Given the chance to respond to Santorum, she doesn't. (0)
• Closing Statement: Obama got started in Iowa, and now Iowa can "bring that Presidency effectively to a close." (0)

Tim Pawlenty:

• His 5% growth target is "aggressive" and "bold", and he says he has the most specific economic plan of any candidate. But rather than talk about what that plan is, he'd rather talk about how Obama doesn't have one (which is true) and how large Mitt Romney's lawn is (wait, what?). (-1)
• He says Bachmann has done "absolutely wonderful things, but it's an undisputable fact that in Congress, her record of accomplishment and results is nonexistant." Then he talks about his record as Minnesota governor. This is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to see in the first two debates-- the candidates are finally debating each other instead of all collectively debating Obama in absentia. (+2)
• T-Paw says all of the things Bachmann led in opposing, we ended up with anyway. "If that's your view of effective leadership with results, please stop, because you're killing us." That's a great zinger. (+1)
• He says he's one of only four governors to receive CATO's A grade. Like Romney, he brags about balancing the budget as governor. Also like Romney, Pawlenty was constitutionally required (PDF) to submit a balanced budget as governor of Minnesota. Sorry, you don't get credit for simply not violating the constitution. (-1)
• Along with everyone else, raised his hand to say he would walk away from a 10:1 deal on spending cuts to taxes. (-1)
• "Obamacare was patterned after Mitt's plan in Massachusetts." He calls them "essentially the same plan." T-Paw also criticizes Romney for raising spending in Massachusetts and appointing pro-choice, liberal judges. (+1)
• We were justified in invading Afghanistan ten years ago, but now we're "ten years removed." Obama is withdrawing troops too quickly, and Pawlenty would listen more to the generals in Afghanistan. (-1)
• We should do everything "plausible" to prevent Iran from getting nukes. He supports economic sanctions and actions like the Stuxnet computer virus (exactly the kind of cyberattack Huntsman just called an act of war). (0)
• As governor of Minnesota, Pawlenty passed several pro-life bills and the abortion rate in Minnesota "dropped dramatically." The only case where abortion should be allowed is danger to the mother's life. (+1)
• Closing Statement: "God has greatly blessed America, but with great blessing comes responsibility, and if we don't fiercely protect our most precious blessing-- freedom-- we may lose it forever." We need "effective, tested, conservative leadership" and he says that's what he is. (+1)

Jon Huntsman:

• "If you want to know what I'm going to do [as President], I'm going to do exactly what I did as Governor." He claims he made Utah the #1 state in the union for job creation by enacting an "historic" tax cut. (0)
• Asked to defend serving as Obama's ambassador, he has a great answer. When asked to serve, he says, "I'm the person who's gonna stand up and do it." He also says the stimulus needed more tax cuts, just like he did in Utah. (+1)
• He says he's pro-life, pro-second-amendment and pro-growth. He wants to secure the border with fencing, technology and the National Guard, and doesn't want to talk about what to do with existing illegal immigrants until that's done. (-1)
• Along with everyone else, raised his hand to say he would walk away from a 10:1 deal on spending cuts to taxes. (-1)
• What does he think of Rick Perry? "We all need prayers, and I hope he offers a whole lot for everybody here on this stage." Wow, I was surprised when I heard that. That's exactly the kind of thing you would expect to hear from the Democratic camp, not from a Republican. Not even the super-libertarian Ron Paul made fun of Perry's prayer thing. (-1) 
• Would you consider cyberattacks acts of war? "Absolutely." He also says, "It'd be a great thing to have a President of the United States who knew something about China." (+1)
• Why does he support civil unions? Because he's running on his record, and he's been married for years and has children and we need to do better on equality. It should be handled at the local level and everyone is entitled to their personal belief. Yeah, way to stand up for something! (-1)
• When he worked in the private sector, he opened facilities in other countries "because of the EPA's reign of terror." He also wants to make the same point about manufacturing as Santorum did. Sorry, but it's just as stupid as when Santorum said it. Even worse, because he goes on to add, "We don't make things anymore in this country." (-2)
• No Child Left Behind should "be done away with" and control should be given to local governments. He also supported Boehner's plan to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default. (0)
• Closing Statement: "Barack Obama won in 2008 on hope. I'm gonna win in 2012 on solutions." (+1)

Newt Gingrich:

• Asked why he would be better at creating jobs than the people on stage with real business experience, Newt would rather answer the questions Paul and Cain got about divided government. (-1)
• To Chris Wallace, he says, "I took seriously Brett's injuction to put aside the talking points, and I wish you would put aside the gotcha questions." He compares himself to Reagan and McCain on having trouble with his campaign staff. He wants to repeal Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley and Obamacare, and institute "lean six-sigma across the federal government." (+1)
• Decisions on which illegal immigrants could stay and which would be deported would be made by citizen boards with "local, practical decision-making" based on the Selective Service Commission from World War II. He would move people from Homeland Security to Border Patrol to secure the border and set English as the official language. (-1)
• Along with everyone else, raised his hand to say he would walk away from a 10:1 deal on spending cuts to taxes. (-1) He also thinks the supercommittee is "a dumb idea" and thinks it will lead to a choice between "gutting our military" or a tax increase.
• New candidates have "lots of time" to join the race, whether it's Giuliani, Perry or Palin, and "that's what America is all about." (+1)
• What is the way forward in Libya? Gingrich would rather argue about whether the question is fair. When pressed, we need to "rethink" our strategy and have "a serious national debate about it." Mr. Speaker, that serious national debate is the one you're participating in, and we're trying to figure out what your position is. (-2)
• Asked about a Muslim loyalty test, he says it would apply to everyone, not just Muslims, but he doesn't say what it would entail. (0)
• Keeping "some kind of central bank" is important to deal with monetary policy, but the Fed should be publicly audited. I'm wary of "audit the Fed" types because that usually means more political control over the money supply, which is obviously bad. At the same time, the Fed could stand to be more open. (+1)
• Closing Statement: The election is fifteen months away, but "we need real leadership now" so go call your Congressmen. That would have a lot more pull if he hadn't resigned his own seat in Congress. (-1)

Conclusion
This debate was far more entertaining than the others. I felt for the first time like the Republicans were really debating each other, and a lot of it seemed to center around Pawlenty. I was also very happy to hear the time limit bell. The lack of any kind of bell or buzzer in the second debate was a killer.

Summing my gut reactions for each candidate, Cain gets +5, while Santorum and Pawlenty both get +2. Everyone else is negative. Huntsman and Gingrich both get -3, Romney and Bachmann both get -4 and Paul brings up the rear once again with -7. These don't really matter, since every candidate got different questions for the most part, and some got more than others.

Ron Paul really fell apart this time. When he was ranting about militarism in response to economic and immigration questions, he was spouting paranoia about Obama assassinating Americans. Half the time, I thought he was about to start screaming about the NAU, and the rest of the time, I just struggled to make coherent sentences out of what he was saying.

Michele Bachmann was the clear loser of the Pawlenty-Bachmann spat. She also doesn't seem to understand the difference the federal constitution and state constitutions, as Romney was quick to point out. The way she handled the submission question was impressive, but it was her only really good answer of the evening.

Mitt Romney was okay. He had one or two good things to say, but for the most part he held back and let the other candidates slug it out. As the front-runner, he can do that, but it doesn't get him any points from me. Newt Gingrich also didn't get involved with the other candidates, just with the moderators. I really hope Newt drops out after the Ames straw poll.

It was good to see Jon Huntsman in action. I haven't really paid any attention to him until now. I was impressed by some of his statements, like what he said on cyberattacks, but he blew the civil unions question, and the immigration question, and the job question... Not to mention making fun of prayer at a Republican debate in Iowa. I kind of agree with the sentiment that he should be running as a Democrat.

Once again, Rick Santorum showed that he is a very strong social issues candidate. Unfortunately for him, this is going to be an economic issues election. Still, I was very impressed with his take on the debt deal. He was the only Republican on that stage with the guts to admit that there's no way we could cut enough spending overnight to stop taking on debt. If he can channel that kind of clarity and show the same enthusiasm for the economy as he usually shows for social issues, he might stand a chance. On the other hand, some pollsters have already stopped asking about him, and I've read speculation that he'll drop out after Ames, which is kind of a shame.

Tim Pawlenty was really the star of the debate. He did a great job of taking the debate to the other candidates. He was clearly targeting Bachmann and Romney, and he scored some great points against both of them. That said, when he actually got around to talking about his own ideas, they were hit-and-miss for me. I like his stand on abortion, and I like his growth plan, but we don't need to be in Afghanistan any longer than Obama will keep us there. If anything, I think Obama is keeping us there too long. Even so, Pawlenty is in a solid second place for me.

Herman Cain, right now, is my favorite. He's said some really off-the-wall things in past debates, but he's learning, and he's getting better. I love how he approaches problems. He's very methodical, and has four-point plans for almost everything. He's pretty weak on foreign policy, but again, this election will be about the economy, not foreign policy. Picking a strong foreign policy VP would just about seal the deal for me. Then again, one of the ways we got into this mess was electing a President with hardly any experience, and I'm not sure that's a mistake we want to make twice.

Second Republican Primary Debate (NH)

The second Republican primary debate was held Monday night. I watched the hockey game instead, but the entire debate is now on Youtube (this version is in three parts but is missing some chunks, this version is in nine parts and has some local weather warnings obscuring the sound from time to time, while this version seems to be the official CNN version, ads and all). It's a shame that Gary Johnson wasn't invited, as he was one of my favorites from the first debate, and he was, after all, the governor of New Mexico for eight years. That's more experience than some of those who were invited can claim.

Seven candidates took to the stage for this debate, among them two former Congressmen (Santorum and Gingrich), two current Congresspersons (Bachmann and Paul), two former governors (Romney and Pawlenty) and Herman Cain. Before watching this debate, my opinions of Gingrich, Romney and Paul were solidly negative; of Santorum and Cain, slightly negative; of Bachmann basically neutral; of Pawlenty, slightly positive.

Below, I've summarized and responded to each candidate's positions. As I did last time, I've also scored each position positive, zero or negative based on my gut reaction to it.

Santorum:

• Introduction: He wants us to know about his executive experience (doing what?) and his seven children. His "six or seven second" statement lasted 16 seconds. (0)
• In order to stimulate the economy, he wants to drill for oil. Drilling for oil is good, but it's not gonna do a thing for the economy right now. (0)
• Asked how he would appeal to non-Tea-Partiers and independents, he talks about eliminating entitlements. He thinks the Tea Party is "great" and calls it the "backbone" of the Republican party. Definitely not the answer that the questioner wanted to hear, but I like it. (+1)
• He doesn't even let the moderator finish the question before he interrupts to say how he's from a manufacturing state. He would cut the capital gains tax in half and eliminate it for five years for those investing in manufacturing. Wrong answer. Why should we encourage investment in manufacturing over telecommunications or medicine or any other industry? (-1)
• Leno or Conan: Neither, but maybe Leno. (0)
• When the entire group is asked about auto bailouts, Santorum is the one to speak up and emphatically say that he agrees with Romney (the auto companies should have gone through bankruptcy earlier and without the bailouts). Which is alright, because I agree too. (+1)
• He says Ryan's plan takes Medicare Part D and applies it to the rest of Medicare, which he supports. He also refers to himself in the third person, which is kinda creepy. (0)
• "If your faith is pure and your reason is right, they'll end up in the same place." (+1)
• Supports an amendment to the US Constitution on gay marriage, but points out that an amendment requires three-fourths of the states to approve it for it to pass. (-1)
• The military is not a place for "social experimentation." He says, "It should be repealed," which I assume means DADT should be repealed like Obama is doing, although he could be saying that Obama's repeal should be repealed. Then he says he agrees with Ron Paul, which sounds like it contradicts his first statement. Hmm. (0)
• He says voters should pay attention to candidates' records on abortion, and calls into question Romney's authenticity as a pro-lifer (without saying it directly). Social issues are where Santorum really shines, and it's a shame that his question on abortion was wasted by having to focus on Romney instead. (0)
• "We should not be offering government benefits" to illegal immigrants. (0)
• He wants to phase out the ethanol subsidy and the ethanol tariff over five years. Getting rid of these things is good, but why take five years? Why not do it right away? Or, you know, within a single term as President? (0)
• "We do need" military bases around the world. No, Mr. Santorum, we don't. (-1)
• What has he learned in the past two hours? That this is a strong field of candidates. Good answer, even if it's parroting what Cain said a minute before. At least he acknowledged that Cain said it first though. (+1)

Bachmann:

• Introduction: She wants us to know that she used to be a lawyer, now she's in Congress, and she has had 23 foster children. Take that, Santorum! Her "six or seven second" statement lasted 24. (0)
• She wants to repeal Dodd-Frank too, and oh-by-the-way, she's now officially a candidate, but she's going to wait awhile to formally announce. Because people who aren't running for office show up for the debate all the time. (0) 
• Asked about her specific plan to get rid of Obamacare, she'd rather talk about how bad Obamacare is. Thanks, but we already know that. (0)
• She's got a nice defense of the Tea Party, saying it represents a "wide swath" of Americans. She also gets the first real applause of the night by declaring that Obama is a one-term President. (+1)
• On manufacturing jobs, she says we need to repeal Obamacare (at least she's on-message) and do something about the EPA. I don't know what that has to do with manufacturing jobs. (0)
• Elvis or Johnny Cash: "Both." Really? I know this isn't a pressing national issue, but could you be more of a politician in your answer? (0)
• She says she fought her own party on TARP, because it was wrong then and it's wrong now. (+1)
• "Unless there are serious cuts, I can't" vote to raise the debt limit. She also brings up Obama's "failure of leadership" quote about the debt limit. (+1)
• "The best possible way to raise children is to have a mother and father in their life." At the same time, the federal government should not overturn state laws on gay marriage. (+1)
• She does support an amendment to the US Constitution on gay marriage, but would not overturn state law... erm, clarification, please? This is like answering "both" for Elvis or Johnny Cash. (-1)
• She would keep DADT, but when the moderator reminds her that Obama is getting rid of it, she basically changes her mind to "what Newt said." (-1)
• She is "100% pro-life" and mentions her 23 foster children for a third time. (0)
• We do not have "a vital national interest" in Libya. I'm not sure whether she's more upset that Obama went into Libya in the first place, or that he wasn't leading the pack when he did. Elvis or Johnny Cash? (-1)
• If she had to pick one of the other candidates on stage to be her VP, who would it be? I love her answer, to put it to a vote and "let the audience decide," but I don't believe for a second that this is what she actually believes. This is just another way of answering, "Both." Still, she's put the idea out there. (0)
• What has she learned in the past two hours? About "the goodness of the American people." Oh, goodness. (-1)

Gingrich:

• Introduction: Newt doesn't want us to know anything we don't already know, and rather than campaign against the other Republicans, he's already campaigning against Obama. On the other hand, his "six or seven second" statement lasted only 9, the shortest by far. (-1)
• Asked about the deficit and taxes on the rich, Gingrich doesn't want to talk about either of them, he just wants to talk about jobs and the Reagan era. He finally says that Congress should repeal Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley this week. Hey, maybe if he hadn't quit Congress he could've actually done something instead of just talking about it. (-1)
• He's supported the individual mandate in the past, but now believes that it's unconstitutional. I'd like him to really address that contradiction, but he doesn't want to. (-1)
• Gingrich wishes he was at the South Carolina debate so he could talk about Boeing. That's what you get for not showing up, Newt. He would not support federal right-to-work legislation on Tenth Amendment grounds. (-1)
• NASA has given us "failure after failure" and "bureaucracy after bureaucracy", and it needs to get out of the way. This is the strongest answer Gingrich has given by far, and I absolutely love his unbridled optimism on this issue. "You could get into space faster, better, more effectively, more creatively, if you decentralized it, get out of Washington and cut out the bureaucracy. It's not about getting rid of the space program, it's about getting to a real space program that works." (+2)
• Dancing with the Stars or American Idol: American Idol, no hesitation. (0)
• He says his "right wing social engineering" quote was taken out of context, and he'd be "happy to repeat" it. Wrong answer. He supports Representative Tom Price's private contracting bill. Meh. (-1)
• "If you're not prepared to be loyal to the United States, you will not serve in my administration, period." (+1)
• Helped write DOMA, and supports an amendment to the US Constitution on gay marriage. DOMA is alright, insofar as the federal government has to have a gay marriage policy as long as they offer marriage benefits to employees. But we don't need an amendment. (-1)
• He would "listen to the commanders" on DADT, which is code for bringing it back. (-1)
• "Herman Cain is essentially right," on immigration, Gingrich says, and then focuses on securing the border. Which means Newt Gingrich is essentially wrong. Of Cain's four points on immigration, securing the border is the weakest. (-1)
• Get out of Libya "as rapidly as possible" and we need a "totally new strategy for the region." Getting out of Libya is good, but trying to scare people about al Qaeda controlling the rebels isn't. (0)
• What has he learned in the past two hours? Why New Hampshire is first in the nation-- because it asks good questions. Erm... (-1)

Romney:

• Introduction: Mitt doesn't want to talk about being governor of Massachusetts. He doesn't even mention it. Way to run on your record! Although with his record, I can understand why. His "six or seven second" statement lasted 20. (-1)
• He doesn't want to talk about Pawlenty's plan for growth, or what he would do, he just wants to talk about how bad Obama has made things. (-1)
• Three differences between Romneycare and Obamacare: Romney didn't raise taxes, Romney didn't take money from Medicare and states can do what the federal government can't. He also says he would extend waivers to all 50 states on his first day in office and would repeal Obamacare. I wish I could believe him... (0)
• He says he wishes that Obama had called him and asked what parts of Romneycare worked and what didn't before basing Obamacare on it. This is the response he should have given the first time. (+1) Also, this is why most debates have those bells. The moderator's constant interruptions are getting annoying.
• Mitt thinks the auto companies should have gone through the regular bankruptcy process from the beginning, and the auto bailout was a waste of money that gave Obama the chance to "put his hands on the scales of justice". (+1)
• He'd like to say something about the role of government and the space program, and he seems to be leaning towards privatization, but the moderator cuts him off. (0)
• Instead of asking what we should cut from the federal budget, we should ask what we should keep, and get rid of the rest. (+1)
• We should only raise the debt limit if Obama lays out a serious plan to cut spending. (+1)
• We are never going to have sharia law, but, "People of all faiths are welcome in this country. We treat people with respect regardless of their religious persuasion." (+2)
• Spicy or mild: Spicy, and Bruins are up 4-0 (they went on to win 5-2). (0)
• Supports an amendment to the US Constitution on gay marriage. (-1)
• We should be talking about the economy, but since he has to answer the question, he thinks DADT should have been kept in place. He doesn't say what he would do as President, though. (-1)
• He says he would appoint judges who follow the constitution, and he believes in the sanctity of life from beginning to end, but doesn't address the fact that he didn't always believe this. (0)
• Romney believes in eminent domain for "a public purpose," though not for private organizations. (-1)
• We should bring our troops home "as soon as we possibly can," but then he gets confused about whether the Taliban is our friend or not. Hmm. Then he says we should listen to the generals. Hmm again. (-1)
• "I wasn't asked a question, but I'd like to speak up and complain about Obama again." (-1)
• What has he learned in the past two hours? "People in New Hampshire love the future." I thought he was about to steal the Gingrich-Obama WTF slogan. (-1)

Paul:

• Introduction: Ron Paul has probably given the best introduction so far. The only mention of children is a reference to his job before becoming a Congressman, and he gave a concise description of his experience and vision. His "six or seven second" statement lasted 17. (+1) I'm also glad to see from the relative amounts of applause that this crowd doesn't seem to be as heavy on Paulites as the South Carolina debate was.
• Has Obama done one thing right on the economy? "That's a tough question!" So instead, he talks about monetary policy and how bad the last decade has been. (-1)
• How would he bring manufacturing jobs back (as though we needed to)? We need a stronger dollar, and to cut taxes on foreigners who want to repatriate US dollars... Yeah, because political control of monetary policy has worked so well in every other country it's been tried in. (-1)
• Government assistance to private enterprise is "not morally correct," "not legal," "bad economics" and "not part of the constitution." He manages to get the third applause of the night, not counting the introduction round, and his first. I'm really glad the Paulites didn't show up for this one. (+1)
• "Corrections are good." If you call it a "correction" that sounds a lot better than calling it what most people do, a recession. Do you really want to elect a President who believes that "recessions are good"? (-1)
• Blackberry or iPhone: Hesitation... Blackberry. (0)
• Medicare "can't be made solvent." Unless we do something about the military-industrial complex. Yawn. (-1)
• "You can't teach people how to be moral," which is something every Sunday school teacher in the country would disagree with. The Constitution "literally" says "no theocracy"... No, Mr. Paul, the Constitution literally does not contain the word "theocracy" at all. Then he misquotes the First Amendment, and as if that wasn't enough, he says the First Amendment means, "Congress should never prohibit the expression of your Christian faith." Every other faith is fair game! The more I listen to Ron Paul, the more astonished I am that anyone takes him seriously. (-2)
• "Get the government out" of marriage. Exactly what I think, except then he muddles his point by talking about individual vs group rights. (+1)
• Would not "work to overthrow" the overturning of DADT. (+1)
• We should be protecting our borders, not "the borders between Iraq and Afghanistan"... Wait, does he think those two countries border each other? (-1)
• Paul is against eminent domain, and he says it "goes back to [a] basic understanding of property rights." Right on. (+1)
• "I'm the commander in chief. I tell the generals what to do." And he would tell them to withdraw from Afghanistan and Libya. (+1)
• Which one of his fellow candidates would he have in his administration? He'd have to do some "quizzing" first and find out what they believe about the Federal Reserve. (0)
• What has he learned in the past two hours? "We can be civil to each other." Yawn. (0)

Pawlenty:

• Introduction: He wants us to know that he's... a neighbor? What on earth does that mean? Who would he say isn't a neighbor? His "six or seven second" statement lasted 19. (-1)
• Five percent growth isn't out of our reach because China and Brazil can grow five percent. That's a pretty bad defense, since China and Brazil are achieving that growth by implementing technologies that were previously developed in advanced economies. But I like that he called Obama a "declinist." (+1)
• Asked about his "Obamneycare" comment, T-Paw goes to great lengths to avoid talking about it. Even when asked directly by the moderator, he basically blames Obama for his own comment about "Obamneycare." (-1)
• He grew up in a meat-packing town and was in a union... yawn. "Number one, we gotta have fair trade." He also says, "I'm not for being stupid." Sorry T-Paw, but those two statements are contradictory. (-2)
• He "support[s] strongly" a federal right-to-work law, which would make union membership voluntary. (+1)
• We shouldn't "end the space program" even though we're facing budget difficulties. What Gingrich says right after is right on target: "You mischaracterized me." (0)
• How to end the housing crisis? "Get the government out of crony capitalism" and grow the economy again. Nice generic answer. (0)
• He "is going to have" his own plan, focused on making Medicare an option. Could be good when it gets here. (+1)
• The separation of church and state is to "protect people of faith from government, not government from people of faith." Another nice generic answer. (0)
• Unclear on whether he thinks gay marriage is a state or federal issue, but it sounds like he supports an amendment to the US Constitution. (-1)
• On DADT, he would do what military commanders tell him to do, which means he'd bring it back. (-1)
• He says he is "solidly pro-life" and touts his record from Minnesota as proof. (+1)
• If the federal government won't secure the borders, then the states should. He also will appoint "conservative justices" who will oppose birthright citizenship. Because somehow opposing birthright citizenship is conservative? What the hell, T-Paw? (-1)
• Coke or Pepsi: Coke, no hesitation. (0)
• Does he agree with Ron Paul on Yemen? Blah blah blah, stall stall stall... he would do the same thing Obama is doing. (0)
• Iraq is one of the "shining examples of success" and Sarah Palin is "a remarkable leader," and "qualified to be President." No comment. (-1)
• What has he learned in the past two hours? "The Boston Bruins have more heart than the Vancouver Canucks." Sounds like someone was paying more attention to his Blackberry/iPhone than to the actual debate. (0)

Cain:

• Introduction: He says he's "not a politician" but "a problem solver." That's a good way to handle his lack of experience, but I didn't need to hear about his grandkids. His "six or seven second" statement lasted 21. (0)
• How to create jobs? Lower taxes, eliminate the capital gains tax and make the changes permanent because there's too much uncertainty right now. (+1)
• He believes he can use his business experience to include the American people in his administration, rather than exclude them as he says Obama has done. It's a pretty vague answer, but it does address his lack of experience. (0)
• He supports right-to-work, at least at the state level, and says Obama is "killing our free market system." (+1)
• Cain initially supported TARP, but opposes how Obama handled it by "picking winners and losers." He also doesn't believe in "too big to fail," for which he gets the night's fourth round of applause. (+1)
• The federal government should be doing food safety inspections, but he'd rather talk about "a crisis of the three E's"-- economy, entitlements, energy. (0)
• "You're not gonna get most of the money you put into Medicare if we don't restructure it." How do we restructure it? Cain "totally support[s]" Ryan's plan. (+1)
• Move gradually to a private Social Security system like Chile's, with a cut-off at age 40. He would not raise the retirement age. (+1)
• Cain would not be comfortable with a Muslim in his administration, but he doesn't want to call it a litmus test or a loyalty test. (-1)
• Deep dish or thin crust: Deep dish, with a deep voice. (0)
• Gay marriage: "States' decision." (+1)
• He would've liked to keep DADT, but he won't reinstate it. (+1)
• Is abortion an issue in this campaign, or is everyone pro-life enough that it's case closed? Herman Cain says, "Case closed," but I'd like to hear more. (0)
• Cain believes there should be no birthright citizenship. (-1) (He also repeats his four points on immigration from the first debate, which earned him a (0) the first time.)
• We need to know more about Libya before going forward, and if it's not in our "vital national interest" to be there, then we shouldn't be there. (+1)
• People only think this is a weak field of candidates because they "don't know us yet." (0)
• What has he learned in the past two hours? "It's about the children." He almost gets a point just for being able to say that with a straight face. (0)

Conclusion
I really wish CNN would have used bells or something to time the candidates. The moderator's constant "B- b- b- b-" was extremely annoying, and CNN should know better than to use the "honor system" for timing the debate. A lot of people on Twitter were annoyed by the "this or that" questions, but I thought they were short enough to provide some variety without getting in the way. Plus, Bachmann's answer of "both" really foreshadowed her answer on just about every substantive question where she was asked to make a choice.

Summing my gut reactions for each candidate, Cain gets +6, Santorum +1, Bachmann 0, Paul -1, Romney -2, Pawlenty -4, Gingrich -6. These don't really matter, since every candidate got different questions for the most part, and some got more than others.

Gingrich is flat wrong about almost everything except space. I think he should forget about the White House and campaign for NASA Administrator instead. Romney should also forget about the White House. I know he's currently the "front-runner" (whatever that means with about 8 months before the first primaries), but for me he's just the loser from last time. And remember that last time we nominated the loser from the previous time, we got McCain. (I have similar feelings about Palin if she ever decides to get into the race.) Romney needs to step aside and let the new faces provide some new solutions.

Which brings me to Bachmann, who really disappointed me. I have a feeling that I agree with her on a lot of important issues, but she kept changing her mind in the debate, or trying to have it both ways. "Both" is a mildly acceptable answer for "Elvis vs Johnny Cash." It's not at all acceptable for "Federal Control vs State Control" or "Bomb Libya vs Don't Bomb Libya."

T-Paw also disappointed me. I mean, fair trade, really? How can anyone oppose regulation and "crony capitalism" so strongly and then do a complete 180 and oppose free trade? The thing is, he did so well in the first debate, and then he came out and opposed ethanol subsidies in Iowa and went and got my hopes up. I hope he comes out with a statement that he meant to say "free" instead of "fair" and was just distracted by watching the hockey game on his smartphone. I would also accept the explanation that he couldn't stop thinking how unfair it was that he got stuck next to Ron Paul.

Speaking of Ron Paul, he did much better than I thought he would. He was right on when it came to gay marriage, eminent domain and corporate welfare, and he managed to sound sane on Afghanistan and Libya. If only he wasn't so nutty on every other issue... Santorum clearly struggled in this debate. His strength is really the social issues, and he didn't get a chance to talk about those very much, since this debate focused on the economy. I love his quote about faith and reason, though.

Finally, Herman Cain. Two huge blunders-- First, his response on Muslims should have been exactly what Romney said right after. The United States does not discriminate based on religion. Second, supporting birthright citizenship is a no-brainer. Every person in America is equal under the law, and the sins of the parents are not passed on to the children.

First Republican Primary Debate (SC)

The primary season is upon us. The first Republican primary debate was held Thursday, although I didn't get a chance to see it until yesterday (full video here). Notable in their absence were all the losers from the last election, which doesn't bother me a bit. I was also glad to not see Trump on stage.

Among those who showed up, there were two former governors (Pawlenty and Johnson), two Congressmen (one current (Paul) and one former (Santorum)) and... Herman Cain, former CEO of a company I've never heard of and also former chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve. I've deliberately avoided most of the 2012 primary talk up until now. Before watching the debate, my opinion of Santorum, Pawlenty and Johnson was basically neutral. I had a vague positive opinion of Herman Cain, having seen one or two Youtube videos of him speaking, and a moderate negative opinion of Ron Paul, for a variety of reasons.

Below, I've summarized and responded to each candidate's positions. Just for fun, I've also scored each position positive, zero or negative based on my gut reaction to it.

Ron Paul:

• There was some uncharacteristic uncertainty when the candidates were asked to raise their hand if they would release the Osama photo. Paul raised it, lowered it, then raised it again. Really odd, although maybe he just didn't know how long he was supposed to keep his hand raised. (0)
• Paul says Osama bin Laden would "absolutely not" still be alive if we had withdrawn from Afghanistan years ago; the Afghanistan war "hardly had anything to do with" gathering the intelligence for the Osama raid. Total cognitive dissonance. (-1)
• Big rant against Guantanamo and "secret prisons," invoking fears of authoritarianism. "We should treat people the way we think we might be treated under dire circumstances." Presumably, he's not talking about televised beheadings. (0) Oy, are the Paulites going to raucously applaud after every statement he makes?
• Paul says enhanced interrogation doesn't "accomplish anything," and it is "not true" that it led to intelligence that helped us find Osama. No matter what your opinion of "enhanced interrogation" is, it does seem to have revealed information that was useful in catching Osama. (-1)
• Tort reform is a state matter, not a national matter, and that's why he opposes national tort reform. But he also has his own free-market-based national tort reform plan. (Raucous appluase.) The free market is great, but the first half of his statement doesn't quite mesh with the second part of his statement. (0)
• "I'd sort of like to follow the Constitution, and then we wouldn't have these kinds of problems." Asked what limited role the federal government should have, he launches into a tirade against militarism and somehow inflation is the same as defaulting on our debt. This question was the perfect opportunity to lay out a real, solid libertarian approach for what the government should be doing, and aside from the first sentence, Paul blew it. (-1) Still gets applause though. I swear, the man could make armpit fart noises and get a standing ovation.
• Paul says Israel is "too dependent" on us, and he doesn't want any foreign aid, "Pakistan or anyone else." Israel should make their own decisions on attacking Iran. (0)
• On marriage, government should "get out of it." No restrictions on gay marriage, or if government must be involved in marriage, let it be at the state level. (+1)
• On appealing to union voters, he says it's fine for the GOP to be anti-union, because we can reach those voters on other issues. This is the first time I really feel like Ron Paul deserved that ever-present applause. (+1)
• First time the crowd has laughed-- the moderator lists Paul's support for legalizing marijuana, cocaine, heroine, prostitution and gay marriage, then asks, "Why should social conservatives in South Carolina vote for you for President?" Rather than talk about any of those things, Paul talks in general about liberty and the government telling you what you can eat or drink. When pressed, he ends up saying it's okay to legalize heroin because he doesn't think anyone there would actually use it. The Paulites love his answer, as always. (-1)
• In the first lightning round, he says Obama's greatness weakness is the economy, which Obama doesn't understand. Paul says prices are rising, and we haven't had "the correction" from the previous bubble created by the Federal Reserve. A lot of people love this kind of talk, and not just the Paulites. But when Paul talks about a "correction" from a bubble, he's talking about a recession. He'll never phrase it that way, but that's what a correction is. He doesn't think the Great Recession was deep enough, and the only way to move forward is to have another one. This response would be terrifying if I thought Ron Paul had any chance to win the general election. (-2)
• In the second lightning round, Ron Paul says he doesn't feel threatened by Bachmann because she's not there at the debate. (0)
• In his closing remarks, he says the budget and deficit is a philosophical problem, not an accounting problem, then brings up the role of government, including bringing the troops home and restoring sound money. Nice to hear him discussing what the role of government should be, but my ideal role is not Ron Paul's ideal role. (0)

Herman Cain:

• His first statement for the night is that he would not release the Osama photo. (-1)
• On Afghanistan, he would follow the advice of his expert advisers, which, since he's not yet President, he doesn't have, so he doesn't know what he would do. Props for honesty, but that's not going to win a campaign. (0)
• He would support waterboarding in certain circumstances because terrorists have one goal: "to kill all of us." That line of argument could be used to justify absolutely anything. (-1)
• "We have the all of the resources we need right here in this country to establish energy independence, if we had the leadership." That's a great start, but then he falls into blaming "speculators" for the run-up in gas prices. Ugh. (-1)
• According to the question the experts say the FairTax is bad for the middle class. Cain's reponse: "With all due respect, your experts are dead wrong... I strongly support totally replacing the current code with the FairTax." Personally, I'm not sure where I stand on the FairTax. I prefer solutions like the Flat Tax that avoid any kind of national sales tax. More to the point, I'm suspicious of ideas like Cain's "prebate" for "every family" on "essential goods and services." If every family receives a prebate, why do we need to tax those "essential" goods and services in the first place? That just sounds like an excuse for people to get an extra check in the mail. (-1)
• Cain supports the Arizona immigration law. He says there are four problems with immigration: "securing the border, enforcing the laws that are there, promoting the path to citizenship that we already have... and... empower the states to do what the federal government cannot and is not doing." Securing the border is a joke, but enforcing existing laws and cleaning up the bureaucracy in the existing path to citizenship are both worthy goals. However, in the end, Cain says we need to empower states to do what "the federal government cannot micromanage." That's great if we're talking about issues that can be solved by the states. But it's hardly micromanagement for the federal government to handle the nation's immigration policy. (0)
• We've intervened in Libya, but we never intervened in Syria-- which is right? Cain answers, "Neither." He says we need to have a foreign policy plan in place for every country on earth. Yes, Mr. Cain, and we're trying to find out what yours would be. (-1)
• Cain has apparently said that Obama's failure to defend DOMA is "a breach of presidential duty bordering on treason." That's a bit harsh, but Cain's point is that the President is to "protect and uphold the laws of the United States of America," and Obama is "asking the Justice Department to not uphold a law." Right on. (+1)
• Asked about the GOP appearing as a union-busting party, Cain deflects the question to talk about how bad the NLRB is. Which is true, and seeing as the debate is in South Carolina, I guess it's hard to avoid demagoguing on that right now. (0)
• Cain is given a double-question, partly about his lack of experience in elected office, and partly about abortion. "I'm proud of the fact, quite frankly, that I haven't held public office before. Because I ask people-- Most of the people that are in elected office in Washington DC, they have held public office before. How's that workin' for ya? We have a mess. How about sending a problem solver to the White House?" He gets the third laugh from the crowd, and the first that's not in response to drugs. It's a great response, although I do wish he'd touched on abortion too. (+1)
• In the first lightning round, Cain says, "One right decision doth not a great president make." Awesome quote. He also says Obama's main problem is the economy in general and gas prices in particular. (+1)
• In the second lightning round, Cain says he supported Romney in 2008 because of Romney's business experience and approach to jobs, but he's now running against Romney (probably) because, "He did not win." (+1)
• In his closing remarks, Cain says we need real economic growth, energy independence, and national security clarity, and not... positionship? What on earth is that? For a closing statement that was so clearly prepared and practiced ahead of time, Cain should've stuck to the dictionary. (-1)

Tim Pawlenty:

• His response about Obama killing Osama bin Laden is mediocre. He congratulates Obama "in that moment," but criticizes him on other foreign policy issues. No surprise there-- this is the default Republican position. His Libya statement does worry me a bit, though. (0)
• He would release the Osama photo. (+1)
• "The first order of business of the United States federal government is to protect this country and the American people." A great quote, but it kind of avoided the question about enhanced interrogation and what limits should be placed on it. (0)
• He went back and forth with the moderator a couple times to clarify the enhanced interrogation hand-raising question, making clear he would support it in "certain" circumstances but not "any" circumstances. I wish I knew what "certain" circumstances, but this is better than either Paul's or Cain's approaches. (+1)
• In response to what he would do to stimulate the economy besides cutting taxes, he gets in a good dig against Obama for the NLRB's recent Boeing nonsense. Telling us what you won't do isn't the same as telling us what you will do, but it's still a good point to make. (+1)
• Pawlenty wants to "empower individuals and families" on health care, and "if they need financial help, let's give it to them, but let's give it to them directly." (+1)
• Asked about balancing the budget in Minnesota, he brags that every one of his four two-year budgets as Governor was balanced. That's great, but he fails to mention that a balanced budget is required by the Minnesota state constitution. (-1)
• Pawlenty says Obama should have established the Libya no-fly zone a month earlier, and he would never subordinate the US to the UN, which he calls "that pathetic organization." (-1)
• He supports the Bush approach to embryonic stem cell research funding, giving funds to research on existing lines, but not to research that would destroy more embryos. He also supports "adult-derived" stem cell research, and points out that most of the benefits we've seen so far have been from adult stem cells. (+1)
• Asked whether he thinks "faith-based theory" (creationism) is equivalent to "scientific inquiry" (evolution), he says in Minnesota he left that choice up to local schools and parents. He says the federal and state governments should stay out of the decision. (+1)
• He also wants to trumpet about being in "a union family" but the government shouldn't discourage business, and really wishes he'd been asked about unions directly. (-1)
• On his previous support for cap-and-trade, which actually gets boos from the audience, he apologizes and says he's changed his mind. (0)
• In the first lightning round, Pawlenty focuses on the economy and federal spending, but also says, "We can't restore America's promise unless we have a President who keeps his promises to America." Nice quote, although the crowd is silent. (+1)
• In the second lightning round, Pawlenty actually says, "I love the Huck." (-1)
• In his closing remarks, Pawlenty talks about common sense and then plugs his website. (-1)

Rick Santorum:

• Santorum would apparently release the Osama photo, although everyone else who raised their hand raised it all the way up, while he seemed more sheepish about it. (+1)
• "If you look at what President Obama has done right in foreign policy, it has always been a continuation of the Bush policies." I don't agree with this 100%, but this is exactly the message that a successful Republican candidate will need to send in the general election. (+1)
• He says Islam requires "reformation" and that the United States government needs to address this "ideological battle." Meh. (0)
• He would support enhanced interrogation in "certain" circumstances, but more importantly, he calls out Ron Paul on how both enhanced interrogation and our role in Afghanistan are linked to the Osama raid. (+1) 
• Cap Medicare benefits, and "put people in charge instead of the government." According to the question, he's previously regretted voting for Medicare Part D, but based on his answer, he actually likes Medicare Part D. Hmm. (0)
• Santorum, asked about repealing Obamacare and reforming Medicare for seniors already on the program completely ignores the second half of the question. He doesn't say it outright, but seems to agree that defunding Obamacare is more important than avoiding default, and Republicans should use the debt limit vote to force a defunding of Obamacare. I'd love to see Obamacare defunded and repealed, but that's simply not going to happen as long as Obama is President. On the debt limit vote, we need to focus negotiations on areas where we have a chance of succeeding. (-1)
• English is "the most powerful language in the world." Interesting word choice. He supports making English the official language, then takes a nice dig at Obama doing nothing on Hispanic issues when Democrats had full control of Congress. Still, this is not an issue to get worked up about. (-1)
• "We have tolerated a lot of bad behavior" from Pakistan, and we need to return to Bush's "with us or against us." But ultimately he's waffly on continuing to give money to Pakistan's government. Invoking Bush isn't going to help in the general election, and he really should be stronger in withholding money from Pakistan. (-1)
• Regarding Mitch Daniels, "anybody that would suggest that we call a truce on the moral issues doesn't understand what America is all about." This might be Santorum's first applause. This is obviously something Santorum cares about deeply. He talks about freedom, and then jumps to keeping marriage strong. It's great to see him so worked up, but I just don't share his enthusiasm on social issues, with the exception of abortion and maybe one or two others. (0)
• Asked about a quote of his from 2005 regarding "radical feminism" and women working outside the home, Santorum is clearly bothered by the question. There's hemming and hawing. He takes awhile to figure out his answer. But... who cares? (0)
• In the first lightning round, Santorum doesn't mention Obama at all, but focuses on his own electoral history, having beaten (he says), three "unbeatable" Democrat incumbents. (+1)
• In the second lightning round, Santorum is asked about Gingrich's past marital problems. Santorum hems and haws and says we all make mistakes. (0)
• In his closing remarks, Santorum says he's got the experience and the "arrows in his back" to prove it. He takes credit for leading welfare reform in the 90s, which might be news to a lot of people. (-1)

 Gary Johnson:

• He would release the Osama photo. (+1)
• Johnson would withdraw from Afghanistan "tomorrow", was against the war in Iraq from day one and his opinion on Libya is "I'm opposed to it, A to Z." I'm not sure what "A to Z" means in the context of Libya, or what he would prefer to do in response to the Arab Spring, but the talk of withdrawing from Afghanistan "tomorrow" makes me leery of him. (-1)
• He would not support waterboarding in any circumstance, but he doesn't get a chance to elaborate at all. (0)
• Johnson wants to eliminate the corporate income tax and the federal minimum wage, and stop extending unemployment benefits. In his response, he has a good argument for eliminating the corporate income tax, but he's extremely waffly on unemployment benefits and doesn't address the minimum wage at all. (+1, grudgingly)
• Johnson's upset that "it's like 9 questions for these guys and none for me." He has a point. They're starting Pawlenty's fifth question, Santorum and Paul have both gotten four, Cain has gotten three and Johnson only two. Still, pointing it out like that makes him look like a whiner. (-1)
• "We're on the verge of a financial collapse." He wants to turn Medicare and Medicaid into block grants, and cut them by 43%. Block grants are good, but no candidate is going to win the general election on a platform of cutting Medicare and Medicaid by 43%. (-1)
• Immigration will create "tens of millions of jobs." He keeps stressing the difference between temporary work visas vs full citizenship or permanent residence. "Very little, if any benefit" to securing the border. This has probably been my favorite response to any question so far. (+2)
• Johnson says, "I'm a free market guy... I don't favor tariffs of any kind, whatsoever." Very simple, very straightforward, and exactly what I want to hear. (+1)
•  Apparently, Johnson is the only person on the stage who does not describe himself as "pro-life." He supports abortion "up until viability," but he opposes late-term abortion and public funds for abortion, while favoring parental notification and counseling. Ultimately, he admits he won't get the pro-life vote in the primaries, but he hopes he will in the general election. In other words, "I might be bad, but I'm not as bad as Obama." (-1)
• The crowd laughs for the second time when the moderator says Johnson admits he personally smoked marijuana. Talking about drugs sure gets South Carolinians happy. In response, Johnson says he wants to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana, and approach it as a health issue, not a criminal justice issue. Although I support allowing medical uses of marijuana by prescription, I'm somewhere between undecided and opposed on full legalization, and nothing Johnson says is anything I haven't heard before. (0)
• In the first lightning round, Johnson basically says, if Democrats win in 2012, America is screwed, but if Republicans win, we've got some small chance of maybe not being screwed. Go GOP! (0)
• In the second lightning round, Johnson is asked, if he had a reality TV show like Donald Trump, what would it be? Um, really? It has to be a question about Trump, so we finally have a perfect opportunity to slam Birtherism, and we get a question about reality TV? Come on, Fox. Johnson handles it well, but it's easily the worst question of the night. (0 for Johnson, -1 for Fox)
• In his closing remarks, Johnson mostly just says things he's said before-- common sense, cost-benefit analysis, financial collapse, 2-1 Democrats in New Mexico... But he can't leave out a plug for his website. (0)

Conclusion
I couldn't help but notice, when the moderators mention "the potential candidates who are not here," Fox News shows five pictures -- Bachmann, Gingrich, Romney, Trump and Huckabee. No Palin. Since she is a "Fox News contributor," do they know something we don't?

Summing my gut reactions for each candidate, Ron Paul gets -4, Herman Cain -2, Tim Pawlenty +2, Rick Santorum 0 and Gary Johnson +1. These don't really matter, since every candidate got different questions for the most part, and some got more than others.

For the most part, Ron Paul is just typical Ron Paul, and it reinforces why I don't like him. It seems like he never actually thinks his positions through to their logical conclusions (or if he has, he's counting on his supporters not to). Gary Johnson plays the role of the sane libertarian. Overall, I like him, but there are a few issues where he's wrong, like abortion. Still, his position on abortion means I'm closer to him than to the status quo, so I guess that's a net positive.

Tim Pawlenty, for the most part, fulfills his reputation as the generic Republican. He does get the highest score here from my gut reactions, and he got in some good one-liners. On the other hand, getting a +2 out of a possible +16 is still pretty bad. He has a long way to go before I'd be willing to vote for him. Rick Santorum is kind of the more animated version of Pawlenty. He gets really worked up about some things, but for the most part, it's not the right things.

Finally, Herman Cain was a huge disappointment, even though everyone else seems to have declared him the winner of the debate. Cain could be a really great candidate, but a President needs a foreign policy. Based on this debate, it doesn't sound like Cain has any idea what he would do on foreign policy. That's the kind of thing you figure out before you run for President. His approach to domestic policy sounds good, except for that line about oil speculators. As a businessman, he should've known better.