9:07 Mitt Romney is first up.

9:10 Says that Washington is liberal and that change would be making it conservative.

“Opportunity is what makes Hope attainable.”

9:15 “I have one more suggestion for energy conservation. Let’s keep Al Gore’s jet on the ground.”

9:16 Says the no mention was made at last weeks Dem convention about the issue of Radical Islam.

Short and well received.

Mike Huckabee is next. I missed the beginning of his speech.

9:31 There are some things we don’t want to change. Freedom, Security, the ability to succeed. (Didn’t get the exact quote).

9:35 “I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich. I’m a republican because I grew up poor and didn’t want to wait around for the government to rescue me.”

Repeats his line that Sarah Palin got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla than Joe Bidden got running for President of the United States.

Missed the end too.

9:44 Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii is up now talking about fellow Republican Governor, Sarah Palin.

10:02 Rudy Giuliani’s turn.

Unless you went to bed before 9 o’clock and then this is the first thing you’ve read, you already know that John McCain won the Florida Republican primary. That puts 57 more delegates in his column on the way to this summer’s convention.

Rudy Giuliani finished a distant third and is rumored to be heading for the exit. Also rumored is the idea that Giuliani will be endorsing John McCain after leaving the race. All of that could be confirmed sometime today.

Mike Huckabee finished another 2% behind Rudy Giuliani. I haven’t heard any talk about him dropping out, but I think that is an acknowledgment that his run is over no matter when he decides to bow out.

Ron Paul is completely out of the running, but will most likely stay in for a while longer. On a side note regarding Paul, I read a quote somewhere this past week where he said that this campaign has “exceeded all his expectations”. I can only conclude that he never expected to win, which begs the question why is he still in this race?

Sooper Oh My Gawd Tuesday will be here faster than Nancy Pelosi blinks. Clearly now a two man race, it will be most interesting to see how the next few days play out. Keep it tuned right here to find out.

Tomorrow is the Florida primary. Before I leave for work I’ll walk across the street and cast my ballot. That means I have about 25 hours to figure out which candidate will get my vote.

I hope that’s enough time.

Part of the decision making is easy. There never has been a chance that I would mark Ron Paul’s name on my ballot. His position on the war is the biggest reason I could never vote for him, but not the only one. And frankly, who would want to be associated with the wacko supporters he has attracted?

Mike Huckabee is out as well. His sound bites sound good, but sound good is about all he has going for him. His record in Arkansas speaks louder than the one-liners from the trail, and that’s not good at all.

That eliminates the two that thankfully won’t be causing me a November dilemma.

Leaving me with a choice of McCain, Giuliani, and Romney.

John McCain has much to recommend him, and much more to eliminate him from my picks. BCRAp is a horrible piece of legislation, but although it bears his name he is hardly alone in foisting this on us. Too many people, from all three branches of government, are responsible for that fiasco.

His leadership and support of the gag (no, that’s not a misspelling) of 14 was a huge mistake, but nothing can top his stance on illegal immigration. It doesn’t matter how many times he says that the position he supports isn’t amnesty. It is. More importantly, he still stands behind that position.

The appointment of Dr. Juan Hernandez as his Hispanic Outreach Director should be all anyone who supports strong border security needs to know. Kim Priestap describes him this way:

[. . .] an open-borders, put Mexico first fanatic. He’s a Texas born dual citizen who also served as Director of the Office for Mexicans Living Abroad in Vicente Fox’s administration.

Bull Dog Pundit sums up my thoughts very well.

Certainly McCain’s failure to disavow Gonzalez’s awful views and allowing him to volunteer for the campaign is a slap in the face of conservatives, and belies his claim that he “learned his lesson” on immigration reform, and raises serious doubts that if elected President he won’t push the same kind of amnesty bill that got defeated last year.

[...]

It just boggles the mind that McCain, who up to now has been able to weather the illegal immigration issue as well as can be expected would have this radioactive clown anywhere near his campaign when he needs every conservative vote he can in the upcoming “closed” primaries.

That leaves only Giuliani and Romney.

Giuliani is only slightly ahead of McCain when it comes to illegal immigration. That’s mostly because his influence on the issue was confined to the “It wasn’t a Sanctuary City” Sanctuary City of New York, not the national stage. Gun Control and social issues play a part in my elimination of Giuliani as well, but eliminate him I must.

So, I’m left with three choices — stay home (although I haven’t missed a chance to vote in years), vote for Fred Thompson (who I strongly wish was still a candidate), or vote for Mitt Romney.

Staying home really isn’t an option. It solves nothing and leaves me without a voice in the outcome. I strongly believe that voting is one of the most important things we do as citizens. It doesn’t matter if it’s a primary, the general elections, amendments, or for the proverbial dog catcher (who I can never remember seeing on a ballot). I won’t be staying home.

Some might say that casting my vote for Fred Thompson after he has dropped out of the race is the same as staying home. Maybe. But it sure would feel good. I still believe that he was the candidate that stood closest to the positions I feel strongly about. His policies, well thought out and articulated, are what I think would be best for America. I hope that he still plays a part in this election.

I won’t have to hold my nose if I decide to vote for Mitt Romney. His strength on economic issues is real and I am impressed with his real world experience in that regard. I don’t hold any animus for his change on the right to life issue. His explanation for his change is both understandable and credible. My one big worry is his stance on health care. If he doesn’t try to port what was done in Mass. to the nation it should be ok.

So, I’m now down to 23 hours to decide. I’ll let you know after I do.

It’s not being called a debate, but a forum. Whatever you want to call it, Steveegg will be liveblogging it and I’ll be fulfilling my roll as troublemaker in chief.

Joining in will be Mike Huckalogan, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson.

The flu is a lousy way to spend the day. Glad your doing OK Mr. Mayor.

Republican Rudy Giuliani planned to head home to New York City on Thursday after spending the night in a St. Louis hospital getting checked out for flu-like symptoms, his campaign said.

“After precautionary tests the doctors found nothing of concern at this time and Rudy will be going back to New York later today,” communications director Katie Levinson said in a statement issued before dawn Thursday. “He is in high spirits and is grateful to the doctors and nurses who checked him out.”

[...]

The former New York City mayor felt the symptoms while campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination in Missouri, and they soon became worse, Levinson said late Wednesday. She did not describe the symptoms beyond those being commonly associated with the flu.

The Republican debate in Iowa this past week is being universally awarded the Worst Debate Ever by most, if not all pundits. Jonathan Martin at The Politico wrote on Friday:

Dissatisfied with the debate here Wednesday that drew widespread scorn, Iowa Republicans will discuss on Friday the possibility of holding another forum before the January 3rd caucuses.

The debate this week, sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television, was to have been the final gathering of the GOP contenders, but one well-placed Iowa Republican said tonight that they were interested in getting the candidates back together

“We’d prefer if the Register debate did not leave a bad taste,” said this source, who requested anonymity. “Iowa deserves a little better than that.”

The most likely possibility would be the week after Christmas, when many of the contenders are expected back in the state to make a final push before the voting.

I do agree with Allahpundit who wrote, “Do it well or don’t do it.”

The biggest obstacle will be the logistics of the short time left between the Christmas holidays and the Caucuses. Leaving that aside, what would make this debate worth doing?

I have a few suggestions:

• Limit the debate to Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney. While I like both Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo, eliminating them along with Ron Paul and Alan Keyes (why was he included anyhow?) would allow for a much more substantive debate.
• Limit the number of questions. Allow more substance over quantity.
• Related to the above, allow the candidates time to answer, allow rebuttal, and encourage discussion.
• Find a moderator who can control all of the above, and ask relevant follow up questions. I have seen Rush suggested.

Add your suggestions in the comments. How many and what questions should be asked? Who should moderate? Format? Anything else?

The latest and last (before the first caucus) debate of Republican presidential candidates takes place in Iowa at 2pm EST. The stage will be crowded. Participating: Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney.

Real Clear Politics includes this in their analysis:

Add it all up and we should expect to see another round of sharp exchanges between candidates, most of which will involve Mitt Romney. We’ll have to see whether today’s debate changes anything, but given the location and the proximity to caucus day, it’s a fairly important day for the top tier candidates to have a good showing and, most importantly, not to make a big mistake.

Captain Ed offers up some thumbnail thoughts about what various candidates need to accomplish. Here are a few snippets.

Mike Huckabee — No mistakes, connect emotionally, and seem reasonably conservative.

Mitt Romney — He has to stay focused and ignore Rudy while gently gunning for Huckabee.

Rudy Giuliani — Rudy needs a good performance, but not a great one, and will do best if he’s not the central focus.

John McCain — An extended dialogue on immigration hurts him here, but again, he’s not all that concerned with Iowa.

Fred Thompson — If he plays analyst instead of candidate, he’s toast.

It is with his thoughts on the rest of the field that I most agree:

As for the rest, at this stage, the Register should have taken a pass. They have not developed into contenders by any measure, and the inclusion of Alan Keyes is a strange joke. The DMR could have given us a chance to hear five realistic candidates with some time to get into detail on the issues, but instead chose to have nine with time for little more than soundbites.

Brian will be liveblogging at Liberty Pundit (if the power stays on). The link is here.

Steveegg (No Runny Eggs) is liveblogging here.

Overall, the CNN/YouTube debate questions were better than I expected. Prior to the debate I looked at 100+ of the nearly 5000 questions submitted. I was concerned. CNN did a fair (but far from good) job of selecting the ones to use. Still, I think the format is more gimmick than substance.

The candidates:

Mitt Romney did well and didn’t hurt himself. Not hurting yourself is often the best you can expect from these debates. His initial exchange with Rudy Giuliani over immigration seemed to go a little farther than necessary, but no real gaffes. GRADE: C+

Rudy Giuliani may not have hurt himself, but he sure didn’t help himself. At all. He didn’t seem to bring his ‘A’ game, at least not until after the second break. His defense that NY wasn’t a sanctuary city appeared, well, defensive. GRADE: C-

John McCain did much better than he has in past debates. He came across as less angry and more passionate than in past performances. He did well on all topics but still has not convinced me that the Amnesty Bill wasn’t amnesty. He is the one candidate that I’ve liked well in the debates, but can not support because of his past record on McCain/Feingold, amnesty, and the “Gang of 14″, etc. GRADE: B

Fred Thompson has the best answers and is closest to my views across the board. His White Papers and the details he has for his ideas are outstanding. He just doesn’t convey a real spark. If there were more passion I think he would be unbeatable. GRADE: B

Mike Huckabee probably did more to help himself than any of the others. His emergance in the polls may have caused the moderators to give him some additional focus. On a personality level he appeared to be very relaxed and comfortable with all the questions, much more than I’ve seen in past debates. GRADE: B+

Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo didn’t help or hurt themselves, but for the most part were non-factors. GRADES: C

Ron Paul was not received well by the members of the live audience other than those who already support Ron Paul. He tried (again) to say that he isn’t an isolationist. Saying it doesn’t make it so. He is wrong on the war and forign policy. He will not be the nominee no matter how much money he raises or how loudly his supporters can shout. GRADE: F

And then there were nine.

Nine Republican rivals have agreed to join the debate being broadcast from Drake University in the state where precinct caucuses launch the presidential nominating season. ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” will host the debate, with Stephanopoulos serving as moderator.

The debate will air at 10:00am Eastern Time with nine GOP contenders.

Joining the debate will be Sen. Sam Brownback, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Sen. John McCain, Rep. Ron Paul, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Tom Tancredo and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.

I will try to have occasional updates here. I will also let you know if there is going to be a post debate roundtable at Debate Central.

UPDATE: Thanks to Steveegg for the information that the live debate has already started. My local affiliate obviously plays This Week on tape delay. I guess the No Runny Eggs live thread will start when his local affiliate starts to broadcast as well.

00:00 Introductions in order of poll rank.

No times. I’m watching the delayed broadcast on DVR (further) delay. I also missed quite a bit

Brownback is still stuck on his three state solution for Iraq

McCain on Iraq — Victory or we’ll be back.

Giuliani notes what none of the Dem candidates will say, that this is part of a war against Islamic terrorism.

Romney summarizes Barack Obama’s week. Sit down for tea with our enemies, nuke our allies. “In one week he’s gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove.”

Tommy Thompson is a less than inspiring speaker

I guess the Paultards have come to Drake University

Nothing much new from any of them.

I listened in to Ed Morrissey’s latest edition of CQ Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com tonight as he talked with Debra Burlingame of 9/11 Families for America. They had a very interesting discussion on the John Doe controversy in the Flying Imams case.

Later in the broadcast Ed talked about the recent Rudy Giuliani interview where he stated that there should be federal funds made available for abortions. The focus of that segment was more on the impact to Giuliani’s presidential campaign than on the statements themselves.

Never one to keep my mouth shut (I have dozens of witnesses who will verify that) I called in and had a brief exchange with Ed about the possible consequences. In my opinion this has opened the field on the Republican side. While many conservatives were willing to at least consider supporting the former NYC Mayor, I think that many were only doing so under the “half a loaf is better than none” clause of party politics. However, I think that this stand will send many social conservatives looking for another choice.

In the last minutes of the show Ed asked who I thought benefited the most from this. My answer is that I see this helping the second tier candidates the most.

You’ll be able to listen to the entire hour very shortly. If possible I’ll embed the broadcast here when it becomes available.

UPDATE: If my new plugin works the file should appear below:

[audio:show_18667.mp3]