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was because he largely stayed above the fray and managed to avoid incoming bullets. Romney and Rudy had an all-out fight to start the debate, and so the negative tone was quickly established. Romney also had a rough exchange with McCain over waterboarding.

the reason he's getting this coverage is because Gov. Huckabee is seen as beatable in the general election by Hillary or Obama. He's the weakest candadate for the gen election. Think about it if the war is the most important issue, we need someone with experience. Most of the fiscal conservatives are not happy with the former Gov because of Compassionate Conservatism. Didn't the Republicans loose the House and Senate because of spending and corruption?

I think the Dems are giving him the press because they want him to be the nominee because he'll be the easiest to beat. We need more than Evangelicals, I'm one by the way, to win this election.

Pam

I think you are absolutely correct Pam.

Rightly or wrongly, Americans said our last president was too evangelical for their liking. I wonder how it's going to go down when we introduce them to our Baptist minister nominee who says he will govern as a christian leader in a secular country who wants to push issues based solely on religion and not on good politics.

I'm not against Christians in office or using faith to guide them. I don't think Bush has been to Evangelical, but what about his spending habits. Reagan was an Evangelical, but didn't want programs; he built a strong defense. We had debt, but ended the cold war. We're running debt, but we're not building our defense and we're adding social programs, not to mention the illegal immagrant issue.

If Huckabee wins, aren't the Reps essentally saying we want four more years of GWB and that Karl Rove is right and that all the Average Reps care about are tax cuts and judges, not cutting spending or government!

Pam

...was Mitt's waffling and nonconservative painfully obvious answer/answer-avoidance to the gays in the military question... to the activist conservative types watching this debate that potentially go to the polls, that image is important and helps makes clear he is no true social conservative... all the evangelicals watching who've endorsed him like Weyrich Bob Jones Jr. etc. were cringing big time on that one.

This moment soldified in many minds his lawyer-like answering/wafflng along with his liberalism underneath he is trying with all his brilliant slick skills to hide for the past year or so.

...was Mitt's waffling and nonconservative painfully obvious answer/answer-avoidance to the gays in the military question...

That was easily the biggest gaffe of the night.

...whether he has changed his mind on the issue of whether or not he still looks forward to the day when gays serve openly in the military.

" Huckabee: The Uniform Code of Military Justice is probably the best rule, and it has to do with conduct. People have a right to have whatever feelings, whatever attitudes they wish, but when their conduct could put at risk the morale, or put at risk even the cohesion that Duncan Hunter spoke of, I think that's what is at issue. And that's why our policy is what it is.

Cooper: Governor Romney, you said in 1994 that you looked forward to the day when gays and lesbians could serve, and I quote, "openly and honestly in our nation's military." Do you stand by that?

Romney: This isn't that time. This is not that time. We're in the middle of a war. The people who have...

Cooper: Do you look forward to that time, though, one day?

Romney: I'm going to listen to the people who run the military to see what the circumstances are like. And my view is that, at this stage, this is not the time for us to make that kind of...

Cooper: Is that a change in your position...

Romney: Yes, I didn't think it would work. I didn't think "don't ask/don't tell" would work. That was my -- I didn't think that would work. I thought that was a policy, when I heard about it, I laughed. I said that doesn't make any sense to me.

And you know what? It's been there now for, what, 15 years? It seems to have worked.

Cooper: So, just so I'm clear, at this point, do you still look forward to a day when gays can serve openly in the military or no longer?

Romney: I look forward to hearing from the military exactly what they believe is the right way to have the right kind of cohesion and support in our troops and I listen to what they have to say.

(Audience booing)"
www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/28/debate.transcript.part2/index.html

His viability as a candidate and that he can win. Whether or not you'll vote for him or Hillary is a question I'll let you decide.

However, as he's asked more questions on things like Fiscal Responsibility, Education, Health Care, and other domestic issues- I'm confident you'll feel better about pulling the lever for the Republican party next November.

Simply is the politics of it. If she was screaming about a Sales Tax for 6 months it wouldn't carry any significant water for her campaign. That would inspire a true dialogue on the issue that will take place at debates and on the stump.

I think when people realize that the alternative (Fair Tax) is completely even across the board, and eliminates the hassle they face every Spring regarding the IRS; as well as the abuse used by Democrats by having the IRS "audit" those who speak out against them (Joe Biden has worked this over and over again in Delaware).

If Hillary kept quiet on it, then screamed as loud as she could in the last 96 hours of a campaign to get people out to vote it might have some consequence. But with the long election season I don't see that as possible.

Considering Romney and Huckabee are the nearest competitors of each other, giving Huck softablls while cross-examining Mitt was pretty low.

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of his questions look like softballs.

Of course, all the ?'s tilted left for all candidates- it IS CNN, after all.

The jesus line I heard before, and CNN knew what his response would be.

You don't think that was completely out of line for that moderator to do that?

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Apparently an important topic for Anderson360.

To bad they all missed the obvious answer:

"That policy was put in place by the husband of one of the Democrat candidates. Perhaps you should ask her."

The "Third Worst Person in the World" and aiming higher.

Huckabee and Paul are media darlings precisely because they would damage the Republican Party and conceivably could mount a third party campaign. If, in some alternative universe, these two ran head to head, I can't say which would receive my vote.

It is time to start to encourage Dennis Kucinich to mount his third party campaign, which appears quite possible based on his past comments.

CNN asked Mitt Romney 18 questions directly and Huckabee 4 in the whole debate and they're biased to Huckabee?

I'll tell you what, as a Huckabee supporter I would have really liked, and I'm sure Huckabee would have realished the opportunity to answer, it if CNN asked Huckabee some of the pointed attack questions brought up the last month of the campaign.

Asking Huckabee about fiscal responsibility, about Health Care, about Immigration, about foreign policy and other important issues would have been nice; and I'm pretty sure he would've done an incredible job answering those questions as well.

And, in a way I agree with you, they should have asked Huckabee more questions. Okay, lets face it, the MSM are rooting for Huckabee. Not that its Huckabee's fault, you play the cards your dealt.

and it's a complete result of the MSM?

I really don't know about that- if so, they would've asked him more questions so they'd have more sound bites.

The thing is, it's not in their interest to focus on him. It's better to have "controversy" and watch someone fall that to focus on someone moving up.

The MSM really enjoyed watching McCain crash..
The MSM never got a chance to watch Thompson crash (he's slowly sunk away)
The MSM is looking now to see Romney crash (which if Huckabee wasn't rising in Iowa wouldn't happen)
And HALF of the MSM will look to see Giuliani crash later (look at who owns what...)

I think even still, this debate only goes to further highlight that the MSM are still trying to ignore Huckabee's surge in not just Iowa, but across the country (highlighted by his 2nd place showing in Iowa)... When they finally stop ignoring him they'll attack him too.

While your post was defensive, it was mostly correct. If Huckabee becomes a real threat, and he may very well be, then the MSM will turn on him like they did McCain.

At least Huckabee will probably be a little smarter than McCain was. I would think he knows that the MSM will turn on him if he gets on top, but will ride the wave until then.