"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Republicans Debate on MSNBC in Florida: Romney Unveils New Cylon Expression

A lumpy, uneven Republican debate on MSNBC in Florida tonight - with some really boring stretches on the economy, but each of the candidates having some good moments.

First, our Cylon watch - otherwise known as, Is Mitt Romney A Cylon? - a question first introduced here on Infinite Regress back in June. The Cylons, of course, are cyborgs from Battlestar Galactica who look just like humans, and, with The Sarah Connor Chronicles now on television, we might just as easily ask Is Mitt Romney a Terminator? - or, more precisely, one of the more recent, post-Arnold models.

The most Cylon-like behavior in Romney tonight was his new, non-smiling expression. Take a look at clips from the debate when you have a chance. See what I mean? Since the last debate, someone programmed in a new, serious, concerned expression on Romney's face - probably found in some poll to be more effective than his more typical smile.

As to the words tonight -

Romney was clear in his economics, and got in a fine Republican line about Bill Clinton (possibly taken from Obama).

McCain seemed Presidential, especially when he came to Giuliani's defense about The New York Times' endorsement of McCain and its attack on Giuliani. (The New York Times also endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. It's not clear to me who, other than The New York Times, cares about its endorsements any more.)

Giuliani gave a principled answer about his support of the war not being based on polls (though I disagree with that support).

Huckabee was more humorous than usual tonight - explaining that he didn't disagree with Chuck Norris' attack on McCain, because Norris was standing right next to Huckabee when he made the attack, and Huckabee didn't dare disagree...

And Ron Paul, as always, made the most sensible points - explaining yet again why we should not get involved in unconstitutional wars.

I'm beginning to think that we've gotten about as much as we can expect out of these Republican debates. The Democrats, having winnowed the field, certainly put on a far more spirited debate in South Carolina a few nights ago. There will certainly be fewer Republican contenders after February 5, and possibly even after Florida next week.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Romney will win Florida by 5-10 points, McCain will come in second.

Giuliani will drop out, endorsing McCain, so all the moderate Repub vote will go to McCain.

Huckabee may drop out due to money, and will almost certainly endorse McCain, since he hates Romney.

So I see a McCain win, although it's easy to underestimate Romney, who has the money and ability to be competitive until the very end.

Mike Plugh said...

The GOP field is a train wreck. I carried a lot of respect for McCain over the years (until he started to suck up to Cheney and the religious Right), and he looks like the only reasonable choice for the nomination. Romney would make a horrendous president and would be virtually assured to a single term. He's the John Kerry of the GOP.

Giuliani should be humiliated with the poor campaign he has run. He looked like a shoe-in at one point a couple of years ago, but he has the charisma of an air horn at close range. To cover up his shady record he needed to be Mr. Charming and there is zero charm from his spouse to his support of the Red Sox to the public trouncing he's enjoyed at the hands of the Firefighters union.

McCain can be president. He has everything the GOP needs to attract reform minded conservatives and independents to the ballot box. He has the national security profile to attract the middle of the road American who wants an end to the Iraq Occupation but still wants a clear US victory of some sort.

The Democrats should be afraid of McCain, especially Obama. Obama has a nice wave of support now, but in the face of a true conservative the South and the Rocky Mountain region are unwinnable in my opinion. Clinton can pull off a win or two against McCain in those areas, but it would be close.

As a Democratic supporter, I pray they choose Romney, but as an American I hope it's McCain.

InfiniteRegress.tv