Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

LITTWIN: GOP debate on YouTube a taste of things to come

By Mike Littwin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 29, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

Text size  

More News Columns & Blogs

More stories »

There were no snowmen in this YouTube debate. But you didn't need any questions about global warming to feel the heat coming directly through your TV set.

This Republican presidential debate was serious. If you came looking for a lighthearted take on the clash of generations - the goateed, T-shirt set vs. eight white guys in suits - this wasn't it.

Some people talk about the lack of diversity in the Republican field - and, no, Fred Thompson's height doesn't count - but, for two hours, you got all the diversity of loudly stated opinion you could ask for.

So you had front-runners Mitt Romney vs. Rudy Giuliani on whether either truly opposed illegal immigration.

And Mike Huckabee vs. Romney on whether it's OK to give scholarships to children of illegal immigrants.

There was John McCain vs. Romney on whether waterboarding was torture. McCain, who won that round, looked ready to inflict some kind of hurt on Romney.

Huckabee vs. Romney (him again) on whether to take the Bible literally. Romney stumbled while Huckabee, on a related what-would-Jesus-do topic, said, "Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office."

The candidates each got the chance to present 30-second videos, just as the Democrats did. The Democrats were funnier. But Fred Thompson was the first candidate to run an all-negative, prime-time video, in which he managed to attack Huckabee and, yes, Romney. No laughs, either.

I wasn't sure whether Romney was actively picking fights - I'm trying to picture Romney as a playground bully, or, come to think of it, on a playground at all - or whether Romney simply looked vulnerable. But, as I said, it was serious. It's only six weeks until the Iowa caucuses. The Republicans were so intent on going after each other that it took 87 minutes before anyone even mentioned Hillary Clinton.

(Huckabee, as usual, got off the best line. The question was about Mars - and Huckabee said he'd put Clinton on the first rocket. By the way, Tom Tancredo, who is apparently still running, said he opposed going to Mars. I guess Tancredo is not only against illegal aliens, but also space aliens.)

The big issue is apparently illegal immigration, which got a full 30-minute hearing, which was approximately 30 minutes more than health care got. Most of the candidates tried - in the words of Tancredo - to out-Tancredo Tancredo on the topic. Somewhere, Lou Dobbs is smiling.

Romney began by accusing Giuliani of running a sanctuary city when he was mayor of New York. Giuliani accused Romney of running a "sanctuary mansion" - referring to the charge that Romney had illegal immigrants doing yard work for his very large lawn.

Romney mentioned that Giuliani once actively embraced illegal immigrants when mayor. (It's true. You could look it up). And Giuliani said that Massachusetts had six sanctuary cities when Romney was governor. (If you listen to Peter Boyles, you'd be surprised that it was only six cities.)

The back and forth went on so long that when Giuliani tried to get in one last shot, the crowd started to boo. It wasn't the last time. Giuliani had a difficult time on guns, too, saying that he had to go after guns in New York to bring down crime. Let's just say that's not the NRA's position. They even went after Giuliani on why Mr. Yankee rooted for the Red Sox in the World Series. Let's just say he didn't match Troy Tulowitzki's position.

Which leads us to the next round - Romney vs. Huckabee. For those of you who are wondering why Huckabee seems to matter, you just need to look at the Iowa polls. For the entire campaign season, Huckabee has been the funny former pastor who lost 100 pounds and who has raised barely $100. He was the comic-relief candidate who's an evangelical who also plays rock guitar. The media fell for him, but he couldn't even get evangelists, who were desperately looking for a candidate, to take him seriously.

But now he has pulled even with Romney in some of the Iowa polls - and he's the funny former governor of Arkansas who has to be taken seriously.

The other candidates can read polls. Thompson, who needs that conservative base, went after him on taxes. Romney, who needs it, too, went after him on illegal immigration. Huckabee was smooth throughout. He even offered to help Giuliani, the one-time altar boy, on whether to take the Bible literally.

I thought Huckabee had the best debate, although he kind of disappeared when the topic moved to foreign policy. McCain got his chance to dominate then, and he did. His only real challenger was the gay general who asked about don't ask, don't tell. But if Romney stumbled and if Giuliani was on the defensive, I doubt if either got hurt much. What we basically got was a prime-time preview of the debate to come.

What's the cliche these days - that politics ain't beanbag? Even the videographers figured that out. On this night, they weren't throwing many YouTube softballs either.

Comments

  • November 29, 2007

    8:24 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Spencer writes:

    "Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo also participated in the debate"...This is from the MSNBC story on the debate. This is the sum total of any mention of Tancredo. What a joke.

  • November 29, 2007

    2:33 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Jim writes:

    Immigration is the Willie Horton in '08. Get ready for ugly.

  • December 1, 2007

    6:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Ramm writes:

    Media elite again, eh Mike? Did you even check out Ron Paul?