The First South Carolina Debate (FOX/SC GOP) - only 5 candidates

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

The following people are the ones who confirmed attendance by the deadline.  The debate will be Thursday, hosted by FOX News and the South Carolina Republican Party.

Tim Pawlenty
Ron Paul
Rick Santorum
Gary Johnson
Herman Cain

Buddy Roemer, who had hoped to attend did not meet the requirement of getting at least 1% in the most recent national polls.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Roemor is now in full campaign mode, the exploratory committee is over...Gingrich said he will attend, but also said he must likely will not have paid the filing fee on time. Bachman said she would like to attend, as well.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Roemor is now in full campaign mode, the exploratory committee is over...Gingrich said he will attend, but also said he must likely will not have paid the filing fee on time. Bachman said she would like to attend, as well.

Well, these were the 5 announced that will be attending.  Unless they decide to make exceptions, but then they'd have to let Roemer in too.

[Pheurton Skeurto]

This year is Dr. Paul's year. While all the Neo-Cons are bickering with each other, Dr. Paul is going to be spreading his message to the American people.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

This year is Dr. Paul's year. While all the Neo-Cons are bickering with each other, Dr. Paul is going to be spreading his message to the American people.

Right... he might win a state--2 at most.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

This year is Dr. Paul's year. While all the Neo-Cons are bickering with each other, Dr. Paul is going to be spreading his message to the American people.

I hope so.

[Phony Moderate]

Pawlenty:

Blah....blah...blah....blah....blah

Paul:

Let's defeat the New World Order! End the Fed!

Santorum:

Pretty soon we will be f**king dogs

Johnson:

Marijuana is good for you

Cain:

Muslims should be barred from seeking office

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

Do you think Romney not appearing will hurt him? I frankly don't understand that decision......

I think he's done well by keeping his head done and staying out of the spot light since 2008. I think that was incredibly smart. But this first debate should be the kickoff, surely? Why isn't he going to participate?

[Pheurton Skeurto]

This year is Dr. Paul's year. While all the Neo-Cons are bickering with each other, Dr. Paul is going to be spreading his message to the American people.

Right... he might win a state--2 at most.

Siiiiiiiike

[Landslide Lyndon]

This year is Dr. Paul's year. While all the Neo-Cons are bickering with each other, Dr. Paul is going to be spreading his message to the American people.

Right... he might win a state county--2 at most.

Fixed.

[Reluctant Republican]

Paul's actually having one of his moneybomb's that day, with a goal of 2 million. Be interesting to see if he can get it. If he can't meet the goal I'd not expect him to do all that well. But I think he will meet if not exceed the goal.

He won't win the nomination(sadly) but if Huckabee and maybe Palin stay out I could see him becoming a fairly strong contender. Even with them he could be a Jerry Brown type.

Also, there's been some bad blood between Johnson and Paul supporters recently.(Johnson posted a supporter's blog on his site calling Paul out on the newsletters.) I don't know the relationship between the candidates, but I think we might see more disagreement between the two men then we'd expect.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Do you think Romney not appearing will hurt him? I frankly don't understand that decision......

I think he's done well by keeping his head done and staying out of the spot light since 2008. I think that was incredibly smart. But this first debate should be the kickoff, surely? Why isn't he going to participate?

I don't understand it, but it's early... there's plenty of time to win some support.

[Joe Republic]

Romney was smart to stay out once it appeared that his only opponents would be the little leaguers of this campaign.  No need for him to put himself on the same stage as these losers until there are some real opponents up there for him to talk to.

[Mr. Morden]

Here is the news story:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/03/lineup-set-for-first-gop-debate-big-names-take-a-pass/

Note that it says that none of this has actually been officially announced yet.  They're citing "a GOP source".

Roemor is now in full campaign mode, the exploratory committee is over...

Roemer hasn't gotten 1% in a national poll, so he's being excluded.  You have to get 1% to be included.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Bachmann said she's not attending, because she doesn't have an exploratory committee:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/bachmann-to-skip-first-presidential-debate-in-nobr-south-carolina-nobr--20110501

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I still don't get why Ron Paul and his freakin' protege are facing off against each other?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I still don't get why Ron Paul and his freakin' protege are facing off against each other?

They will ignore each other for the most part. They will unite against the Neo-Cons.

Here is the news story:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/03/lineup-set-for-first-gop-debate-big-names-take-a-pass/

Note that it says that none of this has actually been officially announced yet.  They're citing "a GOP source".

Roemor is now in full campaign mode, the exploratory committee is over...

Roemer hasn't gotten 1% in a national poll, so he's being excluded.  You have to get 1% to be included.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Bachmann said she's not attending, because she doesn't have an exploratory committee:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/bachmann-to-skip-first-presidential-debate-in-nobr-south-carolina-nobr--20110501

Roemor is going to attend, no matter what. They have made that clear. Bachman has publiclly stated she wants to attend, like Santorum did, before he announced his E-Com...So her announcement can be soon..No ofcourse she is not actually going to attend.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

How come no-one likes us neo-cons?

[Mr. Morden]

Roemor is going to attend, no matter what. They have made that clear.

I'm not sure what you mean by that.  Who has made that clear?  Roemer himself?  Is he going to pull an Alan Keyes, and show up for the debate uninvited and try to get in?

Or do you mean that the debate organizers have made it clear that Roemer will participate?  Because I'm not aware of the debate organizers making any definitive confirmation on anyone yet.

[Cincinnatus]

How come no-one likes us neo-cons?

Just the policy.  I'm sure you are quite a pleasant fellow

[Person Man]

Pawlenty:

Blah....blah...blah....blah....blah

Paul:

Let's defeat the New World Order! End the Fed!

Santorum:

Pretty soon we will be f**king dogs

Johnson:

Marijuana is good for you

Cain:

Muslims should be barred from seeking office

That's nice.

[specific_name]

This should be very entertaining and totally inconsequential. The person who may gain from this is Paul. Everyone who has name recognition with the low information voters is avoiding this.

[Eraserhead]

I'll watch this one. It looks like a pretty entertaining lineup except for the Minnesota bore. Amusingly, 2 of the 5 candidates will probably be booed for a good portion of the evening.

[Mr. Morden]

I'll be interested to see what Johnson and Paul say about the bin Laden killing (it'll obviously be one of the topics), and how the other candidates respond to them.  Remember this Giuliani-Paul moment from 2007:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQrwKr_b4Lg

[Eraserhead]

What time will this be at?

[Joe Biden 2020]

What time will this be at?

9:00 Eastern