June 13th New Hampshire presidential primary debate **live commentary thread**

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

What's the big deal about Bachmann announcing that she's running for President during a debate? Wouldn't that already be assumed considering that she's participating in a debate for the office she's declaring her interest to run for?

[angus]

What's the big deal about Bachmann announcing that she's running for President during a debate? Wouldn't that already be assumed considering that she's participating in a debate for the office she's declaring her interest to run for?

I gave it the old Cart-before-Horse analysis in my head as well, but then dismissed it.  On retrospect, I regard it as a delicately choreographed bit of strategy.  Think of that candlestick with a French accent doing "Be Our Guest" in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. 

She was on fire.  She was exotic.  She came on strong, went flaccid in the middle, but ended with pizazz.  That fat british teapot couldn't steal the show.  And neither could that uptight wardrobe clock.  No, the candle was always there, singing, dancing, and throwing its heat. 

And just when you thought it was safe to call the bluff, she lands you in a bowl of jello. 

It came off as unrehearsed, but you know it was well planned.  They were just waiting for Belle to say she was hungry.  She was hungry for a candidate who could take on the Beast.

Magnificent, Lumiere!  Well played. 

[Ⓐnarchy in the ☭☭☭P!]

What's the big deal about Bachmann announcing that she's running for President during a debate? Wouldn't that already be assumed considering that she's participating in a debate for the office she's declaring her interest to run for?

I gave it the old Cart-before-Horse analysis in my head as well, but then dismissed it.  On retrospect, I regard it as a delicately choreographed bit of strategy.  Think of that candlestick with a French accent doing "Be Our Guest" in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. 

She was on fire.  She was exotic.  She came on strong, went flaccid in the middle, but ended with pizazz.  That fat british teapot couldn't steal the show.  And neither could that uptight wardrobe clock.  No, the candle was always there, singing, dancing, and throwing its heat. 

And just when you thought it was safe to call the bluff, she lands you in a bowl of jello. 

It came off as unrehearsed, but you know it was well planned.  They were just waiting for Belle to say she was hungry.  She was hungry for a candidate who could take on the Beast.

Magnificent, Lumiere!  Well played. 

With the exception, funny enough, of that first question.

He tossed her a relatively hard question, she realizes that answering it could make her start the race looking like a buffoon and says "Look at me! I am announcing my candidacy!", conveniently using the opportunity to avoid having to give an answer. Fortunately for her, it would seem I am the only person who noticed that.

Also, Romney's views were as solid as a wall of blubber, shifting and changing depending on what he figured the audience would like best. With the exception of the eminent domain question, he managed to avoid giving any strong statements at all barring "Obama sux" and "America rulez".

Cain seriously underperformed here, and it will likely begin to show in the coming weeks, as he isn't a strong enough candidate to keep up his strong polling for long. He started off rather weakly, continued along at a mediocre pace, and then started talking about Muslims and came off as a closeted bigot.

T-Paw was pretty funny, especially when he went off on that tangent about meatpacking.

[Gustaf]

I'm watching re-run now. Pawlenty's 5% growth reasoning is so stupid.

[Gustaf]

Ok, having watched all of it that I could find, Pawlenty was bad. Cain might have been good but he made it clear that he can't be president. Romney was solid. I was positively surprised and impressed by Santorum, Bachmann and Gingrich. Especially Gingrich. He came off as the only one except Romney (and maybe Pawlenty) who could actually manage being president.

[angus]

He tossed her a relatively hard question, she realizes that answering it could make her start the race looking like a buffoon and says "Look at me! I am announcing my candidacy!", conveniently using the opportunity to avoid having to give an answer. Fortunately for her, it would seem I am the only person who noticed that.

That, and the moderator's soft grunting.  

But that's a pretty good description of how she handled it.  The transcript says
"...
KING: The speaker just said, Congresswoman, repeal Dodd-Frank. Answer the American out there who says maybe I don't like all of the details, but after what happened in 2007 and 2008, I don't want Wall Street to not have somebody looking at them, watching what they're doing.

BACHMANN: Well, I'm looking forward to answering that question, because I introduced the repeal bill to repeal Dodd-Frank, because it's an over-the-top bill that will actually lead to more job loss, rather than job creation.

But before I fully answer that, I just want to make an announcement here for you, John, on CNN tonight. I filed today my paperwork to seek the office of the presidency of the United States today. And I'll very soon be making my formal announcement.

So I wanted you to be the first to know.

KING: I appreciate that. Well, welcome. If you're out there and you don't get the distinction coming into the night, Congresswoman Bachmann was exploring. She hadn't taken that last step. The other candidates had taken it. I'm sure they welcome you to the fray.

Let's continue the conversation. I want to come to Congressman Paul. You're all here saying the president of the United States is making the economy worse. Has he done one thing -- has he done one thing right when it comes to the economy in this country?"

So you could say that she successfully distracted John King.  Maybe he should have hammered her a bit, but his hands were bound by the format rules.  And she knew they would be.  It was a clever ploy.  Hey, maybe she was more like James Kirk at the Kobayashi Maru scenario than Lumiere as singing candlestick.

[The Mikado]

I'm watching re-run now. Pawlenty's 5% growth reasoning is so stupid.

It's probably the single dumbest thing said by a non-Ron Paul candidate in that debate.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I'm watching re-run now. Pawlenty's 5% growth reasoning is so stupid.

It's probably the single dumbest thing said by a non-Ron Paul candidate in that debate.

you must have been watching a different debate than I was.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Does anyone else think John Bolton would fit well in the debate?