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Republican Party (United States) presidential debates, 2008
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Republican Presidential Debates were political debates before the 2008 Republican Primaries
. The first was May 3, 2007, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
in California
. Other debates have taken place in New Hampshire
, South Carolina
, and Florida
. They were generally broadcast by television networks.
The debates can have a substantial effect on the primaries and are important chances for the public to compare the candidates side-by-side.
Key: denotes candidate participated in debate; denotes candidate was not invited; denotes candidate absent but was invited; denotes candidate was out of the race.
in Simi Valley, California
. It was simulcast
live for 90 minutes on MSNBC
and Politico.com.Questions were gathered from The Politico readers for the candidates. All declared candidates were present, as Fred Thompson had not yet declared. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan
was present, along with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
.
The debate was moderated by MSNBC
anchor Chris Matthews
of Hardball
and The Politico
s John Harris. Questions were gathered from The Politico readers for the candidates.
The candidates presented differing opinions of President George W. Bush
, with McCain and Huckabee criticizing Bush's mismanagement of the Iraq War while Giuliani and Romney praised Bush, Ron Paul said Bush was a poor conservative. The candidates also presented different opinions on contentious issues such as abortion
and stem-cell research but were united in calling for further tax cut
s. All candidates opposed a pullout from Iraq except for Ron Paul
, who spoke and voted against the resolution to authorize war on Iraq
in 2002 and has been a vocal critic of the war.
John McCain answered "yes" when asked whether he believed in evolution
. Immediately following, the questioner inquired whether any of the candidates did not believe in evolution, three candidates (Tancredo, Brownback, and Huckabee) raised their hands. McCain then added "I believe in evolution, but I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see a sunset, that the hand of God is there also." Later in the June 5 debate, Brownback and Huckabee elaborated on their position, taking a far more moderate approach.
Pundits Howard Fineman
and Joe Scarborough
concluded that Romney did the best and maintained his posture by seeming the most energetic in the debate. Eugene Robinson
deduced that Romney showed that he has the potential to be a formidable candidate and also answered the most questions in a consistent manner.
At the end of the debate, MSNBC's online votes showed Ron Paul
standing out from the other candidates. Ron Paul won "Best one liner," "Who stood out from the pack" "Most convincing debater", and "Who showed the most leadership qualities?" In all four, he had at least 45% of the total vote.
Mitt Romney won an online vote taken at The Drudge Report
, with Giuliani and Paul close behind.
, South Carolina
at the Koger Center for the Arts at the University of South Carolina
. All candidates then declared participated. It was broadcast live for 90 minutes on Fox News Channel
, and simulcast on Fox News Radio affiliates, including the station of the debate, WVOC. The event was moderated by Brit Hume
, with Chris Wallace
and Wendell Goler
asking most of the questions. The debate was in three rounds, the first on the War in Iraq, the second on domestic issues, such as abortion
, gay rights, spending and tax cuts. For the last, Brit Hume
proposed a fictional scenario involving terrorism. The candidates had to predict their actions in that situation. Fox News held text message
voting by the audience. Ron Paul received the most (33%) with Mike Huckabee second (18%).
During the debate, Ron Paul
asserted that American interventionism in the Middle East, from CIA installation of Iranian leaders
to the bombing of Iraq in the 1990s, culminating in the on-going Iraq war, led to anti-American sentiment in the Middle East and to terrorists plotting attacks against America. Rudy Giuliani portrayed Paul as implying that America had justified the 9/11 attacks through its actions and interrupted the proceedings to demand a retraction, which Paul refused. Former head of the CIA
's bin Laden unit
, Michael Scheuer
, congratulated Ron Paul for his comments, calling them "the truth." Others portrayed the exchange as a victory for Giuliani.
The fictional ticking time bomb scenario
suggested by the moderator was: "Three shopping centers near major U.S. cities have been hit by suicide bombers
. Hundreds are dead, thousands injured. A fourth attack has been averted when the attackers were captured off the Florida coast and taken to Guantanamo Bay, where they are being questioned. U.S. intelligence believes that another larger attack is planned and could come at any time." John McCain
and Ron Paul
were the only candidates who said they were opposed to the concept of "enhanced interrogation techniques
", a phrase Paul labeled Orwellian
newspeak
for torture
. Mitt Romney
suggested that the U.S. double the size of facilities holding non-citizen enemy combatants held in places like Guantanamo and deny them access to the protections afforded to American citizens, such as the right of having an attorney. Giuliani said interrogators should use "any method they can think of" and did not exclude water-boarding. Expressing disbelief at the idea of debating "whether or not waterboarding would be a bad thing to do" Tom Tancredo said "I'm looking for Jack Bauer
."
Mike Huckabee
drew the biggest laughter of the night when he accused Congress
of spending money "like John Edwards
at a beauty shop," a reference to Edwards, who at that time was a 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate, spending $800 of campaign money on two haircuts.
WMUR-TV, CNN
, and the New Hampshire Union Leader
hosted Democratic and Republican debates at Saint Anselm College
in the Manchester, New Hampshire
area. The debate was two hours, without commercials, making it and the CNN
Democratic debate the longest debates in the 2008 season so far. All declared candidates participated, which excluded Thompson. Wolf Blitzer
of The Situation Room
and Late Edition
on CNN moderated the debate.
According to the online CNN.com poll, Ron Paul
received the most votes in all but two categories: "snappiest dresser," who was Mitt Romney
, and "most disappointing performance" who was Rudy Giuliani
. The "big three" candidates (Giuliani, McCain, Romney) also received larger shares of air time compared to the "minor candidates."
A WBZ-Franklin Pierce College poll showed Romney as the winner of the debate at 22%, followed by Rudy Giuliani at 18% and John McCain at 11%. In that poll, none of the other candidates earnered over 3%. Participants in the debate:
Sam Brownback,
James S. Gilmore,
Rudy Giuliani,
Duncan Hunter,
Mike Huckabee,
John McCain,
Ron Paul,
Mitt Romney,
Tom Tancredo and
Tommy Thompson
. All 9 Republican candidates were invited, only Tancredo attended.
This was held during the NAACP 98th annual convention. It was hosted by Russ Mitchell
.
News conducted a live
, 90-minute debate that aired Sunday morning on a special edition of This Week
, moderated by George Stephanopoulos
. All Republican candidates were present. Mitt Romney defended his change from a pro-choice to pro-life position on abortion. Ron Paul
spoke of pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq. The debate concluded with the candidates' revealing their biggest mistakes. Frontrunners Mitt Romney
, Rudy Giuliani
, and John McCain
were given more time to speak than were lesser-known candidates, as in previous debates.
According to an on-line poll at ABCNews.com, Paul won the debate with 63% of votes. Paul's vote total was nearly eight times as many as runner-up Romney. Frank Luntz
, a political commentator for Fox News, asserted that Mike Huckabee
had won the debate.
hosted a Republican
debate at The Whittemore Center at the University of New Hampshire
in Durham, New Hampshire
, for 90 minutes on Fox News. The event was moderated by Brit Hume
, with Chris Wallace
and Wendell Goler
asking most of the questions. According to a public text messaging
poll, Ron Paul
won with 33%, Mike Huckabee
came in second with 18%, followed by Rudy Giuliani
and John McCain
who received 15% and 14% respectively. All candidates who were declared participated.
The Fox News Luntz
focus group
s watching the debate declared disappointment with the performance by Mitt Romney
and Rudy Giuliani
, though John McCain
was viewed favorably. However, some noted the lack of McCain supporters in the audience. The status of Larry Craig
was discussed in the debate, with Sam Brownback
stating that Craig should go through with his decision to resign.
An exchange between Ron Paul
and Mike Huckabee
over the war in Iraq was covered extensively by many news agencies.
" Presidential Debate was held for the GOP candidates at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
. It was broadcast live on television on Sky Angel
, and live on many Christian radio stations, including the Voice of Christian Youth America (VCY America
) network and WKBF-AM, and online on the American Family Association
(AFA) Web site. Seven candidates attended-- Brownback
, Huckabee
, Hunter
, Paul
, Tancredo
, and newly announced candidate Alan Keyes
and John H. Cox
, a candidate who had then not appeared in any of the other debates. The official Web site reports the immediate straw poll
of 340 delegates was won by Huckabee with 219 votes (63%) to Paul 44 (13%), Keyes 22 (7%), Brownback 18 (5%), Fred Thompson 15 (4%), Hunter 4%, Tancredo 2%, Giuliani 1%, McCain 1%, Cox 1%, and Romney 0%. A similar event was planned for the Democratic candidates, but none would confirm their participation.
television hosted a Republican debate in Baltimore, Maryland
, at Morgan State University
that aired live on PBS and on www.pbs.org.
The All-American Presidential Forums are the first in prime time with a panel exclusively of journalists of color. Questions were asked by host Tavis Smiley
and panelists Ray Suarez
of The NewsHour, Cynthia Tucker
of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and NPR's Juan Williams
.
The six debaters were Sam Brownback
, Mike Huckabee
, Alan Keyes
, Ron Paul
, Duncan Hunter
, and Tom Tancredo
. Absent were Rudy Giuliani
, John McCain
, Mitt Romney
, and Fred Thompson, who, according to scientific public opinion surveys, were the leading Republican candidates. Those four were roundly condemned by the hosts and most of the participants. The first few questions concerned how some perceive the Republican Party
to be racist. The organizers put empty podiums on the stage in place of the candidates who refused to attend.
, The Wall Street Journal
, and the University of Michigan–Dearborn hosted a Republican debate in Dearborn
, Michigan
at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center. It was co-moderated by MSNBC
's Chris Matthews
and CNBC's Maria Bartiromo
. The focus of the debate was on the American economy.
Sam Brownback
, Rudy Giuliani
, Mike Huckabee
, Duncan Hunter
, John McCain
, Ron Paul
, Mitt Romney
, Tom Tancredo
, participated, along with Fred Thompson in his debate debut. Alan Keyes was not invited. According to online CNBC.com poll, which was taken down after several hours when total number of votes were over 7,500, Ron Paul
received over 70% of the votes in all three categories. For the question, who won the debate, Paul received 74%, Huckabee came in second with 7.2%, followed by Romney with 5.8%, Thompson with 5.5%, Giuliani with 3.6%, McCain with 1.9% and all others below 1%.
The "highlight" of the debate occurred when Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani debated whether the line-item veto
was constitutional or not. Giuliani claimed that it was unconstitutional and challenged former President Bill Clinton
on its use, while Romney praised the practice citing that he used it 844 times as Governor
of Massachusetts
.
Another high point in the debate happened when candidates were asked by Chris Matthews
if they need to go to Congress to get authorization to take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities, if they were president of the United States. While Hunter, Huckabee, McCain, Thompson and Giuliani replied they would not obtain US Congress authorization if there was some imminent threat from Iran, Romney replied "You sit down with your attorneys and (they) tell you what you have to do, ..." Paul, in his reply, strongly advocated for obtaining US Congress authorization, which is mandatory in the US Constitution, and addressed Romney's answer by stating "This idea of going and talking to attorneys totally baffles me. Why don't we just open up the Constitution and read it? You're not allowed to go to war without a declaration of war
."
In the end of the debate, Mitt Romney remarked, "This is a lot like 'Law & Order,' senator. It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever and Fred Thompson shows up at the end." Romney was making a reference to Fred Thompson's role on Law & Order
. Not to be outdone, Thompson replied, "And to think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage."
Critics of the debate have commented on the uneven amount of time given to "second tier" candidates.
The debate aired on CNBC and MSNBC.
debate at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Independence Ballroom featured five candidates: Sam Brownback
, Rudy Giuliani
, John McCain
, Mitt Romney
, and Fred Thompson. Although Mike Huckabee
was invited, he did not attend, due to being in California at an event with Newt Gingrich
. RJC Communications Director Shari Hillman wrote that "due to the limited time available for the event, the RJC could only include the top six candidates currently in the field." The Jewish Telegraphic Agency
reported that sources close to the RJC leadership said that Paul was excluded due to his "record of consistently voting against assistance to Israel and his criticisms of the pro-Israel lobby".
hosted a two-day event on October 20 and 21 featuring Republican candidates in a debate. Produced with the Fox News Channel
, it was moderated by Chris Wallace
, Brit Hume
, Wendell Goler
, and Carl Cameron
. Many candidates participated. Alan Keyes
was not invited.
The event was at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel and Resort in Orlando
, Florida
. The weekend culminated in the nationally-televised, prime-time debate.
According to Fox News Viewers text voting after the debate, Ron Paul
won with 34%, Huckabee
came in second with 27%, Giuliani
third with 11%, Romney
10%, Thompson 9%, McCain 5%, Hunter
1% and Tancredo
less than 1%.
At one point, with the poll showing Ron Paul winning the informal “cell phone” poll, Fox News talk show host Sean Hannity
burst out with a definitive statement, “Ron Paul
did not win the debate tonight,” even though the poll showed that he was winning by a wide margin. Hannity described the results as "stacking", though the poll permitted only one vote per telephone or computer address.
Paul was the only candidate to be jeered during the debate—both times Paul advocated a non-interventionist foreign policy. Alan Colmes, in the post-debate analysis, stated that Paul drew the most spirited reaction of any candidate, both positive and negative.
This Republican debate also revealed that the Republican contenders think America will go bankrupt if spending policies are not changed.
Thompson hit on a theme on which all of the debaters seemed to agree, that out-of-control spending is bankrupting America: "We’re spending the money of our grand kids and kids yet to be born”, Thompson said.
Giuliani
accused Fred Thompson of being the “biggest obstacle to tort reform”. Giuliani, touting his record as New York City mayor, said, “I brought down crime 60%”, and called for school choice.
Regarding health care, Ron Paul
said that “managed care isn’t working” and that “drug companies lobby
for managed care”. Paul said, “We could take care of these poor people if we weren’t trying to maintain an empire overseas”. Ron Paul
hit continued to discuss the issue of military non-interventionism, “70% of Americans want war over with and are sick and tired of big government at home and overseas”. They want their “civil liberties
and not allow government to spend endlessly and bankrupt us”. Paul also answered questions related to his experience with Medicaid
and endorsed allowing civil union
s for same-sex couples country-wide, with marriage itself handled solely by religious institutions.
Mike Huckabee
defended the “sanctity of human life, it is one of the defining issues of our culture” and on health care promoted “personalization not privatization. We do not have health care system, we have a maze. It’s a health care crisis”.
FOX News Channel and its affiliates moderated and televised the debate.
and IPTV
held their second presidential candidate forum at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City. Of the candidates invited, only former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
and U.S. Senator John McCain
attended. The forum was webcast live but was not aired on PBS
stations across the country as originally planned.
Due to the absence of most candidates, the format was changed to "allow Sen. John McCain and Gov. Mike Huckabee to discuss the issues of health and financial security with Iowa caucus
-goers. The format included opening remarks, questions from moderator Dean Borg of IPTV
, Sioux City Journal
readers and those selected in the audience."
AARP video
planned it with a simulcast on CNN en Español
(in the Spanish language). Internet services YouTube
and Google
also participated, allowing them to stream the event live and have clips for future use. Video questions had to be submitted by November 25 to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/republicandebate. According to Nielsen Media Research, the debate drew a record Cable TV audience for a presidential primary debate, an estimated 4.4 million viewers.
The debate format permitted audience applause and boos—something that had been uncommon in the debates.
Several candidates cited scheduling conflicts with the original date, September 17, 2007, so it was re-scheduled. The invited candidates are Rudy Giuliani
, Mike Huckabee
, Duncan Hunter
, John McCain
, Ron Paul
, Mitt Romney
, Tom Tancredo
, and Fred Thompson. Alan Keyes
was not invited. All invited candidates accepted, and all appeared.
Thirty-three questions were chosen for the debate, with Anderson Cooper
- the moderator - determining which candidates would respond to each question. Giuliani spoke 20 times, for a total of 16:38. Mitt Romney spoke 19 times, for a total of 13 minutes and 18 seconds. Fred Thompson and John McCain each spoke 12 times, for 12:16 & 11:00, respectively. Mike Huckabee spoke 11 times, for a total of 10:00. Paul spoke 9 times, for a total of 7:43. Hunter spoke 7 times, for a total of 5:06, and Tancredo spoke 7 times, for a total of 3:49. Mike Huckabee was not given a question to answer until minute 26, while Ron Paul's first question was given after the first half hour.
CNN's on-line viewer poll shows Ron Paul
the winner of the debate with 49% of the vote. Viewers found Rudy Giuliani to have the most disappointing performance, with 27% of the vote.
Forty-four percent of Florida Republicans who said they were undecided surveyed by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research judged that Mike Huckabee won this debate, whereas 18% thought Rudy Giuliani won, 13% felt that Mitt Romney won, and 10% picked John McCain. No other participant was selected as the debate's winner by more than 5% of those surveyed. The poll's margin of error was +/- 6%. An InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research survey of over 1,035 decided & undecided Iowa Republicans taken during the last 20 minutes of the debate found that 32% thought Huckabee won the debate, while 16% judged that Romney won, 12% felt that Giuliani won, and 10% picked John McCain. In this poll, Fred Thompson was chosen by 7% and Ron Paul was chosen by 6% as the debate's winner. No other participant was selected as the debate's winner by more than 2% of those surveyed.
John McCain and Ron Paul had a notable exchange over the Iraq War and the Vietnam War
. McCain stated that troops wanted the US government to "let them win." Ron Paul replied "The real question you have to ask is why do I get the most money from active duty officers and military personnel?"
McCain also called Paul an isolationist, saying "We allowed Hitler
to come to power with that kind of isolationism." Paul replied that McCain was confusing isolationism
with non-intervention, "I want to trade with people, talk with people, travel, but I don't want to send troops overseas using force to tell them how to live." Keith Olbermann and others noted that McCain's critiques of Paul's anti-war stance drew loud booing from the general audience.
During breaks, ads created by each campaign were aired. Fred Thompson's ad attacked Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, to which they were allowed to respond.
CNN was criticized for not revealing during the debate that Keith Kerr
, an openly gay military general who had submitted a question and spoke during the debate, was on a campaign advisory organization supporting Hillary Clinton. CNN cut the question and candidate response in the subsequent airing of the debate. LA Times editorial writer Tim Rutten criticized CNN's handling of the debate, calling the network "corrupt" and accusing it of focusing the debate on immigration to benefit Lou Dobbs
' ratings.
, the nation's largest Spanish-speaking television network, sponsored a Republican debate hosted by the University of Miami
on December 9, 2007.
The candidates in attendance were Rudy Giuliani
, Mike Huckabee
, Duncan Hunter
, John McCain
, Ron Paul
, Mitt Romney
, and Fred Thompson. Alan Keyes
was not invited. Tom Tancredo
was invited, but has vowed never to participate in a Spanish-language forum. As expected a prominent portion of the debate focused on immigration.
and Iowa Public Television
were originally to host a Republican debate in Johnston, Iowa
, on January 5, 2008. The Iowa Republican Party, undecided on a date for the caucus, finally settled on January 3, two days before the planned debate. The debate was then moved to December 12, the day before the Des Moines Register hosted a Democratic debate. It aired live on Iowa Public Television, CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN3, Fox News Channel, C-SPAN Radio, and Fox News Radio, with a prime time replay on C-SPAN2.
Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson participated in the 90-minute debate.
The moderator, Carolyn Washburn, editor of the Des Moines Register, was criticized by the media for being overly "strict" in dictating answer time and for barring questions on both Iraq and immigration.
, WMUR-TV
and Facebook
jointly hosted back-to-back Republican and Democratic debates from Saint Anselm College three days before the first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday. According to Nielsen Media Research, this debate drew the largest televised audience of the Republican primaries with an esimated 7.35 million viewers.
The Republican debate included Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson. Charles Gibson
moderated. Candidates were allowed to participate if they meet one of three criteria, "place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys." Thus, ABC News eliminated Republican Duncan Hunter.
ABC said the rules were quite inclusive, and that none of the candidates objected ahead of time. "In previous debates where the stage was more crowded you had to make sure all of the candidates got equal time," said David Chalian, ABC News political director. "Here you will have more time to go in depth on the issues."
with presidential candidates, originally to be sponsored by the New Hampshire Republican Party, was planned for broadcast on Fox News.
Candidates Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter were excluded by Fox News, though Paul got 10 percent of the Iowa vote while Giuliani, who was invited, got just 3 percent. Fox News said they had only enough room for so many candidates.
New Hampshire Republican Party chair Fergus Cullen said on December 31, “Limiting the number of candidates who are invited to participate in debates is not consistent with the tradition of the first in the nation primary. The level playing field requires that all candidates be given an equal opportunity to participate–-not just a select few determined by the media prior to any votes being cast.”
On January 5, following Fox News' continued refusal to allow a fair debate format, the New Hampshire Republican Party withdrew their sponsorship. Jay Leno
invited Ron Paul to be a guest on the January 7 Tonight Show specifically because he felt Paul's exclusion was "unfair."
In a post-debate analysis by Fox News, Mitt Romney
was declared the winner of the debate by several analysts. On top of this, Frank Luntz, a pollster with Fox News, indicated that Mitt Romney's performance was well-received by his focus group of both conservatives and moderate conservatives.
. All candidates except Duncan Hunter
and Alan Keyes
participated.
hosted a two-hour debate at Florida Atlantic University
. The organizers include the university, NBC
, Leadership Florida, the Florida Press Association and the Florida Public Broadcasting Service Inc. It took place on Thursday, January 24, from 9 to 11 pm EST. A text message poll was taken after the debate asking viewers who they believed had won. The results showed Romney won with 41%, Paul with 40%, Huckabee with 8%, McCain with 7%, and Giuliani with 4%.
, The Politico
, CNN
, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan
, hosted a Republican debate in Simi Valley
, California
, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
. This was the first debate after Rudy Giuliani withdrew and the last before Super Tuesday
. Ron Paul
, Mitt Romney
, Mike Huckabee
, and John McCain
participated.
and MySpace
hosted a two-party debate on February 2, 2008, "Closing Arguments: A Presidential Super Dialogue", broadcast live from the MTV studios. The candidates were two Democrats, Barack Obama
and Hillary Clinton, and two Republicans, Ron Paul
and Mike Huckabee
. Invited but not attending were John McCain
and Mitt Romney
.
Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008
The 2008 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. presidential election...
. The first was May 3, 2007, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about northwest of...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Other debates have taken place in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. They were generally broadcast by television networks.
The debates can have a substantial effect on the primaries and are important chances for the public to compare the candidates side-by-side.
Candidates in the debates
- Senator John McCainJohn McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
- Arizona (won nomination). - Representative Ron PaulRon PaulRonald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
- Texas (withdrew June 12, 2008). - Former UN Ambassador Alan KeyesAlan KeyesAlan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
- Maryland (withdrew from Republican Party April 15, 2008). - Former Governor Mike HuckabeeMike HuckabeeMichael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
- Arkansas (withdrew March 4, 2008). - Former Governor Mitt RomneyMitt RomneyWillard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
- Massachusetts (withdrew February 7, 2008). - Former Mayor Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiRudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
- New York (withdrew January 30, 2008). - Former Senator Fred Thompson - Tennessee (withdrew January 22, 2008).
- Representative Duncan HunterDuncan HunterDuncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
- California (withdrew January 19, 2008). - Representative Tom TancredoTom TancredoThomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
- Colorado (withdrew December 19, 2007). - Senator Sam BrownbackSam BrownbackSamuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
- Kansas (withdrew October 19, 2007). - Former Governor Tommy ThompsonTommy ThompsonThomas George "Tommy" Thompson , a United States Republican politician, was the 42nd Governor of Wisconsin, after which he served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, but dropped out early after a poor performance in polls...
- Wisconsin (withdrew August 12, 2007). - Former Governor Jim GilmoreJim GilmoreJames Stuart "Jim" Gilmore III is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia, former 68th Governor of Virginia, and a member of the Republican Party. A native Virginian, Gilmore studied at the University of Virginia, and then served in the U.S. Army as a counterintelligence agent...
- Virginia (withdrew July 14, 2007).
Attendance
Key: denotes candidate participated in debate; denotes candidate was not invited; denotes candidate absent but was invited; denotes candidate was out of the race.| Details | Candidates Participating | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Location | Television Network | Sen. Brownback | Fmr. Gov. Gilmore | Fmr. Mayor Giuliani | Fmr. Gov. Huckabee | Rep. Hunter | Sen. McCain | Fmr. Amb. Keyes | Rep. Paul | Fmr. Gov. Romney | Rep. Tancredo | Fmr. Sen. F. Thompson | Fmr. Gov. T. Thompson |
| May 3, 2007 | Simi Valley, California Simi Valley, California -2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile... |
MSNBC MSNBC MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada... |
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| May 15, 2007 | Columbia, South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan... |
Fox News Channel Fox News Channel Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
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| June 5, 2007 | Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which... |
CNN CNN Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States... |
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| July 12, 2007 | Detroit, Michigan Detroit, Michigan Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River... |
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| August 5, 2007 | Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857... |
ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
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| September 5, 2007 | Durham, New Hampshire Durham, New Hampshire As of the census of 2000, there were 12,664 people, 2,882 households, and 1,582 families residing in the town. The population density was 565.5 people per square mile . There were 2,923 housing units at an average density of 130.5 per square mile... |
Fox News Channel Fox News Channel Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
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| September 17, 2007 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010... |
Sky Angel Sky Angel Sky Angel U.S. LLC. describes itself as a "Christian-owned and operated multi-channel television service specializing in Christian and family-friendly TV and radio programming." It is one of the first niche-oriented television providers in the United States.... |
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| September 27, 2007 | Baltimore, Maryland | PBS Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia.... |
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| October 9, 2007 | Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn, Michigan -Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the... |
CNBC CNBC CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers... , MSNBC MSNBC MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada... |
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| October 16, 2007 | Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.... |
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| October 21, 2007 | Orlando, Florida Orlando, Florida Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States... |
Fox News Channel Fox News Channel Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
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| October 25, 2007 | Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state.... |
IPTV IPTV Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services... |
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| November 28, 2007 | St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St... |
CNN CNN Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States... |
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| December 9, 2007 | Miami, Florida Miami, Florida Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625... |
Univision Univision Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva... |
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| December 12, 2007 | Johnston, Iowa Johnston, Iowa -2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 17,278 in the city, with a population density of . There were 6,618 housing units, of which 6,369 were occupied.... |
CNN CNN Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States... , Fox News Channel Fox News Channel Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation... , IPTV IPTV Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services... , MSNBC MSNBC MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada... |
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| January 5, 2008 | Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which... |
ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
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| January 6, 2008 | Milford, New Hampshire Milford, New Hampshire Milford is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States, on the Souhegan River. The population was 15,115 at the 2010 census. It is the retail and manufacturing center of a six-town area known informally as the Souhegan Valley.... |
Fox News Channel Fox News Channel Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
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| January 10, 2008 | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the... |
Fox News Channel Fox News Channel Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation... |
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| January 24, 2008 | Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about... |
MSNBC MSNBC MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada... |
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| January 30, 2008 | Simi Valley, California Simi Valley, California -2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile... |
CNN CNN Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States... |
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| February 2, 2008 | New York, New York | MTV MTV MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs.... |
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Key: denotes candidate participated in debate; denotes candidate was not invited; denotes candidate absent but was invited; denotes candidate was out of the race.
May 3, 2007 - Simi Valley, California
The first Republican debate was at the Ronald Reagan Presidential LibraryRonald Reagan Presidential Library
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about northwest of...
in Simi Valley, California
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
. It was simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
live for 90 minutes on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
and Politico.com.Questions were gathered from The Politico readers for the candidates. All declared candidates were present, as Fred Thompson had not yet declared. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
was present, along with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
.
The debate was moderated by MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
anchor Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
of Hardball
Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
and The Politico
The Politico
The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...
s John Harris. Questions were gathered from The Politico readers for the candidates.
The candidates presented differing opinions of President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, with McCain and Huckabee criticizing Bush's mismanagement of the Iraq War while Giuliani and Romney praised Bush, Ron Paul said Bush was a poor conservative. The candidates also presented different opinions on contentious issues such as abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and stem-cell research but were united in calling for further tax cut
Tax cut
A tax cut is a reduction in taxes. The immediate effects of a tax cut are a decrease in the real income of the government and an increase in the real income of those whose tax rate has been lowered. Due to the perceived benefit in growing real incomes among tax payers politicians have sought to...
s. All candidates opposed a pullout from Iraq except for Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, who spoke and voted against the resolution to authorize war on Iraq
Iraq Resolution
The Iraq Resolution or the Iraq War Resolution is a joint resolution passed by the United States Congress in October 2002 as Public Law No: 107-243, authorizing military action against Iraq.-Contents:The resolution cited many factors to justify the use of military force against...
in 2002 and has been a vocal critic of the war.
John McCain answered "yes" when asked whether he believed in evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
. Immediately following, the questioner inquired whether any of the candidates did not believe in evolution, three candidates (Tancredo, Brownback, and Huckabee) raised their hands. McCain then added "I believe in evolution, but I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see a sunset, that the hand of God is there also." Later in the June 5 debate, Brownback and Huckabee elaborated on their position, taking a far more moderate approach.
Pundits Howard Fineman
Howard Fineman
Howard Fineman is an American journalist who is senior politics editor at the Huffington Post. Prior to his move to Huffington Post in October 2010, he was Newsweek’s Chief Political Correspondent, Senior Editor and Deputy Washington Bureau Chief. An award-winning writer, Fineman also is an NBC...
and Joe Scarborough
Joe Scarborough
Charles Joseph "Joe" Scarborough is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author, and former politician. He is currently the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel...
concluded that Romney did the best and maintained his posture by seeming the most energetic in the debate. Eugene Robinson
Eugene Robinson
Eugene Keefe Robinson is a former professional American football player who played free safety. He played collegiately at Colgate University...
deduced that Romney showed that he has the potential to be a formidable candidate and also answered the most questions in a consistent manner.
At the end of the debate, MSNBC's online votes showed Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
standing out from the other candidates. Ron Paul won "Best one liner," "Who stood out from the pack" "Most convincing debater", and "Who showed the most leadership qualities?" In all four, he had at least 45% of the total vote.
Mitt Romney won an online vote taken at The Drudge Report
Drudge Report
The Drudge Report is a news aggregation website. Run by Matt Drudge with the help of Joseph Curl and Charles Hurt, the site consists mainly of links to stories from the United States and international mainstream media about politics, entertainment, and current events as well as links to many...
, with Giuliani and Paul close behind.
- CFR Transcript
- MSNBC Transcript
- New York Times Transcript
- Entire Debate Video
- Video with Closed Caption
May 15, 2007 - Columbia, South Carolina
The second Republican debate was May 15 in ColumbiaColumbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
at the Koger Center for the Arts at the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
. All candidates then declared participated. It was broadcast live for 90 minutes on Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, and simulcast on Fox News Radio affiliates, including the station of the debate, WVOC. The event was moderated by Brit Hume
Brit Hume
Brit Hume is an American television journalist and political commentator.For twenty years he was a correspondent for the American Broadcasting Company, including Chief White House Correspondent. He then spent ten years as the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel and the anchor...
, with Chris Wallace
Chris Wallace (journalist)
Christopher "Chris" Wallace is an American journalist, currently the host of the Fox Network program, Fox News Sunday. Wallace has won three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, and a Peabody Award. Wallace has been with Fox News since 2003...
and Wendell Goler
Wendell Goler
Wendell Goler is the Senior White House and Foreign Affairs correspondent for Fox News Channel, who joined the network in 1996. During his time at the network, he has covered any number of stories from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton to President Bush's post September 11, 2001 policy...
asking most of the questions. The debate was in three rounds, the first on the War in Iraq, the second on domestic issues, such as abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, gay rights, spending and tax cuts. For the last, Brit Hume
Brit Hume
Brit Hume is an American television journalist and political commentator.For twenty years he was a correspondent for the American Broadcasting Company, including Chief White House Correspondent. He then spent ten years as the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel and the anchor...
proposed a fictional scenario involving terrorism. The candidates had to predict their actions in that situation. Fox News held text message
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
voting by the audience. Ron Paul received the most (33%) with Mike Huckabee second (18%).
During the debate, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
asserted that American interventionism in the Middle East, from CIA installation of Iranian leaders
Operation Ajax
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état was the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953, orchestrated by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States under the name TPAJAX Project...
to the bombing of Iraq in the 1990s, culminating in the on-going Iraq war, led to anti-American sentiment in the Middle East and to terrorists plotting attacks against America. Rudy Giuliani portrayed Paul as implying that America had justified the 9/11 attacks through its actions and interrupted the proceedings to demand a retraction, which Paul refused. Former head of the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
's bin Laden unit
Bin Laden Issue Station
The Bin Laden Issue Station was a unit of the Central Intelligence Agency dedicated to tracking Osama bin Laden.Soon after its creation the Station developed a new, deadlier vision of bin Laden's activities. In 1999 the CIA inaugurated a grand "Plan" against al-Qaeda, but struggled to find the...
, Michael Scheuer
Michael Scheuer
Michael F. Scheuer is a former CIA intelligence officer, American blogger, historian, foreign policy critic, and political analyst. He is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies...
, congratulated Ron Paul for his comments, calling them "the truth." Others portrayed the exchange as a victory for Giuliani.
The fictional ticking time bomb scenario
Ticking time bomb scenario
The ticking time bomb scenario is a thought experiment that has been used in the ethics debate over whether torture can ever be justified.Simply stated, the consequentialist argument is that nations, even those such as the United States that legally disallow torture, can justify its use if they...
suggested by the moderator was: "Three shopping centers near major U.S. cities have been hit by suicide bombers
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
. Hundreds are dead, thousands injured. A fourth attack has been averted when the attackers were captured off the Florida coast and taken to Guantanamo Bay, where they are being questioned. U.S. intelligence believes that another larger attack is planned and could come at any time." John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
were the only candidates who said they were opposed to the concept of "enhanced interrogation techniques
Enhanced interrogation techniques
Enhanced interrogation techniques or alternative set of procedures are terms adopted by the George W. Bush administration in the United States to describe certain severe interrogation methods, often described as torture...
", a phrase Paul labeled Orwellian
Orwellian
"Orwellian" describes the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society...
newspeak
Newspeak
Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, it refers to the deliberately impoverished language promoted by the state. Orwell included an essay about it in the form of an appendix in which the basic principles of the language are explained...
for torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
. Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
suggested that the U.S. double the size of facilities holding non-citizen enemy combatants held in places like Guantanamo and deny them access to the protections afforded to American citizens, such as the right of having an attorney. Giuliani said interrogators should use "any method they can think of" and did not exclude water-boarding. Expressing disbelief at the idea of debating "whether or not waterboarding would be a bad thing to do" Tom Tancredo said "I'm looking for Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer is the main protagonist of the American television series 24. His character has worked in various capacities on the show, often as a member of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit based in Los Angeles, and working with the FBI in Washington, D.C...
."
Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
drew the biggest laughter of the night when he accused Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
of spending money "like John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
at a beauty shop," a reference to Edwards, who at that time was a 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate, spending $800 of campaign money on two haircuts.
June 5, 2007 - Manchester, New Hampshire
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and the New Hampshire Union Leader
New Hampshire Union Leader
The New Hampshire Union Leader is the daily newspaper of Manchester, the largest city in the state of New Hampshire. As of September 2010 it had a daily circulation of 48,342 and the circulation of its Sunday paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News, was 63,991. It was founded in 1863.It was called...
hosted Democratic and Republican debates at Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...
in the Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
area. The debate was two hours, without commercials, making it and the CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
Democratic debate the longest debates in the 2008 season so far. All declared candidates participated, which excluded Thompson. Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Isaac Blitzer is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009...
of The Situation Room
The Situation Room
The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer is an afternoon/early evening newscast on CNN and CNN International hosted by Wolf Blitzer that first aired on August 8, 2005. The show replaces three politics and hard news programs: Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics, Crossfire and Wolf Blitzer Reports.At first,...
and Late Edition
Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer
Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer was a Sunday talk show hosted by Wolf Blitzer on CNN and broadcast around the world by CNN International. The show's slogan was The last word in Sunday talk and comments made on the show were often featured in the following Monday's news headlines.The show, launched...
on CNN moderated the debate.
According to the online CNN.com poll, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
received the most votes in all but two categories: "snappiest dresser," who was Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, and "most disappointing performance" who was Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
. The "big three" candidates (Giuliani, McCain, Romney) also received larger shares of air time compared to the "minor candidates."
A WBZ-Franklin Pierce College poll showed Romney as the winner of the debate at 22%, followed by Rudy Giuliani at 18% and John McCain at 11%. In that poll, none of the other candidates earnered over 3%. Participants in the debate:
Sam Brownback,
James S. Gilmore,
Rudy Giuliani,
Duncan Hunter,
Mike Huckabee,
John McCain,
Ron Paul,
Mitt Romney,
Tom Tancredo and
Tommy Thompson
- CFR Transcript
- CNN Transcript
- CNN Video
- Video with Closed Caption
- New York Times Transcript
- Entire Debate Video
July 12, 2007 - Detroit, Michigan
Attended only by Tom TancredoTom Tancredo
Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
. All 9 Republican candidates were invited, only Tancredo attended.
This was held during the NAACP 98th annual convention. It was hosted by Russ Mitchell
Russ Mitchell
Russell Mitchell is an American journalist for CBS, anchor of the Early Show on Saturday, and weekend anchor of the CBS Evening News.-Early years:...
.
August 5, 2007 - Des Moines, Iowa
ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
News conducted a live
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
, 90-minute debate that aired Sunday morning on a special edition of This Week
This Week (ABC TV series)
This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...
, moderated by George Stephanopoulos
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television journalist and a former political advisor.Stephanopoulos is most well known as the chief political correspondent for ABC News – the news division of the broadcast television network ABC – and a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news...
. All Republican candidates were present. Mitt Romney defended his change from a pro-choice to pro-life position on abortion. Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
spoke of pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq. The debate concluded with the candidates' revealing their biggest mistakes. Frontrunners Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, and John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
were given more time to speak than were lesser-known candidates, as in previous debates.
According to an on-line poll at ABCNews.com, Paul won the debate with 63% of votes. Paul's vote total was nearly eight times as many as runner-up Romney. Frank Luntz
Frank Luntz
Frank I. Luntz is an American political consultant and pollster. His most recent work has been with the Fox News Channel as a frequent commentator and analyst, as well as running focus groups after presidential debates...
, a political commentator for Fox News, asserted that Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
had won the debate.
September 5, 2007 - Durham, New Hampshire
Fox News ChannelFox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
hosted a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
debate at The Whittemore Center at the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
in Durham, New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,664 people, 2,882 households, and 1,582 families residing in the town. The population density was 565.5 people per square mile . There were 2,923 housing units at an average density of 130.5 per square mile...
, for 90 minutes on Fox News. The event was moderated by Brit Hume
Brit Hume
Brit Hume is an American television journalist and political commentator.For twenty years he was a correspondent for the American Broadcasting Company, including Chief White House Correspondent. He then spent ten years as the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel and the anchor...
, with Chris Wallace
Chris Wallace (journalist)
Christopher "Chris" Wallace is an American journalist, currently the host of the Fox Network program, Fox News Sunday. Wallace has won three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, and a Peabody Award. Wallace has been with Fox News since 2003...
and Wendell Goler
Wendell Goler
Wendell Goler is the Senior White House and Foreign Affairs correspondent for Fox News Channel, who joined the network in 1996. During his time at the network, he has covered any number of stories from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton to President Bush's post September 11, 2001 policy...
asking most of the questions. According to a public text messaging
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
poll, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
won with 33%, Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
came in second with 18%, followed by Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
and John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
who received 15% and 14% respectively. All candidates who were declared participated.
The Fox News Luntz
Frank Luntz
Frank I. Luntz is an American political consultant and pollster. His most recent work has been with the Fox News Channel as a frequent commentator and analyst, as well as running focus groups after presidential debates...
focus group
Focus group
A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging...
s watching the debate declared disappointment with the performance by Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
and Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, though John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
was viewed favorably. However, some noted the lack of McCain supporters in the audience. The status of Larry Craig
Larry Craig
Larry Edwin Craig is a former Republican politician from the U.S. state of Idaho. He served 18 years in the U.S. Senate , preceded by 10 years in the U.S. House, representing Idaho's first district . His 28 years in the Congress rank as the second-longest in Idaho history, trailing only William...
was discussed in the debate, with Sam Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
stating that Craig should go through with his decision to resign.
An exchange between Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
and Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
over the war in Iraq was covered extensively by many news agencies.
September 17, 2007 - Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The first-ever "Values VoterFamily values
Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....
" Presidential Debate was held for the GOP candidates at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Broward Center for the Performing Arts
The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is a large multi-venue theater and entertainment complex located in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA....
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
. It was broadcast live on television on Sky Angel
Sky Angel
Sky Angel U.S. LLC. describes itself as a "Christian-owned and operated multi-channel television service specializing in Christian and family-friendly TV and radio programming." It is one of the first niche-oriented television providers in the United States....
, and live on many Christian radio stations, including the Voice of Christian Youth America (VCY America
VCY America
Voice of Christian Youth America, aka, the VCY America Radio Network, is a traditional, evangelical Christian ministry based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin which maintains a format of sacred music and spirituals through all of its broadcast outlets.-History:...
) network and WKBF-AM, and online on the American Family Association
American Family Association
The American Family Association is a 501 non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free...
(AFA) Web site. Seven candidates attended-- Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
, Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, Hunter
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
, Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, Tancredo
Tom Tancredo
Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
, and newly announced candidate Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
and John H. Cox
John H. Cox
John Herman Cox is an American lawyer, accountant, businessman, broadcaster, and aspiring politician. He was the first Republican to seek formally the party's 2008 nomination for president, but effectively withdrew from the race in late 2007 and suspended his campaign shortly after.-Biography:Born...
, a candidate who had then not appeared in any of the other debates. The official Web site reports the immediate straw poll
Straw poll
A straw poll or straw vote is a vote with nonbinding results. Straw polls provide dialogue among movements within large groups, reflecting trends like organization and motivation...
of 340 delegates was won by Huckabee with 219 votes (63%) to Paul 44 (13%), Keyes 22 (7%), Brownback 18 (5%), Fred Thompson 15 (4%), Hunter 4%, Tancredo 2%, Giuliani 1%, McCain 1%, Cox 1%, and Romney 0%. A similar event was planned for the Democratic candidates, but none would confirm their participation.
September 27, 2007 - Baltimore, Maryland
PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
television hosted a Republican debate in Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, at Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
that aired live on PBS and on www.pbs.org.
The All-American Presidential Forums are the first in prime time with a panel exclusively of journalists of color. Questions were asked by host Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
and panelists Ray Suarez
Ray Suarez
Rafael Suarez, Jr. , known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist. Suarez joined the PBS NewsHour in 1999 and became a senior correspondent for the evening news program on the PBS television network. He is also host of the international news and analysis public radio program America...
of The NewsHour, Cynthia Tucker
Cynthia Tucker
Cynthia Tucker is an American columnist and blogger for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. She received a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2007 "for her courageous, clear-headed columns that evince a strong sense of morality and persuasive knowledge of the...
of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and NPR's Juan Williams
Juan Williams
Juan Williams is an American journalist and political analyst for Fox News Channel, he was born in Panama on April 10, 1954. He also writes for several newspapers including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal and has been published in magazines such as The Atlantic...
.
The six debaters were Sam Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
, Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
, and Tom Tancredo
Tom Tancredo
Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
. Absent were Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, and Fred Thompson, who, according to scientific public opinion surveys, were the leading Republican candidates. Those four were roundly condemned by the hosts and most of the participants. The first few questions concerned how some perceive the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to be racist. The organizers put empty podiums on the stage in place of the candidates who refused to attend.
October 9, 2007 - Dearborn, Michigan
CNBCCNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, and the University of Michigan–Dearborn hosted a Republican debate in Dearborn
Dearborn, Michigan
-Economy:Ford Motor Company has its world headquarters in Dearborn. In addition its Dearborn campus contains many research, testing, finance and some production facilities. Ford Land controls the numerous properties owned by Ford including sales and leasing to unrelated businesses such as the...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center. It was co-moderated by MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
and CNBC's Maria Bartiromo
Maria Bartiromo
Maria Bartiromo is an American television journalist, magazine columnist and author of three books. Bartiromo is a native of New York and attended New York University. She worked at CNN for five years before joining CNBC television...
. The focus of the debate was on the American economy.
Sam Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
, Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, Tom Tancredo
Tom Tancredo
Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
, participated, along with Fred Thompson in his debate debut. Alan Keyes was not invited. According to online CNBC.com poll, which was taken down after several hours when total number of votes were over 7,500, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
received over 70% of the votes in all three categories. For the question, who won the debate, Paul received 74%, Huckabee came in second with 7.2%, followed by Romney with 5.8%, Thompson with 5.5%, Giuliani with 3.6%, McCain with 1.9% and all others below 1%.
The "highlight" of the debate occurred when Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani debated whether the line-item veto
Line-item veto
In United States government, the line-item veto, or partial veto, is the power of an executive authority to nullify or cancel specific provisions of a bill, usually a budget appropriations bill, without vetoing the entire legislative package...
was constitutional or not. Giuliani claimed that it was unconstitutional and challenged former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
on its use, while Romney praised the practice citing that he used it 844 times as Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Another high point in the debate happened when candidates were asked by Chris Matthews
Chris Matthews
Christopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
if they need to go to Congress to get authorization to take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities, if they were president of the United States. While Hunter, Huckabee, McCain, Thompson and Giuliani replied they would not obtain US Congress authorization if there was some imminent threat from Iran, Romney replied "You sit down with your attorneys and (they) tell you what you have to do, ..." Paul, in his reply, strongly advocated for obtaining US Congress authorization, which is mandatory in the US Constitution, and addressed Romney's answer by stating "This idea of going and talking to attorneys totally baffles me. Why don't we just open up the Constitution and read it? You're not allowed to go to war without a declaration of war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
."
In the end of the debate, Mitt Romney remarked, "This is a lot like 'Law & Order,' senator. It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever and Fred Thompson shows up at the end." Romney was making a reference to Fred Thompson's role on Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
. Not to be outdone, Thompson replied, "And to think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage."
Critics of the debate have commented on the uneven amount of time given to "second tier" candidates.
The debate aired on CNBC and MSNBC.
October 16, 2007 - Washington, D.C.
The Republican Jewish CoalitionRepublican Jewish Coalition
The Republican Jewish Coalition , founded in 1985, is a political lobbying group in the United States that promotes Jewish Republicans. The RJC claims that it is the most important voice on conservative political issues for the Jewish-American community...
debate at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Independence Ballroom featured five candidates: Sam Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
, Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, and Fred Thompson. Although Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
was invited, he did not attend, due to being in California at an event with Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
. RJC Communications Director Shari Hillman wrote that "due to the limited time available for the event, the RJC could only include the top six candidates currently in the field." The Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is an international news agency serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world. The JTA was founded on February 6, 1917, by Jacob Landau as the Jewish Correspondence Bureau in The Hague with the mandate of collecting and disseminating news among and...
reported that sources close to the RJC leadership said that Paul was excluded due to his "record of consistently voting against assistance to Israel and his criticisms of the pro-Israel lobby".
October 21, 2007 - Orlando, Florida
The Republican Party of FloridaRepublican Party of Florida
The Republican Party of Florida is the official organization for Republicans in the state of Florida.-History:Florida politics was largely dominated by the Democrats until Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy, which took advantage of white objections to the advances of the American Civil Rights...
hosted a two-day event on October 20 and 21 featuring Republican candidates in a debate. Produced with the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, it was moderated by Chris Wallace
Chris Wallace (journalist)
Christopher "Chris" Wallace is an American journalist, currently the host of the Fox Network program, Fox News Sunday. Wallace has won three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, and a Peabody Award. Wallace has been with Fox News since 2003...
, Brit Hume
Brit Hume
Brit Hume is an American television journalist and political commentator.For twenty years he was a correspondent for the American Broadcasting Company, including Chief White House Correspondent. He then spent ten years as the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel and the anchor...
, Wendell Goler
Wendell Goler
Wendell Goler is the Senior White House and Foreign Affairs correspondent for Fox News Channel, who joined the network in 1996. During his time at the network, he has covered any number of stories from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton to President Bush's post September 11, 2001 policy...
, and Carl Cameron
Carl Cameron
Carl Cameron is an American television journalist and commentator for Fox News Channel.-Early life and education:As a child Cameron spent several years in Iran, where his father worked as an archaeologist....
. Many candidates participated. Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
was not invited.
The event was at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel and Resort in Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The weekend culminated in the nationally-televised, prime-time debate.
According to Fox News Viewers text voting after the debate, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
won with 34%, Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
came in second with 27%, Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
third with 11%, Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
10%, Thompson 9%, McCain 5%, Hunter
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
1% and Tancredo
Tom Tancredo
Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
less than 1%.
At one point, with the poll showing Ron Paul winning the informal “cell phone” poll, Fox News talk show host Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
burst out with a definitive statement, “Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
did not win the debate tonight,” even though the poll showed that he was winning by a wide margin. Hannity described the results as "stacking", though the poll permitted only one vote per telephone or computer address.
Paul was the only candidate to be jeered during the debate—both times Paul advocated a non-interventionist foreign policy. Alan Colmes, in the post-debate analysis, stated that Paul drew the most spirited reaction of any candidate, both positive and negative.
This Republican debate also revealed that the Republican contenders think America will go bankrupt if spending policies are not changed.
Thompson hit on a theme on which all of the debaters seemed to agree, that out-of-control spending is bankrupting America: "We’re spending the money of our grand kids and kids yet to be born”, Thompson said.
Giuliani
Giuliani
Giuliani is an Italian family name, which can refer to:* Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, and former candidate for United States President in 2008.** Judith Giuliani, his wife...
accused Fred Thompson of being the “biggest obstacle to tort reform”. Giuliani, touting his record as New York City mayor, said, “I brought down crime 60%”, and called for school choice.
Regarding health care, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
said that “managed care isn’t working” and that “drug companies lobby
Lobbying in the United States
Lobbying in the United States targets the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures. Lobbyists may also represent their clients' or organizations' interests in dealings with federal, state, or local executive branch agencies or the courts. Lobby...
for managed care”. Paul said, “We could take care of these poor people if we weren’t trying to maintain an empire overseas”. Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
hit continued to discuss the issue of military non-interventionism, “70% of Americans want war over with and are sick and tired of big government at home and overseas”. They want their “civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
and not allow government to spend endlessly and bankrupt us”. Paul also answered questions related to his experience with Medicaid
Medicaid
Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
and endorsed allowing civil union
Civil union
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
s for same-sex couples country-wide, with marriage itself handled solely by religious institutions.
Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
defended the “sanctity of human life, it is one of the defining issues of our culture” and on health care promoted “personalization not privatization. We do not have health care system, we have a maze. It’s a health care crisis”.
FOX News Channel and its affiliates moderated and televised the debate.
- CFR transcript
- New York Times transcript
- Washington Post video
- Fox News video
- Video with Closed Caption
October 25, 2007 - Sioux City, Iowa
AARPAARP
AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is the United States-based non-governmental organization and interest group, founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus, PhD, a retired educator from California, and based in Washington, D.C. According to its mission statement, it is "a...
and IPTV
Iowa Public Television
Iowa Public Television is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service member non-commercial educational Public television stations in the state of Iowa. A member of the PBS, it is owned by the Iowa Public Broadcasting Board, an agency of the state education department which holds the licenses...
held their second presidential candidate forum at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City. Of the candidates invited, only former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
and U.S. Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
attended. The forum was webcast live but was not aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
stations across the country as originally planned.
Due to the absence of most candidates, the format was changed to "allow Sen. John McCain and Gov. Mike Huckabee to discuss the issues of health and financial security with Iowa caucus
Iowa caucus
The Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa's 1784 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions...
-goers. The format included opening remarks, questions from moderator Dean Borg of IPTV
Iowa Public Television
Iowa Public Television is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service member non-commercial educational Public television stations in the state of Iowa. A member of the PBS, it is owned by the Iowa Public Broadcasting Board, an agency of the state education department which holds the licenses...
, Sioux City Journal
Sioux City Journal
The Sioux City Journal is the daily newspaper of Sioux City, Iowa. The publication covers western Iowa and portions of Nebraska and South Dakota.It is owned by Lee Enterprises Inc....
readers and those selected in the audience."
AARP video
November 28, 2007 - St. Petersburg, Florida
This debate is known as the "YouTube" debate. CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
planned it with a simulcast on CNN en Español
CNN en Español
CNN en Español is CNN's Spanish language news channel. On March 17, 1997, CNN launched CNN en Español, a 24-hour Spanish-language news network for the Hispanic American and United States marketplace.-Mexico programming:...
(in the Spanish language). Internet services YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
also participated, allowing them to stream the event live and have clips for future use. Video questions had to be submitted by November 25 to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/republicandebate. According to Nielsen Media Research, the debate drew a record Cable TV audience for a presidential primary debate, an estimated 4.4 million viewers.
The debate format permitted audience applause and boos—something that had been uncommon in the debates.
Several candidates cited scheduling conflicts with the original date, September 17, 2007, so it was re-scheduled. The invited candidates are Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, Tom Tancredo
Tom Tancredo
Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
, and Fred Thompson. Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
was not invited. All invited candidates accepted, and all appeared.
Thirty-three questions were chosen for the debate, with Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
- the moderator - determining which candidates would respond to each question. Giuliani spoke 20 times, for a total of 16:38. Mitt Romney spoke 19 times, for a total of 13 minutes and 18 seconds. Fred Thompson and John McCain each spoke 12 times, for 12:16 & 11:00, respectively. Mike Huckabee spoke 11 times, for a total of 10:00. Paul spoke 9 times, for a total of 7:43. Hunter spoke 7 times, for a total of 5:06, and Tancredo spoke 7 times, for a total of 3:49. Mike Huckabee was not given a question to answer until minute 26, while Ron Paul's first question was given after the first half hour.
CNN's on-line viewer poll shows Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
the winner of the debate with 49% of the vote. Viewers found Rudy Giuliani to have the most disappointing performance, with 27% of the vote.
Forty-four percent of Florida Republicans who said they were undecided surveyed by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research judged that Mike Huckabee won this debate, whereas 18% thought Rudy Giuliani won, 13% felt that Mitt Romney won, and 10% picked John McCain. No other participant was selected as the debate's winner by more than 5% of those surveyed. The poll's margin of error was +/- 6%. An InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research survey of over 1,035 decided & undecided Iowa Republicans taken during the last 20 minutes of the debate found that 32% thought Huckabee won the debate, while 16% judged that Romney won, 12% felt that Giuliani won, and 10% picked John McCain. In this poll, Fred Thompson was chosen by 7% and Ron Paul was chosen by 6% as the debate's winner. No other participant was selected as the debate's winner by more than 2% of those surveyed.
John McCain and Ron Paul had a notable exchange over the Iraq War and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. McCain stated that troops wanted the US government to "let them win." Ron Paul replied "The real question you have to ask is why do I get the most money from active duty officers and military personnel?"
McCain also called Paul an isolationist, saying "We allowed Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
to come to power with that kind of isolationism." Paul replied that McCain was confusing isolationism
Isolationism
Isolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by...
with non-intervention, "I want to trade with people, talk with people, travel, but I don't want to send troops overseas using force to tell them how to live." Keith Olbermann and others noted that McCain's critiques of Paul's anti-war stance drew loud booing from the general audience.
During breaks, ads created by each campaign were aired. Fred Thompson's ad attacked Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, to which they were allowed to respond.
CNN was criticized for not revealing during the debate that Keith Kerr
Keith Kerr
Keith Kerr, Colonel, USA-ret, and BG, CSMR-ret., is a retired United States Army Reserve Colonel, who later was given the rank of Brigadier General in the California State Military Reserve, part of the California State Defense Forces who in 2003 became one of the highest ranking military officers...
, an openly gay military general who had submitted a question and spoke during the debate, was on a campaign advisory organization supporting Hillary Clinton. CNN cut the question and candidate response in the subsequent airing of the debate. LA Times editorial writer Tim Rutten criticized CNN's handling of the debate, calling the network "corrupt" and accusing it of focusing the debate on immigration to benefit Lou Dobbs
Lou Dobbs
Louis Carl "Lou" Dobbs is an American journalist, radio host, television host on the Fox Business Network, and author. He anchored CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight until November 2009 when he announced on the air that he would leave the 24-hour cable news television network.He was born in Texas and lived...
' ratings.
- Part 1 and Part 2 of the transcript at CNN.
- Entire Debate Video
- Video with Closed Caption
December 9, 2007 - Miami, Florida
UnivisionUnivision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
, the nation's largest Spanish-speaking television network, sponsored a Republican debate hosted by the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
on December 9, 2007.
The candidates in attendance were Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, and Fred Thompson. Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
was not invited. Tom Tancredo
Tom Tancredo
Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, as a Republican...
was invited, but has vowed never to participate in a Spanish-language forum. As expected a prominent portion of the debate focused on immigration.
December 12, 2007 - Johnston, Iowa
The Des Moines RegisterDes Moines Register
The Des Moines Register is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, in the United States. A separate edition of the Register is sold throughout much of Iowa.-History:...
and Iowa Public Television
Iowa Public Television
Iowa Public Television is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service member non-commercial educational Public television stations in the state of Iowa. A member of the PBS, it is owned by the Iowa Public Broadcasting Board, an agency of the state education department which holds the licenses...
were originally to host a Republican debate in Johnston, Iowa
Johnston, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 17,278 in the city, with a population density of . There were 6,618 housing units, of which 6,369 were occupied....
, on January 5, 2008. The Iowa Republican Party, undecided on a date for the caucus, finally settled on January 3, two days before the planned debate. The debate was then moved to December 12, the day before the Des Moines Register hosted a Democratic debate. It aired live on Iowa Public Television, CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN3, Fox News Channel, C-SPAN Radio, and Fox News Radio, with a prime time replay on C-SPAN2.
Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson participated in the 90-minute debate.
The moderator, Carolyn Washburn, editor of the Des Moines Register, was criticized by the media for being overly "strict" in dictating answer time and for barring questions on both Iraq and immigration.
January 5, 2008 – Manchester, New Hampshire
ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of New Hampshire that is licensed to Manchester. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter on the south peak of Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios...
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
jointly hosted back-to-back Republican and Democratic debates from Saint Anselm College three days before the first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday. According to Nielsen Media Research, this debate drew the largest televised audience of the Republican primaries with an esimated 7.35 million viewers.
The Republican debate included Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson. Charles Gibson
Charles Gibson
Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
moderated. Candidates were allowed to participate if they meet one of three criteria, "place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys." Thus, ABC News eliminated Republican Duncan Hunter.
ABC said the rules were quite inclusive, and that none of the candidates objected ahead of time. "In previous debates where the stage was more crowded you had to make sure all of the candidates got equal time," said David Chalian, ABC News political director. "Here you will have more time to go in depth on the issues."
January 6, 2008 – Milford, New Hampshire
A brunch forum housed by Chris WallaceChris Wallace (journalist)
Christopher "Chris" Wallace is an American journalist, currently the host of the Fox Network program, Fox News Sunday. Wallace has won three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, and a Peabody Award. Wallace has been with Fox News since 2003...
with presidential candidates, originally to be sponsored by the New Hampshire Republican Party, was planned for broadcast on Fox News.
Candidates Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter were excluded by Fox News, though Paul got 10 percent of the Iowa vote while Giuliani, who was invited, got just 3 percent. Fox News said they had only enough room for so many candidates.
New Hampshire Republican Party chair Fergus Cullen said on December 31, “Limiting the number of candidates who are invited to participate in debates is not consistent with the tradition of the first in the nation primary. The level playing field requires that all candidates be given an equal opportunity to participate–-not just a select few determined by the media prior to any votes being cast.”
On January 5, following Fox News' continued refusal to allow a fair debate format, the New Hampshire Republican Party withdrew their sponsorship. Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
invited Ron Paul to be a guest on the January 7 Tonight Show specifically because he felt Paul's exclusion was "unfair."
In a post-debate analysis by Fox News, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
was declared the winner of the debate by several analysts. On top of this, Frank Luntz, a pollster with Fox News, indicated that Mitt Romney's performance was well-received by his focus group of both conservatives and moderate conservatives.
- Text transcript of the debate from the Council on Foreign Relations
- Video transcript of debate from You Decide 2008
- Video with Closed Caption
January 10, 2008 - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Fox News hosted a debate at the Myrtle Beach Convention CenterMyrtle Beach Convention Center
Myrtle Beach Convention Center is a 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It hosts various local concerts and sporting events for the area and was the home arena for the Myrtle Beach Stingrays of the National Indoor Football League in 2003.This was also the location of...
. All candidates except Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
and Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes is an American conservative political activist, author, former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. A doctoral graduate of Harvard University, Keyes began his diplomatic career in the U.S...
participated.
January 24, 2008 - Boca Raton, Florida
MSNBCMSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
hosted a two-hour debate at Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
. The organizers include the university, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Leadership Florida, the Florida Press Association and the Florida Public Broadcasting Service Inc. It took place on Thursday, January 24, from 9 to 11 pm EST. A text message poll was taken after the debate asking viewers who they believed had won. The results showed Romney won with 41%, Paul with 40%, Huckabee with 8%, McCain with 7%, and Giuliani with 4%.
January 30, 2008 - Simi Valley, California
The Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Politico
The Politico
The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
, hosted a Republican debate in Simi Valley
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about northwest of...
. This was the first debate after Rudy Giuliani withdrew and the last before Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday
In the United States, Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party's presidential candidates are officially nominated...
. Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, and John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
participated.
February 2, 2008 - New York, New York
MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
hosted a two-party debate on February 2, 2008, "Closing Arguments: A Presidential Super Dialogue", broadcast live from the MTV studios. The candidates were two Democrats, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
and Hillary Clinton, and two Republicans, Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
and Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
. Invited but not attending were John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
.