Right Wing Friend: "The GOP candidate should refuse to debate Obama!"

[Logical]

And his reason was.... because Obama will kick his ass. He said "Obama is too smart to win in a debate. ". LOL!

He said the downside of not debating Obama is better than debating him and looking like an idiot.

I tell you, the GOP is not looking forward to running against Obama. That is why no one has really been excited about running against him. I think most of them want to wait until 2016.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. By 2016, 100% of America will be aware of what liars and cheats the Repubes are.

I hope and pray.

[whoneedstickets]

2. The only one remotely quick enough to go toe to toe is Gingrich.

And he killed himself with that adultery excuse.

Imagine Palin? Bachman (good lord)?

[RichGirl]

9. Democrats not perfect, but....

I'm proud of them!!

When John Edwards cheated...he was done. Yet, the Christian right, moral high-ground people will consider cheaters for president. Gingrich and Guilliani and others. Edwards was not the first to cheat while his wife was sick....just the first to be so thoroughly ostracized.

Also...we don't have a crazy loon in the bunch. No democratic version of Palin, Bachman, Glen Beck, etc....

[karynnj]

12. The fact is that the scandals did hurt Guilliani and Gingrich

The scandal was the real reason that Guilliani dropped out of the Senate race in 2000. In addition, after the media fawned on him for months - the people still did not vote for him. He did very very badly in the 2008 primaries and in 2010, the easiest year for Republicans in some time, he did not run for either Senate or Governor, because, as he said, he could not raise money and didn't have the support.

As to Gingrich, he was pretty much the leader of the conservative wing of the party. His contract on America was praised by the right for the GOP winning 1994. Yet, although he has shown interest in running for President, there has never been support for him doing so - instead the nominations went to people like Bob Dole, Bush, and McCain. Given that Gingrich is articulate, likely the best debater the republicans have, and in about the right spot of the political spectrum to win a primary, his scandals are the most likely explanation of why he was never more a contender.

As to Edwards, he had little record to run on. He ran on personality, vision (that changed radically between the 2004 and 2008 races), and his image as the clean cut, country boy father of close knit happy family, who never forgot his roots. His appeal depended on people trusting who he was and what he said - even when it conflicted wit what he did. More than the affair itself, his lies when confessing mean that he can never run on trust or personality again.

for a conservative, Guilliani is the man who acted forcefully on 911 and Gingrich is a leading strategist. Even if they can't make it as the nominee because of their baggage, they have standing behind the scenes. This is not limited to Republicans. The most famous Democratic counterpart is Teddy Kennedy. He is one of the three most successful Senators ever and he was the lion of the Senate - yet it really was 1969 that meant he couldn't be President. (As a liberal Democrat, I would have voted for him in a second - just as someone as far to the right, would still vote for Gingrich. I think they all lose the middle.)

[whoneedstickets]

25. Good analysis. nt

[COLGATE4]

3. That's not as far fetched as it sounds. This is in fact the technique that Palin

first deployed during the Vice-Presidential debate with Biden: just refuse to discuss any topic that she didn't want to discuss and don't answer any question she refused to answer. To negate this you have to have a really good Moderator. Unfortunately in the past instance poor Gwen Ifill clearly wasn't up to the task, and I'm not sure that any Moderator acceptable to the Repigs will have the stones to do it the next time, either. Seeing the success of Palin's techniques lesser Repig candidates rapidly adopted it too (i.e. Sharon Angle, Michelle Bachmann et al), and my guess is that any number of the potential Repig hopefuls for 2012 have already considered using it in the upcoming debates. Whether the public lets them get away with it is an open question, but I tend to subscribe to the great H.L. Mencken's view of the voting American: "No one ever went broke overestimating the stupidity of the American public".

[Bluenorthwest]

10. Mencken is fun, but the fact is Palin became a joke that night

and she continues to be a subject of mockery for her lack of intellectual heft, shall we say? Did she get elected? No. Tina Fey played the flute and did 'fancy pageant walking' and saw Russia from her house.

[thelordofhell]

4. That's what happened in the race for Arizona's governor

There was one mandatory debate and everyone saw Jan "deer in the headlights" Brewer barely able to even repeat republican talking points. Her campaign immediately cancelled the 4 other debates after that and coasted on xenophobia and rabid republicans to get into office. If they did the other debates she would have been trounced in the election.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

14. Arizona is hardly the "gold standard" for the rest of the country

fortunately.

[thelordofhell]

22. Thank god for that!!

It was going in the right direction for a little bit until we lost Governor Janet Napolitano, then all hell broke loose. I love my home state, but I hate the republicans here.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

24. I can (somewhat) sympathize

I live in the near-solid Republican State of Indiana. The fact that they went for Obama in 2008 (albeit narrowly) was pretty damned amazing but I think we're starting to get a little bluer. Indianapolis/Marion County (where I reside) isn't too bad and there are some other more progressive enclaves such as Bloomington and Lake County. All things considered, I'd rather live here than, say, Florida. I'm sorry that you had to lose Janet over there. Hopefully, things will improve (for everybody). I wonder if, like what Chris Rock suggested, the right wing is getting even worse because they know that they'll soon be defunct, so they are now trying to get in their last licks. :shrug:

[butterfly77]

5. They are still...

fascinated by him and can believe it when knocks them out when he is not really trying. They watch him and try to find someone who they think can outwit him.

I was surprised at how everyone seemed so amazed last week when he made the speech and just basically said what everyone already knows since it is debated day in and day out on television,radio,the net and with us who know and live it everyday, even though they pretend not to.

This is what has gotten on my nerves every since he was elected the media and other politicians want him to campaign and give speeches every time an issue comes up. They want him everywhere,every time an issue comes up as though he doesn't have a country to run.

I don't recall Bush,Clinton or any other President needing to be at every event or issue that comes up. Didn't he tell us throughout the campaign "WE ARE THE ONES WE ARE WAITING FOR"

If he did say what many of us want him to say and what he probably wants to say many would act like he said something so outrageous. The media would harp on whatever he says day in and day out like they have been doing since he was elected but not a word when the right wing disrespects him.

I wish he would just say it get in their faces. But,if he did many would try to use that angry black man shit.

[mrcheerful]

6. Reagan was said to have won the debate with Carter and all Reagan said was

welfare queens,well there they go again, liberals are bad, I never said that and tax cuts. It depends on what the voters think they heard, with Reagan no 2 people ever heard the same thing come from Reagans mouth, it was rather amazing to sit in a room of people watching Reagan speak and not being able to find anyone that heard the same thing you heard.

[Keith Bee]

18. The media focused on his closing question

more so than anything else.

[HankyDubs]

7. the media always declares that it was a tie.

I don't think they have much to fear here.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. It worked for Rick Scott.

[craigmatic]

11. I don't think the debates really matter anymore. Obama would win any debate

against the repubs. Frankly I think the repubs have an advantage that Obama doesn't- they don't have to deal with facts or reality. Imagine what would happen if the repub just gets on stage and lies over and over again and nobody fact checks him.

[catrose]

15. Kerry won while Bush drooled

and it didn't make any difference

[cyndensco]

19. Exactly, I think they find stupid endearing. n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

27. Yes it did...

It made a huge difference. Prior to the first debate, Bush was ahead by almost 10 points nationally over Kerry. The race was turning into a blowout and then Bush face planted in that debate and the polls narrowed considerably.

Yes, Kerry eventually 'lost', but the only reason he was in that election in the end was due to his better debate performances.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6173033/ns/politics/">After debate, polls find Kerry, Bush in dead heat

The USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll of likely voters taken between Friday and Sunday found Bush’s 8 point lead over Kerry in a Sept. 26 poll had evaporated and both candidates would get 49 percent of the vote if the election were held today. Independent Ralph Nader got 1 percent, compared to 3 percent in the previous survey.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

13. How would that even to work, anyway?

We're not talking about some VP nominee whom everybody already had fairly low expectations of (at that point). Leaving aside for the moment that most Presidential *debates* seem to be largely "canned" (and fairly predictable) anyway, I can't see anybody running for President trying to avoid having a debate- on or off stage- and being taken seriously. McCain, of course, tried to wiggle out of a debate with Obama and "suspending" his campaign around the time that the big financial meltdown was occurring in 2008 but it gave most people an unfavorable view of McCain and made him look erratic and unpredictable- things you don't want to be seen as if you seriously want to be POTUS.

[and-justice-for-all]

16. Hahahahahah...OK, great idea....

"Obama is too smart to win in a debate. " no kidding. There is not ONE puke that is even comparable to Obama, ZERO.

[lies and propaganda]

17. they will just Supreme Court/Florida/Ohio/Wisconsin the vote

Who gives a shit to debate him and lost when you will just steal the win anyway.

[PatSeg]

20. McCain knew that in '08

He tried to get out of debating Obama by "suspending his campaign" because of the financial crisis. It was so pathetic and transparent. Obama's response? A president has to be able to "walk and chew gum at the same time".

[polichick]

21. Funny how they come up with plans like this rather than walking away from the idiots!

[paparush]

23. He could try the Bush approach (wired)

[Arkana]

26. Yeah, pretty sure even our shitty media

would take issue if there were no debates. They do love theater.