Republican Debate Thursday January 24, 2008

Brian Willians asked Rudy Giuliani why his poll numbers were so terrible, half of what they were. The response is there are various polls and what the voters care about is the issues. Rudy has been mentioned negatively by the New York Times, some Republicans believe he should be proud of that.

Huckabee came out strong for the war in Iraq defending that ithe Bush invasion as worthwhile and a big part of our current safety.

Romney addressed the kitchen table issues of the economy, housing and energy costs. He joked, perhaps, that he can not think of any thing worse than having Bill Clinton as R. First Dude, back in the White House with nothing to do. That and using Barack Obama’s own challenges to Hillary gave him the upper hand tonight.

They struggled with the economy, out bidding George Bush on the size of the stimulus package after Bush had already significantly outbid Hillary. They seemed to all agree to go after Hillary tonight, the likely Democratic Candidate unless Barack gets another major boost not indicated in the polls.

The New York Times endorsed McCain and Hillary as their respective party candidates. McCain flew to New York to pickup some campaign cash .and the endorsement of New York D’Amato, an embarassment to Rudy. He keeps making the case that we are in difficult times and he is ready to be President and is still getting a second look and is thought of as a straight talker.

Ron Paul repeated his mantras that make him the darling of all who not only like what he says but who think he has been the most consistent in his positions. He is the only anti Iraq war Republican candidate.