Blatant Reality

The Republican Debate is being held tonight in Florida and is a YouTube based debate. Before the debate began, the camera panned the audience and, by golly, I do believe I caught a glimpse of Chuck Norris and we all know who he is supporting for president. Stayed tuned for more…

UPDATE (8:16 EST):

Wow, things are already heating up, after the very first question about illegal immigration, Giuliani accused Mitt Romney about hiring illegals to work on his mansion. This brought about a spitting match between the two. They finally had to be broken up by the moderator like two boxers in the ring…

UPDATE ( 8:29 EST)

Mitt Romney is just trying to pick a fight tonight. Huckabee supports helping immigrant children get an education because he doesn’t believe we should punish the children for their parents mistakes. Romney, who doesn’t see it the same way, railed on Huckabee for this view. I think Mitt might still be a little sore from the immediate attack on him he received from Giuliani.

UPDATE ( 8:40 EST)

The candidates were asked what top three bureaucratic departments they would cut to reduce national spending. Ron Paul and Huckabee had the most interesting answers.

Ron Paul would cut federal spending to the Education Department, Energy Department, and Homeland Security.

Mike Huckabee would get rid of the IRS and revamp Homeland Security. “More people are afraid of an audit than a mugging.”

P.S. The crowd is brutal: booing almost always accompanies any series of applause.

UPDATE ( 8:54 EST)

Mitt Romney stated that he wouldn’t apologize for becoming pro-life after originally being pro-choice. He said the people shouldn’t be afraid of him because he changed his mind because the American people should support a candidate who isn’t afraid to admit he was wrong and change his view when confronted.

UPDATE ( 9:05 EST)
When asked whether the candidates owned guns and what kind, Thompson replied that he owns guns but “won’t tell you what they are or where they are.” Criminals: Thompson may be old but I wouldn’t recommend messing with him

UPDATE ( 9:15 EST)
When asked about the death penalty and what would Jesus do in that case, Huckabee answered that “Jesus was to smart to ever run for public office.” Huckabee does support the death penalty.

UPDATE ( 9:31 EST)
Mitt doesn’t believe it would be wise for them to describe what constitutes as torture. When directly asked if water boarding is torture, he refused to say either way.

McCain answered by stating that he couldn’t believe that Romney couldn’t say that water boarding is torture.

Man, Romney is just getting railed on and his responses aren’t helping him either.

UPDATE ( 9:42 EST)
If you have missed some of the questions asked tonight, here is the link to watch all of them on YouTube.

UPDATE ( 9:58 EST)

When asked if Huckabee would accept the support of “log cabin” republicans, a homosexual group of republicans, he replied that he’ll take and needs the support of everyone for him to win. He continued by staying that he doesn’t support their lifestyle but believes that the American people are not looking for a candidate who agrees with them, but one that holds true to their convictions while respecting others.

UPDATE ( 10:00 EST)
Favorite quote of the night by far:
“Hillary can be on the first rocket to Mars” –Mike Huckabee when asked about a mission to Mars

UPDATE ( 10:11 EST)

Well, its over, but here are a few other blogger’s take on the debate:

Gateway Pundit

InstaPundit

Right Wing News

Hugh Hewitt

Michelle Malkin 

The Pew Research Center recently did a poll that found that almost half of Americans view the military progress in Iraq proceeding either very or fairly well. This is up 18% from February when only 30% held this view. When asked if they felt we were defeating the insurgents in Iraq, 43% answered yes, we are making progress. This is also an increase from the February result of only 30%. However, this seemingly increase in support for the military didn’t translate into any more support for keeping the troops stationed in Iraq. The percentage of those who feel we should bring our troops home has hovered around 54% for the past 10 months.

Well, the bright side is that people are finally beginning to see that we can actually make some progress in Iraq. If this progress continues, people just may change their minds and support keeping our troops in Iraq at least until we can successfully and peacefully hand over power to the Iraqis. Whatever happens in Iraq in the coming months, though, may very well influence the outcome of the election next year which, in turn, will dictate our future actions in Iraq. I, for one, am praying for progress.

Well it seems that a recent Heritage Foundation study shows that a majority of the nation’s wealthiest congressional districts are represented by Democrats. Allahpundit from Hot Air makes an interesting point about what this may mean for the nation.

Exit question: On balance, is the Dems’ new bourgeois constituency good news or bad news? No one wants to lose supporters, especially ones with thick checkbooks, but this will make Her Majesty and the Democratic Congress think twice about the tax hikes needed to pay for those million good ideas we’ll be treated to shortly.

Oh how the tables have turned…

The United Nations’ Human Rights Committee will bring a draft condemning North Korea’s human rights violations to the General Assembly for a final vote. In the draft along with singling out North Korea, the committee also condemned the human rights record of Iran and Myanmar. Cuba, probably feeling like they may be the next to be singled out for their human rights record, tried to rally some nations against the draft.

Before the vote, Cuba rallied members of the 118-nation Nonaligned Movement which it heads not to approve the draft resolution because it singled out North Korea.

However, that didn’t seem to do much because the draft passed easily with a 97-23 vote with only 60 abstentions. I really don’t know what the fuss is about; The result of the vote in the General Assembly will be non-binding and will most likely have no affect on the countries what-so-ever. The world already knows that human rights are constantly being ignored in those countries so its not like it will even raise awareness of the atrocities happening there.

UPDATE:

Yea, Iran was pretty angry with the UN’s panel including them in it’s draft so you know what they did? Sentence 50 college age kids to death because of “immorality.” Hmmm, for some reason I don’t think that will help their case.

A recent ABC poll puts Huckabee quickly closing in on Romney in the Iowa. Even more encouraging is the fact that those who are supporting Huckabee or more dedicated than those supporting Romney.

And Huckabee supporters are fired up. Fifty percent say they’re “very enthusiastic” about supporting him, compared with just 28 percent of Romney’s. Similarly, 48 percent of Huckabee supporters are “definitely” for him; that applies to just 29 percent of Romney’s. Indeed 42 percent of Romney’s supporters say there’s a “good chance” they may change their minds; among Huckabee’s that falls to 26 percent.

 

Looking at it another way, among likely caucus-goers who are “very enthusiastic” about their choice, Huckabee leads Romney by 37-25 percent. Among those who say they’ve definitely made up their minds, 34 percent support Huckabee, 24 percent Romney. That makes for a better turnout profile for Huckabee.

Honestly, I didn’t think that Huckabee had a chance in the world at becoming a front runner when I saw him speak at the University of South Carolina just two months ago. This is one of the few times that I’m glad I was mistaken.

David Korn and Eli Lake, who was sitting in for Richard Miniter, discuss Huckabee’s surprising results in Iowa. My favorite part is when they hypothesize that his popularity is because people can relate to his weight loss story. Who knows, maybe the Republican’s will use Huckabee like Subway used Jared.

The most recent poll from cbsnews.com puts Huckabee at 21% in Iowa. That is second only to Mitt Romney who is leading with 27%.

 While the Democratic contest in Iowa has been a three-way battle for some time, most polls have shown Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, with a strong lead in the Hawkeye State, dominating the GOP field. Recent surveys, however, have shown Huckabee picking up steam, and he is well within striking distance in the CBS News/New York Times poll, where he trails Romney, 27 percent to 21 percent, with a 5 percent margin of error.

Well, a recent study seems to have severed that link. And what, pray tell, is the best remedy for terrorism? Democracy of course. Read Hot Air’s article on it here.

Today, Mike Huckabee’s campaign posted a new video of a speech in which Huckabee covers what we need in a President. They want to get 100 diggs by 5 pm tonight so help them out.

With Drudge’s recent posting of this YouTube video, Huckabee’s blog has responded with links to a couple sites that defend his record on tax issues.