Mitt Put Up Or Shut Up Debate Blogging

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We’re watching live at the Reagan shrine. Each candidate is bowing before Nancy Reagan. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

8:03 PM … Anderson Cooper is totally getting into the Reagan hagiography here. I feel like pulling someone aside and saying, Hey, you know what, I was alive back when Reagan was president. Lemme tell you what it was like … But then again I’m only 38 so I guess we all were. Oh well.

8:05 PM … Man, McCain’s cash payment to Cooper really paid off with Cooper’s utter smackdown of Romney like five times in the first question. Hmmm. McCain’s not doing well either.

8:08 PM … Debates are harder to follow since grammar and syntax dropped out of the race.

8:09 PM … Okay, I think the story of the night is that the sound system is so bad that the candidates can’t even hear each other.

8:13 PM … Getting the sense that McCain feels liberated by the fact that he’s mopping up delegates with Mitt’s behind.

8:17 PM … That was an interesting exchange between McCain and Romney. McCain smacked him around; but then Romney came back and seemed to completely demolish his arguments with factual rebuttals. McCain’s point about Mitt’s Lt. Gov was I think just plain wrong. But McCain had better delivery for his fibs than Mitt did for his facts. Curious how people will view that.

8:22 PM … I’ve just requested that a message be sent to Mitt’s earpiece requesting more fighting.

8:26 PM … I think Mitt must have kicked McCain’s butt with that global warming answer, only I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say.

8:29 PM … Anderson: Shut up, Ron Paul! You’ve had your thirty seconds!

8:30 PM … Aphasia is working for Huckabee.

8:39 PM … It too bad for Mitt that he sucks so much. Here the LA Times reporter hits McCain on the fact he opposed the Bush tax cuts and did so for a rational reason — they were big giveaways for the rich. Remember, this was when McCain was considering becoming a Democrat. Mitt comes back at this but he gets sidetracked on talking about entitlements. Sigh.

8:43 PM … First, let me note that this ‘get to the end of the line’ metaphor really needs to be outlawed. More importantly, Mitt Romney, really doesn’t know how to go on the attack. He keeps getting these questions where McCain is deeply at odds with most Republicans. He lightly touches on the question and then gets distracted talking about some policy mumbojumbo.

8:46 PM … Okay, McCain is ducking this ‘would you vote for your own bill’ question. Is Romney too stupid to hit him on this? The answer seems to be yes.

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