First off, the questions asked by Frank were framing the audience. Classic technique used by attorneys to get people to say what they want. Secondly, every answer sounded like it was scripted. Even the Romney supporter next to me was embarrassed by this obvious rigging…

Pretty weak Fox..

Mitt Romney won no question. He answered the questions better than any other candidate. He looked and acted presidential and most importantly HE DIDN”T WHINE!!

Wow! Funny, Mitt Romney seems to win EVERY Luntz focus group and the lines seem to ONLY shoot up when Romney talks. I don’t know what’s going on but to me Romney came off as an arrogant, school yard bully. He annoys me more than John Kerry and Al Gore combined.

Huckabee hands down, followed by Guiliani and possibly Fred Thompson.

I think Ron Paul won. The exclusion was an obvious error on Fox’s part. Shameful.

Giuliani won because he showed that he has the most detailed and rational plan for dealing with immigration, and because he demonstrated that he has a history of solving economic problems in NY and can do the same for the country. He also showed that he can stand up to terrorists, i.e. Arafat and the Saudi prince. Throughout his professional life, the mayor has strongly and successfully stood up to evildoers, including criminals, terrorists and mobsters, and he would be the best leader of the war against Islamic terrorism.

I was so impressed by Mitt’s responses tonight in the debate. He was the only candidate that seems ready to tackle whoever is the Democratic candidate in the Fall. Huckabee looked foolish in a few of his responses and McCain just didn’t seem inspired. I was not sure who to vote for before the debate tonight, but based on this debate, I am voting for Romney!

I didn’t think Romney won at all. I was very surprised to hear the answers of the Luntz group. I’d rather not say anything negative, so I’ll just say that I did lilke what McCain and Huckabee said about being positive.

Huckabee hads down, followd by Guiliani and possibly Fred Thompson

I believe that Mike Huckabee won. He is the only candidate on the Republican side speaking to the concerns of the middle class (in other words, most of America), and he delivered very clear, straightforward answers. His answer on immigration and seeing the bigger picture, rather than spatting about who is/was for amnesty, was especially strong.

I disagree completely with Luntz’s “focus group,” I’m not even convinced they actually were truly undecided voters and being genuine in their answers. I think Romney comes across as smug and out-of-touch with the real America.

Romney won without a doubt. It seems as if Huckabee and Mcain keep saying the same things over and over and keep avoiding the questions that are being asked. It was a great idea not to include Ron Paul, he won’t be winning anything anyway. Mitt Romney is the best candidate out there and has experience, we dont want the same people running for president that are part of congress.

The focus group data that was presented was not at all believable. I have 15 people in my home watching the same discussion and all of them (most are also undecided) believe that the focus group was a plant for Romney or that Romney had them planted.

There was too much passion in the answers of the group to be real or to have be developed from this debate even if Romney did 10 on a scale of 1-10! What about the poll leader McCain?

Romney is not likable to 10 of 15. Who vets these focus group folks and how can this be obective?

Itys a complete waste of time and also unfair to the other candidates for the airtime it provided Romney

Fox should be ashamed!

I didn’t agree with the people Luntz interviewed. I thought McCain and Huckabee won.

I thought that Huckabee wisely avoided giving the Romney campaign a ‘tax hike Mike’ soundbite for the rest of the campaign, and nailed the remainder of the questions.

Romney came across as smug and a jerk who tried to out moderate the moderator.

Not sure why Fox gave Romney’s negative ads free airtime in a ‘neutral’ debate, or why only Romney dial data was provided from the Luntz focus group. No attempt to be unbaised at all.

So much for fair and balanced. We’re not so easily fooled.

Winner: Mike Huckabee
Loser: Romney surrogate Fox News. Not even their shenanigins will save him, and they just lost a LOT of credibility as campaign analysts.

Winner – Mike Huckabee, he’s clear, concise, a wonderful communicator, I feel that he truly cares about the middle class and the ups and downs that “regular” americans are going through unlike a few of the other candidates.

America is ready for a change and I truly believe that he can bring a positive change to the american people.

This is not accurate. It’s the the opinion of “THE FOCUS GROUP”. Obviously hand picked. Please. Do not insult us with this.

Of course the people were impressed with Mitt Romney. He upstaged everyone and Chris Wallace let him do it.

I thought they were all good.

McCain-8.1 —- Didn’t hurt himself. Looked like the front runner.

Huckabee-7.9 — Stated his points. Started off slow but finished strong. Didnt hurt himself either.

Romney-6.7 —- Needs to really check the facts on what he has said. So many position changes will haunt him in the general election. Tried to take the command but came across as a bully many times.

Guilliani- 5.0 — Needed to interject more.

Thompson-3.2 — I love the guy but he is more like a grandpa, very knowledgeable but not running

After watching all the debates so far, I believe, currently, Mitt Romney has rose above the “pack” by a quantum leap. I did not feel this way a few weeks ago, but, I do believe that he is what we need as our next president —

America needs someone that canmake a difference. Ameria also needs, US, the peope to stop stating that nothing wil change because of the make up of congress. We, the people, can also vote the right people into every position in Washington.

Ah! I see how it’s done now. To make sure that Ron Paul can’t win your online poll after the Republican debate on 6 January 2008 in New Hampshire you just don’t invite him (though he beat Rudy in Iowa with real voters, beats Thompson in NH polls and is sent more money in small donations than any of your favorites). Pretty slick! I wonder how many people won’t notice the manipulation.

Best wishes.

I have always liked Romney as the package, not in every respect. I am thrilled that the focus group “saw the light” and overwhelmingly shifted strong support to him. I beleive Governor Romney will win!

I was unable to watch the debate because I don’t have Fox News channel; fortunately, a live audio feed was being broadcast on this website. I was surprised at the listener response (graph) when Romney was speaking – the way people on these blogs are talking these days, you’d think ‘MittPhony’ has no credibility with the people of this country. I watched the ratings go higher when he spoke than for anyone else. All the way to the end, he was carrying approval from 85-90% of both conservative and moderate listeners (with a high of 95% – no one else got close to that the whole night). And then to hear the focus group’s report afterward that matched the listener response perfectly, it became clear that I wasn’t the only one thinking that Romney resurrected himself tonight.

Now, one could be a conspiracy theorist and say that they are were all paid off by the Romney money machine, and that this whole forum was bought and paid for by Romney’s personal check. But for those rational minds out there, the facts are pretty clear. Romney cleaned up nice – and not just in the physical sense. Here’s a man that has the energy, the optimism, the class, the ideas, the confidence, and the values and experience necessary to turn things around for this country in all the ways it needs fixin’ and keep all the things right about America the same.

He had my vote before, and he reaffirmed to me tonight that I’ve seen the real Mitt – not the one the MSM and McCain supporters (following in their great leader’s footsteps) want you to see, but the one that we’ll get to know better over the next 10 months.

I thought Romney won.

Mitt Romney won. Will enough independents vote in the Democratic Primary to hurt McCain and enable Romney to pull NH out?

The focus group was rigged to favor the GOP and Fox News’ “Establishment candidate Mitt Romney

I am an uncommitted voter and I’ve been very closely watching the media coverage of the debates and forums. I would love to comment on who I think won the forum, but unfortunately, the biased and unfair Fox News didn’t allow all of the candidates to participate. I am smart enough to notice that Ron Paul wasn’t in attendance and smart enough to draw the conclusion of bias. If the media is allowed to unfairly silence certain candidates, we cannot make an educated choice, which is of course, how the media keeps us uninformed and sways our decisions.

Fox News should be ashamed at the bias shown by not inviting Ron Paul to participate in the forum.

LET ALL THE CANDIDATES SPEAK!!!!!!!!!

Ron Paul deserves the right to be heard with the rest of the candidates. Please don’t insult us by only giving us the information that you want us to have.

I feel that Romney was very well prepared and easily won the debate.

I think Huckabee was the most authentic candidate. I also think the majority of people on your “undecided voter panel” were far from undecided to begin with and were not a good slice of Americana to say the least or their comments would not have been so lock and step… I watch Fox News frequently and am a life long Republican but everytime you have the “undecided voter panel” on it makes me want to get my news somewhere else. I also think the average American voter is much more independent and intellectually savy than your panel.

I think that Mitt Romney won overwhelmingly. He’s articulate and intelligent on all subjects. He has a very good grasp on the major issues facing our nation. He has a plan and the experience to make those plans work. It’s my opinion with the great needs of our nation at this time, he is the most qualified and equipped to handle each and every area. I was prepared not to vote for him. But if the vote were tonight, he’d have my vote.

Romney, and it wasn’t that close although I thought Giuliani did well. Huckabee and McCain sounded reasonable in demeanor but could not match up in defending their positions or statements, such as McCain on immigration or Huckabee on his personal negative attack that Romney was being dishonest in his comparison ads, or his bogus “I’ll take the high road” statements while he’s in the very process of making negative personal attacks.

After watching all the debates so far, I believe, currently, Mitt Romney has rose above the “pack” by a quantum leap. I did not feel this way a few weeks ago, but, I do believe that he is what we need as our next president!

I do not agree with the people in Frank Luntz’ focus group. In fact, I do not understand HOW they could say that Romney won the debate. Perhaps it’s the difference in people living in a different part of our country-their values and concerns-that deternines their perspective of this debate.

I believe that FRED THOMPSON is the only candidate who has the answers we need for the problems we face. He’s the ONLY CONSISTENT CONSERVATIVE.

Huckabee and McCain won. I don’t know what debate this focus group was watching.
Also I have heard all weekend how there are a lot of independent voters in NH so why not invite undecided independents for the focus group?

Mitt Romney won tonight. He was very confident, reasonable answers, he understands where American voters are concerned and seems “tuned in” to the pulse of genuine concerns. Presented himself very Presidential!

I thought Mike Huckabee had a solid performance on the debate. Luntz has left me shaking my head questioning his screening of pollsters. The comments made about Huckabee and his pastor background seemed a little staged. Mike made very little if no reference to his pastoral past and yet two comments made by luntz group were (paraphrased) we in NH don’t wear our religion on our shirts and the other was a woman who made reference to she believes that she is not voting for someone who is running for pastor; however she is voting on someone running for president. Frankly I am tired of the ranting over huckabee’s past as a pastor in MSM and fox has become a little anti-huckabee. He was a govenor longer than a pastor for cryin out loud.

Carl you have stayed more balanced then the rest of fox media so I thank you for that!

To my mind I found Giuliani most apealing for president. He may have come accross as a little abraisive but in the end he’s the guy that seems most capable of getting things done and take decisive action when needed. Huckabee seemed shallow. Romeny too much like a salesman just trying to close a deal. Thompson intelligent but too subdued. McCain competent but no excitement

I believe Mike Huckabee won this debate. I think McCain did well, but he does not represent change. He is an old timer. Mitt came off as a bull dog that only wants to talk bad about everyone else. I feel Guiliani is out of touch and will drop out soon. I like Fred, but I don’t think he can win. Mike Huckabee can energize the Republican base and bring in Independents. He is for change and I think he could make things happen in Washington.

Mitt Romney. Clear and concise. Along with Rudy, only person who would own up to past mistakes. Liked the parts he threw in about China- I have been worried about this them for a few years now and nobody seems to want to confront this issue.

That focus group is off their rockers. All Romney had over the others is the “appearance” of being presidential.

Republicans are have no chance if Mitt wins the primary b/c he won’t win the general election. Independants will NOT vote for him- that I can guarantee. What does he have over Obama? Nothing. What does McCain have over Obama? A great deal.

Also, the Dems won’t work with him. The others in this blog are right: he comes off as completely arrogant.

As a registered independent who supported McCain in 2000, I cannot support him this time around. I was already concerned with his stance on taxes, immigration and McCain-Feingold. After watching his childish behavior last night, I was shocked, dismayed and a little bit offended. To have Huckabee joining in and shooting smirks across the table to McCain just showed his true colors. He’s portrayed himself as a Christian leader but that certainly wasn’t on display last night.

Back to McCain, I have not once seen him debate Mitt Romney on the issues. He says that he will not run a negative campaign and yet at every turn, he’s engaged in character assassination against Romney. Romney puts out contrast ads and McClain calls him a liar – so Romney asks what is untrue in the ad and McCain continues with the personal attacks. FINALLY, in last night’s debate – Romney had him cornered and McCain’s answer is that his bill didn’t support amnesty! Sorry – that is a blatant misrepresentation of the truth. I remember clearly why we (Americans) rejected McCain’s bill. The bill allowed illegal aliens to reapply to stay in America indefinately.

Romney continues to show his intelligence and integrity under fire. Last night and tonight, I was impressed by Romney and the depth of his answers. He offered real solutions to our problems. Romney will get my vote. I hope that voters from New Hampshire reject Mr. McCain and help elect someone with real solutions!

I disagree with the Luntz focus group. Romney was arrogant and annoying. McCain and Huckabee were both bullied by Romney. Huckabee failed miserably in trying to explain how his immigration plan protects children after he admitted under cross examintation by Romney, then Wallace, that he would ship them out.
I think Thompson did best. He seems to be a straight shooter and doesnt get caught up with all the garbage being flung by the others. He explained his social security and immigration plans well.
Giuliani also did well. His experience and leadership under fire is a strong point.

Mike Huckabee seems to be the most Honest of all the candidates. but Fox is trying to promote warmonger candidates… and by silencing the voice of all candidates you have created a big stink. way to go fox.

Elitest attitude on part of focus group. McCain and Huckabee won.

Romney is by far the best candidate! He answered every attack in an honest, direct way. Huckabee proved without a doubt he doesn’t have a clue about how to run this country. Romney has the strength of leadership, the proven record of that leadership and, oh, by the way, has strength of character – a welcome change among politicians. I’m sick of Huckabee wearing his religion on his sleeve. Just tell me how you will the country. Enough with the one-liners and just answer the questions! He tried to duck the hard questions.

Re: the focus group -
This is the 1st group I’ve seen that actually was questioned about Romney. The last time it was the Huckabee show.

Re: so-called “attack” ads -
If you can’t handle having your record challenged or compared to another candidate, you shouldn’t be in the race. And the slick trick Huckabee pulled getting his attack ad run FOR FREE – over and over and over – yes even on Fox – was reminiscent of another politician from Hope, Arkansas. Not exactly reflective of a good Baptist preacher.

Mitt Romney. Clear and concise. Voiced concerns about China– an issue I think that is unfortunately being overlooked.

I don’t think the focus group was rigged. If it was, it would have labeled Huckabee or McCain as the “worst”, not Fred Thompson, the only candidate on the stage tonight who isn’t beating him in national polls.

I think Ron Paul won.

[...] Romney routed McCain, Huckabee and and also-rans in Sunday Night’s GOP Presidential forum among undecided Republican voters in New Hampshire. Romney’s answers on taxes, immigration and changing Washington literally [...]

I thought they were all good tonight. I thought the weakest was Huckabee, who sort of rambled on but did not answer questions directly in some instances. My daughter and I thought Giuliani was the best. Basically, they all acted presidential and more mature than the democratic candidates did last night (Hillary angry and shrill, Edwards smarmy and juvenile and Barak, likeable but an empty suit).

Romney — The only real contender out of the Republicans who has a record to stand on. Look at his record… successful businessman, successful Olympic run, and a Republican governor of bleedingblue Massachusetts! — with tangible accomplishments at each step along the way. He’s got my vote.

McCain — gimme a break… didn’t even vote for Bush’s tax cuts, passed his campaign finance reform (with the MOST liberal member of the Senate – Feingold) and tried to push through that stupid immigration plan.

Huckabee — this has to be a joke. Sorry – but I do NOT want a pastor as my President.

Thompson — was he even there?

Giuliani — had a lot of potential but just hasn’t been showing up. I’m afraid the way he planned out his approach to the primaries was not the best. I like him for VP.

Romney/Giuliani in ‘08!!!

I watched Fox so called fair and balanced? Well, this all seemed somwhat staged. It seemed that Mr. Mitt and the focus group had an elitest attitude throughout the whole process.

Why are so many people whining about the so called ‘negative ads’? I think that every candidate should embrace the opportunity to expose the truth, weather its hurtful or not. Americans want to elect a leader, not out of ignorance, but out of clarity, understanding, and unity. Mitt Romney’s ads are attacked so heavily because the truth stings. Instead of whining about it, learn form it. Mitt Romney has obviously done that and that is why he has my vote.

I believe Mike Huckabee won this debate. He spoke about the heart and soul of what America stands for. He was positive as was McCain. Romney was negative and I do not believe that the fox focus group represents New Hampshire or the United States.

Mitt is the only one one on that stage with the presence, determination and brains to beat the democrats. Put McCain or Huckabee out there during the next year and we’ll be eatin alive!!!

These focus groups are simply a fraud. It is statistically impossible for Romney to get 100% or near 100% from a truely impartial focus group. I have seen at least one other so called post debate focus group from Lutz after an Iowa Republican debate. Mysteriously that group was completely 100% Romney after the debate. There are only a couple of possibilities for this outcome: 1) Romney’s poeple managed to stack the deck, 2) FOX (intentitionally or through incompentence) had a biased audience. It was probably just an imcompotent focus group selection. Any pollster that gets 100% or near 100% agreement from a supposedly neutral focus group should know that something is wrong. (Unless that is the result that they want.) These focus groups and live debate reaction by meters is utter nonsense.

Three of us watched the program tonight. I was impressed with how well everyone did.
I was especially impressed with Rudy and Mike. The three of us are still undecided. But I think
the program tonight gave the candidates a better forum to explain themselves.
I liked being able to hear each man clarify his positions.

Romney won going away. He is intellectually superior to all the candidates, both Republican and Democrat. Huckabee, for a pastor, has a hard time telling the truth. McCain has so alienated the base of the party with his positions that he will not be enthusiastically supported. Giuliani is way too liberal and has serious ethical & moral problems. Thompson? Is he still alive? Romney has personal, professional, volunteer and government credentials (all as a conservative). No one comes close to his accomplishments-Republican or Democrat. New Hampshire will get it right Tuesday and vote for Romney.

Romney actually has some substance, that is why he won the debate and did so in a land slide.

I am hopeful that it does translate to a win for Romney in New Hamshire.

Here is a quote from Dan Riehl, “What (Romney) did best was show informed voters he’s probably the guy Republicans need in the Fall.”
World View Blog, , Posted 1/6/08)

BTW…why do none of the television networks acknowledge Wyoming which has more delegates than New Hampshire? And yes Romney won there yesterday. And yes if I am counting correcly, Romney now leads the delegate count in total, which would indicate Romney message is resignating with the populus. The more the American people get to know Romney, the higher his numbers will go.

I find it interesting how many people think that there is some type of conspiracy going on with the Luntz focus group. If you’d look at some of the videos from past debates you might notice that his focus groups have chosen John McCain as their winner. It’s not a conspiracy. Mitt won because he’s the strongest candidate and did the best in this debate. Romney for President!

Romney won hands-down! More impressive, he continues to take the high road and brought his opponents up to his level tonight evidenced by their lack of character attacks (with the possible exception of Huckabee). As far as Luntz’s group being fixed… Lunacy, or someone who passionately hates Romney and can’t be objective.

Loved Mitt Romney tonight. Well spoken, clear answers. Enough about him being negative, stating your opinions in contrast to your opponents is comparative, not negative.

McCain and Huckabee lost the debate when it comes to their failed immigration policies.

McCain’s policy would only encourage more illegals to come, knowing that they too will someday get to stay forever.

Huckabee was just confusing – doesn’t want to punish the kids of illegals, but would send them back to their home country, and wants to give them in-state tuition. I don’t think so.

I have to agree with the other comments about the Luntz focus group being scripted or one-sided…it was obviously staged to make Romney “win” and appear to be on an upswing. What a joke. Aside from the wavering on the one of the initial questions about taxes in Arkanasas, Huckabee did an excellent job and so did McCain. Fair and balanced? I’m not so sure.

These Luntz focus groups are not believable. These results are not statistically possible if you have a representative sample in the focus group. Someone simply stacked the deck. This is so one sided that it is a joke. If Luntz is a real pollster – then he knows these results are garbage. (Of course maybe that was his intent).

Brinn, you are incorrect, didn’t you watch Luntz’s group in Iowa? They were pro-huckabee.

Romney blew him away tonight!!!!

My husband and I just agreed after Fox’s debate tonight, that if McCain gets picked for the general election, he will pick Huckabee as VP. And because of McCain’s arrogance, he will force both my husband and I to vote for either Obama or Hillary.

Did anyone notice all the compliments between McCain and Huckabee? My and husband and I believe it was planned between them.

Mitt Romney won, I don’t think there is anyway to argue that. At this point Guiliani and Mitt are the two most viable candidates.

Huckabee was a coward trying to claim that the court made him raise taxes. He needs to take accountability for his record. Good for Fox for exposing him and his political speak.

Romney won by far! He was the only candidate who had a real grasp of the specifics of the major issues. Romney has presence, and most importantly DIDN’T WHINE about “his fellow candidates” ganging up on him last night. I think I finally figured out why they are jealous; he is definitely appealing!!

Romney was by far the strongest debater of the evening. Romney has a strong command of the issues and can effectively draw distinction where others differ. McCain did a decent job in the debate and stayed positive throughtout. Huckabee had a very poor showing tonight and is so defensive when it comes to his record as Governor.

NH is between Romney and McCain and Romney clearedly demonstrated he is the right person for the job. Huckabee doesn’t have a chance at all getting the nomination and the mainstream media should get real and stop hyping him so much.

I think that Romney didn’t get as pummeled as he did last night. I disagree with the Luntz group. I don’t think he was spectatcular. He misrepresented Huckabee (again) saying he “pardoned” so many folks, when he commuted sentences, which according to Arkansas law is required in some cases so they are eligible for parole. Commutation is not the same as a pardon. All of these folks were referred to the parole board and not everyone was granted parole. His website has a better response for that.

I think Mike Huckabee did well talking about taxes and talking about how the GOP is not addressing the problems that working families face. McCain made a good case for why he should be the commander-in-chief. I don’t think Huckabee, McCain or Romney hurt themselves. Thompson didn’t say much, I would be surprised if he is in it much longer. Giuliani was also weak in his responses as well.

Hucakbee won, there is no argument. He is the only candidate that talks to the middle class. I am confident that in the end he will get the nomination. Second place goes to McCain. Third place goes to Paul since he was excluded. Last place goes to FOX NEWS for trying to decide the nominee. One step below FOX is Romney who will say anything and pay anything to get elected.

AS A CHRISTIAN, I GUESS I SHOULD BE SAYING THAT HUCKABEE WON. AND I DO LIKE HUCKABEE. BUT FOUND MYSELF CHEERING FOR ROMNEY OVER AND OVER. HATED THE WAY HE WAS TREATED LAST NIGHT (ESP. BY MCCAIN) IN THE ABC DEBATE. ALSO, WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED IN FOX FOR EXCLUDING RON PAUL. I THINK IT WAS A VERY FOOLISH DECISION. VERY FOOLISH.

Mitt Romney won. McCain has done some good things, but, he will not change! He has been in DC for so long he is stuck in a rut. I wish they would have shown McCain’s AD, it personally took a shot at Governor Romney, not on his policies, but at him! Huckabee’s ad’s and comments are the same as McCain’s; they don’t show the differences on their records, they just personally attack Romney. It’s obvious that a few of you posting are just like the bush haters, you don’t like the person so you will not look at the records! When will you look at the issues? McCain and Huckabee do not have the demeanor or the temperament to be president! You can see that every time they are asked a questioned on something they have done.

Hands down Romney…… Mike’s comments above about the group being planted is absolutely rediculous. Fox has not been favorable to Romney anymore than the others and they’d be flat out stupid to have done so.

Romney clearly commanded a strong knowledge of the issues, responded in a manner that showed a confidence in his positions and clearly explained his change of hear on abortion. Anyone that is not sure who won needs to watch it again. McCain’s and Huckabee’s snide comments last night will hurt them in NH.

Kudos to Fox for putting on a much better debate. It was about the issues and didn’t allow any tag teaming against any of the candidates.

Mitt won, easy.

You conspiracy theorists are hilarious! So Mitt bought the focus group? Hahaha, desperate attack by the other candidate backers. Go adjust you tin-foil caps.

He was solid on taxes, healthcare, immigration, national defense, etc.

He backed Hucka-waffle into a “court-mandated” tax (weak!) and made McCain show his nice side since his grumpy old man routine last night hurt him.

Independents will swing for Mitt and McCain can go back to the Senate for another 25 years.

If you were trying to see where the candidates stood on issues. Romney told you what he thinks. Fred Thompson as always illustrates what plain talk is, and calls a spade a spade. McCain emphasized his strength in national security. Huckabee is a personality with charm but I am not sure what he could accomplish as president. Guliani is street smart and likable. All of them took hits from Wallace tonight… I do not think if you compare apples to apples, any of them have the overall potential of Romney. When it was pointed out by Stepanopolis that he had indeed called McCains stance “amnesty” he said…Yes I have, I was incorrect last night. I was thinking of another ad. His willingness to say, I have reconsidered my position…and explain the circumstances behind that gave me the feeling he can negotiate…that he is good natured… that he would not be unreasonable or a one issue president. During the first Iowa straw poll I was drawn to Huckabee…he is entertaining and seems cordial. I think, however, he is a lot more government oriented than I would like. I wish Fred was a little more enthused…and that Guliani had a wider focus….He is for me more real than Huckabee… McCain strikes me as a little impatient, and he laughs at his own jokes. It may just be a matter of timing..

If I were voting in New Hampshire TODAY, I would probably vote for Romney. I do feel good about Guiliani too.

Without a doubt Mitt Romney won. He is definitely the smartest guy in the room.

McCain can’t win a conservative debate–it doesn’t fit him. Huckabee’s “I’m the best Christian” message doesn’t ressonate in NH. Mitt won from a NH perspective and from a conservative standpoint.

Romney is clearly the most capable candidate from either party. Huckabee is old news. McCain is a sour, egotistical old man with no executive leadership experience since the navy fifty years ago.

After watching the FoxNews debate, I think it’s clear that Romney won on the economy. I wish he’d adhere more to Reagan’s 11th commandment of conservatism–thou shalt speak no ill of a fellow republican–but his critiques do show the differences between the candidates. Romney articulated a stronger stance on immigration, and he CLEARLY showed himself to be the candidate most to proven to strengthen the economy.

The word that stuck out to me from Romney’s comments was “executive.” He’s a proven executive (both in government and business) an he’s running for the most prominent executive office in the country.

Huckabee and Mcain should team up and run together! They kind of remind me of the movie grumpy old men! GO THompson!

Romney won the debate and better win NH. He is the most intelligent and has the most practical and proven leadership experience. The others only pick on him because they know he is or should be the one to beat. I can’t believe the people that criticize Romney for his personal success and assert that somehow that makes him detached from the average American. I don’t want the USA to be an average county, so I don’t want an average American running it. To be the best, you need the best leaders. Give credit where it is due and support Romney for President.

I think the only obvious choice is that Romney won. I got the impression that the focus group was pro-Romney selected and even the forum was pro-Romney and aimed at attacking Huckabee and McCain most of the time so who would you expect to win. Great job Fox at being an obvious Romney supporter instead of being Fair and Balanced in this forum.

Hands down Mitt Romney. I agreed with Frank Luntz tonight and his focus group last night that called it on the Democrats side for Obama.

You know I think it’s interesting when people dismiss a room full of Americans wholesale and say “oh that candidate just paid for thos people’s opinion or manipulated them”. So childish.

Mitt won last night on ABC as did Obama. Mitt won tonight on Fox.

Also for the first time since I’ve been watching this campaign last January I heard a full room of GOPers say that one of our candidates can beat a Democrat. And not only a Democrat but the super popular “Oprah approved” Obama. Wow I was amazed when I heard that. Wow. Mitt was very impressive.

There is no doubt that Mitt Romney is the winner. He is definitely the smartest guy in the room.

Huckabee, then McCain.

Mitt only seemed to do well after the disaster last night. It was obvious to anyone with an IQ over 100 this focus group was a set up. They ALL came in uncommitted, and amazingly practically ALL raised their hands that they were now committed for Romney. Appears even the Fox News All star panel was embarassed by this sham, not really mentioning Luntz’ “amazing” focus group results.

Check with any presidential candidate group except Romney and see if they think Fox News questioning and Mr. Luntz survey was somewhat staged and biased.

Obviously McCain, Romney, and Huckabee seemed to get the lion’s share of time, but Wallace did a good enough job of keeping Thompson and Guiliani involved. I really believe Thompson wins this debate. It’s really extraordinary how much the other candidates end up agreeing with him so much, and the brief exchange he had with Huckabee regarding Guantanamo demonstrated how well he knows the issues. I’m sad he hasn’t campaigned better, because when it comes down to issues, I really agree with him far more often than anyone else. I’m casting my vote for him, and I think if Republicans vote strictly on who they agree with on the issues, they would vote for him, too.

Other than that, I thought McCain handled himself really well, and I’m very comfortable with him. Giuliani debated just fine, I just happen to disagree too much. Huckabee was weak tonight, worse than he has been in other debates, where he usually performs quite well. I just don’t like Romney, so I think that personal feeling affects how I think he did in the debate.

Romney clearly won the debate.

Hopefully the undecides will get out and vote Republican.

Romney won Wyoming and now if he can pull off a win in New Hamshire or even a very close second, he will be on his way to the nomination.

Huckabee is full of shinanagans and an embarassment on foreign policy.
McCain is so ANTI-Bush that it gave fuel to the democrats the past 8 years. He let his hatred get in the way of voting for the needed Bush tax cuts.

I think Romney supporters think Romney won. I think Huckabee supporters think Huckabee won. I think Giuliani supporters think Giuliani won. I think McCain supporters think McCain won.

As a democrat and Obama supporter, I think Romney won tonight’s election. Which scares me. I’d much rather Obama face Huckabee in the general election. It would be 1988 all over again, only in reverse.

The forum really seemed geared to favor Romney, Huckabee and McCain, so I think that was a bit unfair to Thompson and Giuliani. However, Romney still did exceptionally well in my opinion. Giuliani did very well too. Romney really just had a great grasp on the topics and did well responding to his critics. Don’t know if it is enough to get him a win this Tuesday but he certainly didn’t hurt his chances.

Romney won flat out. Most presidential of the group and best equiped to challenge the Democrats in the fall.

Huckabee wouldn’t answer questions directly and you’ve got to ask yourself why a Democrat state like Arkansas re-elected him so often? Could it be that as Govenor he acted more Democrat than Republican?

Giuliani was stuck on WorkFair and the ’90’s

Was Fred napping? No it must have been me when he was speaking!

McCain sounded like Hillary.”Experienced and Ready!”

Romney “won”? Well, he did better than the last debate which was an absolute train wreck for him. He didn’t come close to “winning”. If I picked a winner it would be Huckabee, followed closely by McCain. Romney has been such a disappointing candidate and awful debater that I guess to some he looked good tonight. But, let’s face facts — Romney as an agent of “change”? Please, his people came up with that one on the plane east from Iowa. Why doesn’t anyone mention that Massachusetts was the second worst performing state economy in the nation during his term?

The debate was good, I think the focus-group bit immediately after the debate was a joke. I didn’t find Mitt Romney overwhelmingly wining that debate – and neither did the pundits in “the Fox box” in the next segment who said everyone did well with a few rightfully knocking on Huckabee’s miscues. Yet, the focus-group was a Romney love-fest! The line of questioning in that segment was all about steering those folks towards Romney and away from anyone else. It was the most unbalanced, misleading bit of reporting I’ve seen in a long time. Based on 30 or so people in a bar – who I seriously doubt were undecided – Frank Luntz pronounces it as a “huge night for Romney.” Wouldn’t Fox just love to be Romney’s turning point in his campaign! That seemed to be on Brit Hume’s mind when he asked it of Mort and Fred in the next segment – and the headlines on the fox website are starting to reflect this. As a journalist and a news organization – please try not to make the news – just report it objectively. Either that – or re-title your coverage “Fox Decides 2008.”

McCain was by far the best. He would probably be the only candidate able to work with both parties to get things done in a bi-partisan way. We don’t need a President that is in a dead lock with Congress for 4 years and is ineffective. There are polls that asked Dems how they saw the Rep candidates and a large % (over 50%) rated McCain Favorably. Huckabee has a great plan with the Fair Tax and if that could get more publicity, a movement would start to grow. As to Romney’s attack on Huckabee and the the taxes he raised- Where is the goose that lays the golden eggs that should have paid for the things Huckabee needed in his state? Last time I looked they weren’t selling them, so where else could he get funds. Romney is a bit arrogant.

If you define “won” by who talked the most, then I guess Mitt Romney won. If you define “won” by who had the most substantive, impressive, conservative answers then Fred Thompson blew everyone else out of the water. I cannot for the life of me understand what has happened to the Republican party. Fred is the only candidate that is right on all the important questions: immigration, taxes, national security, pro-life, federalism, spending etc etc. He’s not trying to tell people just what they want to hear. He’s not trying to respond to polls or the next fad. He’s trying to lead this country according to the TRUTH. Please wake up Republicans before you elect a chameleon like Romney or a tax and spender like Huckabee!

I think that Romney had the most substance to his answers. Guiliani answered several question in a postive fashion as well. I think Huckabee fell flat on his face… he never answered any questions, just evaded them. Thompson just seemed to be there. McCain had bad and good moments. I think Romney won.

I felt like Romney won. Huckabee didnt answer questions, Thompson is just there… Mccain and good and bad.. guiliani was firm 2nd place.

I think Romney won hands down. I do wish Ron Paul would have been involved though. Romney still would have won the debate. He is the best qualified candidate to turn the problems of this nation around. That is what he does and is very succesful at it. People need to stop the hate and do their homework. Base their opinions on facts, not emotions (that’s the libs way). I hope he can overcome the bias of the media as well and be the next President.

Sorry if this ends up here twice. I think the focus-group bit immediately after the debate was a joke. I didn’t find Mitt Romney overwhelmingly wining that debate – and neither did the pundits in “the Fox box” in the next segment who said everyone did well with a few rightfully knocking on Huckabee’s miscues. Yet, the focus-group was a Romney love-fest! The line of questioning in that segment was all about steering those folks towards Romney and away from anyone else. I’m glad others here have commented on this. If Frank Luntz was any kind of journalist, he’d find it fishy rather than pronouncing it a “huge” night for Romney. It was the most unbalanced, misleading bit of reporting I’ve seen in a long time.

Romney won the debate hands down as he was the most articulate and responsive to the questions of all the candidates. The 2 clips where the audience rated him the highest were his best moments. McCain did a nice job controlling his emotions and did well in illustrating his foreign policy experience. His performance should be enough to maintain his NH advantage. Giuliani also made a solid showing by being very persuasive on the issues he addressed. He came across as the only not affected by all the personal attacks recently. Huckabee looked lost as he was very unresponsive to the questions. Answers like I got re-elected and am popular have very little probative value to US voters. He may have been too focused on being on the defensive to actually win over voters tonight. Thompson seemed to stumble through his answers. Although his positions are generally very sound, his communication skills tonight were not good.

Romney won this one in a walk. Nice performance after getting pummeled in the previous debate. There is no question that every other candidate would like him to get knocked out of the race but there is a possibility that getting ganged up on might backfire a bit.

The Huckabee/McCain strange bedfellows arrangement just might do it. I hope he can at least do well enough in New Hampshire and other primaries to make it to Super Tuesday. I think his presence is good for the debate and forces the other candidates to debate a little more substantively.

I really think the only two Republican candidates with any substance are Romney and Giuliani. It would be a shame if both are not campaigning until Super Tuesday.

First off, I’m solidly behind Huckabee… he’s won me over. But can he pull it off? Hope so.

Having said that, Mike’s done better in other debates. He didn’t lose this one, but wasn’t as sharp as possible. He didn’t throw me off the team, but I’m not sure how many new converts he scored tonight.

Thompson and Guilliani fared well, but Fred’s an “also ran”, and if the Mayor comes out on top, provided the Dem’s DO NOT run Clinton, I’d at least give either of the others a fair, close hearing… maybe, repeat, maybe leaning their way. I’d have to work through this one, but probably would vote for the Mayor.

McKane is yesterday’s news. Good man. Might have worked “once upon a time”, but… I’d vote for him if he were nominated, but I won’t hold my breath.

That leaves Romney. Worthless. High-brow, rich-boy with attitude. If he’s nominated it will be my first vote for a Democratic presidential candidate… ever (and I’m 48). And that ONLY if it’s NOT Clinton. In a choice between Romney and Clinton… why bother? Why insult my values to vote either way???

Its the economy stupid!!! Mitt Romney won hands down! America’s economic strength is her superpower and Romney knows what he is talking about when it comes to Economy. He also has better vision to tackle illegal immigration, taxes and healthcare issues.

MCCAIN STAYED PRESIDENTIAL AND SHOWS COMPETENCE AND CONFIDENCE. ROMNEY, BUSINESS EXPERIENCE IS GOOD BUT REMINDS ME OF CARTER IN HIS NAIVE APPROACH…SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES DO NOT WORK FOR THE PRESIDENT, BUT FOR THE PEOPLE. HENCE HIS COMMENTS DID NOT RESONATE W/ME ALTHOUGH i AM A BUSINESS PERSON. SECURITY 1ST, MCCAIN/GUILIANU/MCCAIN UNDERSTAND IT AS DOES THOMPSON. ROMNEY, ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. PLUS DOES HE NOT APPROVE HIS OWN ADS? MAYBE DELEGATES TOO MUCH..TO STATE DEPT. OTHERS IF HE WINS THE OFFICE.

I think all of the candidates did a nice job tonite. Romney and Guliani came out the best. Guliani is very knowledgeable on the issues. Thompson also came across very well, but it’s probably to late for him.

I thought the forum was excellent and well moderated. Of all the candidates I felt tat Gov. Huckabee showed the most originality in his vision. Lets face it, we are entering a new era a “Post Regan” era if you will. The voters of this country have already shown and will continue to show that change is appealing, exciting and needed and right now the deomocrats have that momentum. In the forum, Gov. Huckabee was the only candidate that showed a vision of a new direction for the Republican Party, in repsect to the middle class, the working class individual. I do not think we should overlook this gentleman from Arkansas. He might be as polished as some of the folks from New Hampshire think he should be but is you listen to him, unlike Obama, his ideas have a thing called substance! I think he won

Romney did better than last night but overall he will not be the pick. Mort said it best when he mentioned that all of the republicans except huckabee didn’t address middle class americans which would be the ones putting any republicans into office. I don’t know if there were any clear winners. Romney did better than last time due to Chris Wallace giving him more air time. John was nice to Romney and made some good points and huckabee was able to give us talking points to us clearly. I think the race is down to John and Mike now. Romney will lose on Tuesday and lose in Michigan.

It was clear to me that Mitt won the debate, I think he had one of those debates that occur in every election that catapult one candidate ahead of the pack…this was it. He really nailed the tax and illegal immegration issues for me and it was also nice to see him have a little more of his personal side that I haven’t seen before. He looked and acted in command, like a President. I live in New Hampshire and I can tell you this was a great debate for him and may actually put him over the top, if not here (time issue) maybe nationally.

Fox should publish info on how the focus groups are formed.

Romney was cool as a cucumber and wasn’t talked-over so badly like he was last night. All others, except Thompson, are after him BECAUSE THEY FEAR HIM. He is so well prepared and smooth and presidential that they just can’t stand it.

The Luntz group got it right: Romney won. He effectively made the point that he is a proven executive, both in government and in business. He demonstrated that he gets the economy, he gets government spending, he gets taxation at a level unrivaled by the other Republican candidates.

He also demostrated that for all of his invoking of the name of Reagan, he’s completely ignoring Reagan’s 11th commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of fellow Republicans. Come on Mitt!! Keep it positive.

I can say I am a Huckabee fan. I have studied all the candidates and found him to offer our country solutions to most of our problems. I watch fox news all the time, but I am not pleased with the coverage of the candidates and the suggestions that are being made that Huckabee doesn’t have a chance at winning. I believe that was most of the thought before Iowa and for some reason when he started shooting up in the polls the thought changed, but then the reason given for such an increase was due to the Christian voters in Iowa. I do not think this is the only reason behind his surge. I think Huckabee is what this country needs. I have to admit that no candidate can be 100% in line with your ideas on what you would like for a president, but with Huckabee I can say he falls about 85 % with me. The other candidates are alot less of a percentage and I do not think they will change anything from what we have now. I think if everyone would just take the time and really study the candidates they will see what I am saying is true.

Romney won the moment he pressed Huckabee on taxes (who couldn’t answer, btw) and set the tone. I don’t dislike McCain, but I didn’t care for the persnickety performance he put on in the previous debate, and quite frankly his week stance on immigration and terrorist interrogation are almost enough to make me not vote for him. Thompson comes across as if he’s too above even being in the debate and almost seems annoyed with every questions. The only time he engages the other candidates is when he does it negatively with a slick comment to start. I’m surprised people didn’t think Gulliani didn’t do well. As a part of the middle class, I can definitely tell you the number one place I see my tax dollars wasted is in people that abuse welfare, not the war on terror. I’m a manager for a popular grocery chain and I can tell you first hand, the checkout line is a never ending parade of EBT cards with $1.5-$2k balances. Now you tell me where the money’s going??? Gulliani’s right in the sense that we have teach people about the dignity of working for a living.
As for tonight:
1. Romney
2. Gulliani
3. McCain
4. Huckabee
5. Thompson

I enjoyed the forum tonight and the format in which it was presented. I was impressed by everyone in one aspect or another but the candidate that really impressed me because of his stance is Gov. Huckabee. With the word “change” being the catch all in this election year, I see Gov. Huckabee as being the only candidate actually planning change and not just using the word. He showed courage in the forum tonight, and took some political risk in doing so, something I could not imagine Gov. ROmney, or Senator McCain doing. I think Gov. Huckabee is much more than a communicator, he is a man of ideas.

My question is this: Where does Luntz get his focus group and what are they smoking? Did he simply let in the entire Romney family?? Someone actually said they liked Romney because of his position on abortion? ? ? ? That Huckabee’s position was inconsistent. ?????
They all did ok, maybe Romney and McCain did the best but to what extent will fox go to elect Romney?

Romney hands down was the winner! McCain looked tired and Huckabee looked confused.

Does Huckabee ever address ANY question that is asked to him? I know a straight forward politician is an oxymoron but this guy takes it to the limit.

Romney did a great job in this debate. Finally sticking to his strengths and showing the American public how his executive experience can change this country. Romney won this debate.

This is the first debate I’ve watched in its entirety. I thought Mitt Romney won, but John McCain was very compelling when he spoke about national security issues. In order of preference I would pick Romney, then McCain, Giuliani, and Thompson. Huckabee was my least favorite.

Romney won me over tonight! He commnicated his dfferences with his opponents without resorting to sarcasm and biting personal invectives.He clearly demonstrated that he is the clear conservative choice in this nomination battle.McCain can’t defend his amnesty bill,and Huckabee wouldn’t answer the question about his tax hike.Guiliani has one standard answer for every question-he solved New York City’s woes(except he left it with a huge deficit).As for Fred-he still acts like he expects somebodyto hand him the nomination on a platter without having to leave the table.

It was quite clear that Mitt Romney won the debate tonight. He is the only republican candidate that stands a real chance against the democrats in the general election. My mind is now made up – Romney.

I just finished watching the New Hampshire republican debate on Fox News.

Senator McCain just made a terrific bid for Secretary of Defense. He didn’t want to answer questions on any other topic. He moved every answer to every question back to his military and foreign policy experience.

Someone needs to tell McCain that he is not running for Secretary of Defense.

It is interesting that in a forum where “one liners” don’t work and knowledge and experience win the day Huckabee looked very weak. Huckabee waffled and stammered on a number of questions. He had no answer for all of his past misstatements. Thompson called Huckabee to the carpet on Guantonimo and it became obvious that Huckabee was clueless. I think we saw the real Mike Huckabee today.

Romney had the best answers and the best presence on stage. Again, in a forum where knowledge and experience come shining through, Romney clearly won the day.

Romney for President of the United States of America. McCain for Secretary of Defense.

Romney won. What’s with the “freebie” air time interviews with Huckabee again after the forum …same thing happened on Fox after the cnn debate. No doubt all the candidates would have enjoyed a chance to “explain” their views without the other candidates response. At least this time Giuliani was given a bit of air time afterwards as well, but no Romney. That’s not what I would call a Romney bias and certainly not fair and balalnced!

There is no question… Mitt Romney handled the questions with the most information, the most class, and the most experience, especially those questions dealing with the economy. He argues the issues and doesn’t attack character. He shows a lot of leadership. I especially love when he explains what a presidents role is as a leader. What class. After this roundtable, and seeing him explain his views, he has my vote.

Mitt Romney was by far the winner of this debate. He was the only one who stood up for what he has done, even if it was not the most “conservative” thing to do, while others like Huckabee (even though I do like him) seemed like they were not willing to admit that they ever do anything wrong. Huckabee beat around the bush and refused to admit that taxes went up $500 million during his 10 years as governor. I lived in Arkansas for three years while Huckabee was in office before I moved to South Carolina, and believe me, taxes did go up while he was in office! Others like McCain did not even try to argue for what he believes in, he just sort of went with the flow. My question for him is: if you were elected president, how are you going to successfully get your point across if you are not willing to argue for it.

I WILL DEFINITELY VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY!!!

hello…were is the link to watch tonigts debate? Please help

I thought Romney came across as smug. Huckabee a nice guy, and Giuliani as not as polished of a speaker, as the others. But… I’m not a democrat, so I won’t let “how someone seems, how exciting they are, or how big of a smile they have” be the deciding factor in the candidate I choose to run the country. I also won’t let one debate sway me either. That little focus group at the end was ridiculous. It seemed so scripted.
Also, I’m not a Paul supporter, but leaving him out, told me all I need to know about fox being ‘fair and balanced”.

As I was watching the debate and seeing Mike Huckabee I thought, “The most important ingredient to his success was he losing 150 pounds” If you look at his pics as Governor, I don’t believe he would have had a chance at the Presidency. People, unfortunately people judge others by their appearance and the first impressions mean a ton (no pun intended). I’m not a Huckabee supporter but hats off to ya Huck.

Mitt Romney was the clear winner of this debate. He gave clear, substantive answers to all of the questions.

Huckabee dodged almost all of the questions but gave nice sermons.

McCain showed that he believes he has the answers to everything but did not prove it in his answers. His answers were long on words but short on substance.

Thompson has a general understanding of the issues but is a poor communicator. He rambled on without saying anything on some answers.

Giuliani (FoxNews’ favored candidate) was stale.

Mitt outshined all of his opponents with well thought out positions on the issues. He shows that he has a clear, positive vision for the future of America and is guided by strong core principles. He was presidential and demonstrated the background, demeanor, command of the issues and temperament to take on and defeat whichever Democrat candidate gets the nomination in the general election.

I agree that Romney certainly took command of the debate, but I don’t know that he won it. Right now everyone is attacking him….as a result he gets to defend himself after eveyone talks. As a result, he gets twice the facetime of everyone else. I thougt Giuliani’s answers were the strongest, but he didn’t inject himself into every conversation. The best thing the other candidates can do is to ignore Romney and bring the focus back to themselves. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani did that tonight. Huckabee fought with Romney and played right into his hand.

Clearly the focus group was not accurate. Fox did a poor job at getting a good pool of people. Huckabee and Guilliani were very strong tonight. Why does fox seem to be leaning toward Romney and always forgett to talk about Guilliani. I’m a huge fan of the Fox News, but your covereage of this election has been very biased, far from “Fair and balanced”!

Mitt Romney, I have to say, was the clear winner… It was very helpful to see them lined up side by side.

I was a little surprised at how Huckabee refused to answer the tax question!

Mr. Huckabee, if its that hard for you to even admit that you raised taxes by a half billion dollars in Arkansas, imagine how hard it was for the citizens to have to PAY for it.

I thought Mitt Romney won. He was the most prepared and gave solid answers. Fred Thompson seemed disinterested, Huck tried to dodge the raising tax question, McCain dodged the amenesty issue. I was glad to see Rudy take responsibility for the Bernie Kerick situation.

Romney won.

JM is a not necesarily a bad person, but he is a professional politician (B.S artist) He doesn’t answer questions directly, and he thinks he can simply give vague generalities without most people noticing.

Sadly, he’s probably right.

The truth however, is that he is Washington insider who is a part of a broken beaurocratic system. Moreover, if he’s nominated by the Republican Party (doubtful) he will be dominated by his democratic opponent (BO or JE)

That’s it for now, but this should continue to be entertaining…

-R

Who won? John McCain and Mike Huckabee in either order.

Being undecided and watching tonights debate on fox I now decided that I will vote for Romney. It seems he has had an extra measure of bias against him that has held back his campaign. His contrasting ads sure do highlight the differences with the other candidates that they aren’t able to explain away except by claiming they don’t want to be negative. Yet when you listen to the others speak, they are more negative and personally attacking.

It is funny, now that people are saying Romney won the debate all the nay-sayers claim unfair bias, which is what Romney has been up against the entire campaign thus far.

The Queston being asked is” The Forum is over who won? Huckabees are saying he won because they like him, but that is a dishonest answer to the question he was a non entity in the debate. This was clearly a Romney win, he rose above the personal attacks and stuck to the issues and held Huckabee and McCain responsible for their own policies. I thought Thompson and Rudy did an outstanding job of sticking to the issues. I really like Thompson beause he has some actual plans and not just ideas. I am glad Ron Paul was not included. He does not even belong in the Republican Race. He belongs on the libertarian ticket and I think he should be allowed to debate in the general election debates. He clearly has a large following and their voice should be heard.
It is clear Romney has uphill battle and will be attacked in media and by opponents, he appears to be smug but if you truley listen to him he is by far the most qualified to handle the diversity of issues a president has to deal with.
I thought huckabee made another gaff when he said that the prisoners held in Cuba would not have any new rights if they were moved to the US. Thompson caught Huckabees comment but I wonder if anyone else did.
I also think Huckabees Fair tax idea is horrible, the name sounds good but the 23% tax is actuallya 30% tax. How will the middle class afford a $12,000 tax bill on a $40,000 car? eep in mind they will have to finance the taxes in their car loan and this will raise their monthly car payment $240 just to finance the interest. Debt will mount in the middle class more than anywhere else. His fair tax will benefit the rich more than anyone else. Has anyone read the book the miilionaire next door? most milionaires make millions but live well below their income. they will pay less taxes not more. I know I fall in the highest tax bracket but live as if I make $60,000 per year. I would save more than $300k per year in taxes.
Huckabee might be a popular guy but he is not presidential

Romney won hands down! McCain looked tired and Huckabee looked confused!

Huckabilly never actually answered concerns over his record, he just kept on saying “Well I was re-elected so I must have been doing something right!” He also kept on dodging questions and keeps on acting like he is The Christian, good guy candidate that doesnt attack other candidates (I wont spend money running this ad, ill get the media to show it instead)

At least Romney answers the questions while McCain and Huckabilly just kept on trying to sound like the nice guy

HA HA HA…

Some of you Huckabee and McCain fools are so clouded with your own hate that you actually stoop to suggesting that FOX “rigged” the focus forum???

HA HA HA…

I guess its pretty obvious which side is gripping… grow up!

I agree Gov. Romney won.

He did a great job cornerning Huckabees attempt to distort his own tax raising record (including his whining about Romney’s truthful compare and contrast ads in Iowa). The evangelicals cannot carry the day in other states and I doubt willl be filling the contibution plates when passed to keep him in the race.

Mr. Thompson should/could win all of these if he could pick up his cadence. Unfortunately that’s not likely to happen. Sen. McCain and Mayor Rudy would be formidable canidates in a race against any of the dems.

That said Gov. Romney has the best combination of skills to lead with Guliani a near 2nd. The rest would be as much a part of the problems in Washington and I don’t believe nearly as capable of taking on the Washington establishment — we need someone that will take Washington in the right direction (no pun intended), won’t make excuses and will get substantive results..!

P

Mitt Romney won….Im so tired of hearing all the people berate Romney all the time. Just listen to his policies, and listen to the other policies. He is undoubtedly the best candidate the republicans have. If you want change,and you should, look at Mitt’s record and what he can do.

I like Mike. Having said that I still feel he shone in the debate by getting his message of sanity and commonsense out to ” We the People”. I am amazed that more people can’t see through Romneys inherent phoniness. All this talk of the most Presidential showing, all the while he’s defending corporate america (drug and oil companies). They might as well bend over now and get it over with because it will only get worse if Mitt is at the helm. They have been screwing the american people for years. Mike’s Fair Tax is the only way to force multi-national companies to bring the factories back from overseas. You can see Mike cares about the working man while Mitt is just seeking office, anyway he can get it!!

The Luntz group was obviously pro-Romney going in. They already had their minds made up. I think Romney showed what kind of millionaire bully he is. Fred had a good showing. Rudy was okay. The real winners were Huckabee and Mccain.

Wow– Mitt hit it out of the park tonight. It was good to see him in this kind of “real discussion” forum. It finally gives him a chance to show his command of the issues, not just with 30 second sound bites and one liners (a la Huckabee). McCain is old, tired and so off base concerning his support for illegals and tax policy. Huckabee is like a Jr. Exec. trying to sit at the table with the big boys—attempting to present himself in the same league, but not even coming close. Huckabee and his grasp of the issues really are one inch deep. Romney’s the only one that comes across as having the combination of depth, true Reagan conservatism and ability to take down the Obama wave… Absolutely Mitt’s night…. The focus group was spot on….

Romney’s presentation was superb. He was articulate, informative and poised and has the charism and character to be an excellent president. He could beat any democratic candidate and we should all get behind him.

Romney is the only real republican running and won handily tonight. McCain does not connect and seems to be a sniping grumpy person. Huckabee is not electable, Thompson is not trying and Guliani has not tried to win here.

It is time to get behind Romney as the real and only agent of change who does not have a closet full of skeletons to haunt him in the general

Wow– Mitt hit it out of the park tonight. It was good to see him in this kind of “real discussion” forum. It finally gives him a chance to show his command of the issues, not just with 30 second sound bites and one liners (a la Huckabee). McCain is old, tired and so off base concerning his support for illegals and tax policy. Huckabee is like a Jr. Exec. trying to sit at the table with the big boys—attempting to present himself in the same league, but not even coming close. Huckabee and his grasp of the issues really are one inch deep. Romney’s the only one that comes across as having the depth and ability to take down the Obama wave… Absolutely Mitt’s night….

Anyone who believes Luntz’ “focus groups” are real needs to open their eyes…There was at least one person in tonight’s group that was present in a previous Luntz focus group four months earlier in a different state.

Please see: roobaroo.net/Images/Fox_Focus_Group.jpg

Guy Smiley, or whatever name he bought and paid for, may assume his money will buy enough ads and hire enough minions to cover up his flip-flops and position changes…but it’s not going to work. Go back to Massachusetts, or Michigan, or Utah, go back to the private sector, Mitt, your polish is TOO shiny.

That Focus Group was seriously biased toward Romney. I can read body language and eye contact very well, and I knew right off that crowd was a Romney crowd. There’s no way that crowd was representative of NH undecided voters. Someone already mentioned about the person who said they were for Romney because of his stands on pro-life and values, and take note also of the person who said they were “electing a President and not a Pastor.” Fishy does not even begin to describe this group. Not only were they not undecided, but some of those answers sounded very scripted. I’ll go out on a limb right now and tell you that the exit polls will show that more undecideds go to Huckabee than any other candidate. Those who have followed my posts know that although I’m a Huckabee supporter, I call them like I see them.

I don’t believe Fox or Luntz purposefully stacked the group, but there’s no doubt there was a concerted effort to get Romney people in that room tonight.

Huckabee, Romney, and McCain all did well, but Huckabee helped himself the most by appealing to Blue-Collar voters who are most likely the bulk of undecideds right now.

Romney came over very well. I can’t believe some of the comments already made that suggest that the Luntz group was filled with Romney plants and that it was all staged by and for him. Why on earth would they do that?

I was impressed that Romney answered the questions and tried to insist that others answered them. It was embarrassing to watch Huckabee squirm and whine like a spoiled child who was being caught in a lie. He didn’t answer any question. Thompson doesn’t seem to have much chance to win anything but at least he did answer some of the questions. Mcain just answered the questions in his normal spin way. If you try to work out what he actually said you find he didn’t actually say very much. When he was asked if Romney was lying in his so called attack ads, he refused to answer. Huckabee replied he won because he won’t do negative ads. The attack ads they showed state facts on their records not personal character attacks.

Juliani didn’t seem to have much to say because he couldn’t answer by saying anything about 9-11.

It was a good debate because the others had to answer questions instead of answering with a Mitt Romney attack.

They all did well in this debate. In large part, because Chris Wallace kept it in check and the candidates didn’t act like kids in the school yard. It’s obvious that many of you responding here are big Huckabee fans. The reason it’s obvious is because you think somehow he won.

McCain did what he needed to, he didn’t blow it and he backed away from attack mode and tried his best to be presidential. He did a great job.

Huckabee didn’t help himself at all. He flat out WOULD NOT answer the question on taxes and then when he did, he blamed the raised taxes on a court order. Why didn’t he just answer that way in the first place? He was finally exposed for not being prepared, and not being ready for this race. He’s one and done. Iowa was it for him thanks to the 60% evangelical vote that won’t follow him anywhere else with the possible exception of South Carolina.

Thompson, although well composed, didn’t help himself and this will be his last debate. He’ll be out after this.

Giuliani did well, he always does well in debates and he could be the one to watch as things progress. He just might have too many ghosts in the closet to get through. He also is not a likely candidate to have the ability to beat the DEMS so he’s got that against him.

Romney made a pretty remarkable comeback within 24 hours of getting pounced on by all of the other candidates. He answered EVERY question, unlike Huckelberry. He also showed respect for McCain which he lacked last night. Further, he clearly showed why he’s the #1 choice for economic issues. He’s the only one who mentioned competition by China and India, THE ONLY ONE! Romney needs to show a little more of a friendly side, show a little more respect for the other candidates and he’ll skyrocket in the polls.

My impression was very much like the focus group. I thought Romney won this one as lopsided as he lost last night. Will it be enough to pass McCain? Probably not.

McCain will probably win by a hair with Romney in 2nd, Giuliani in 3rd, Huckelberry in 4th, and say goodbye to Thompson.

If McCain and Romney could come together on immigration, they would be a VERY tough ticket against the dems. I think Romney would make the better president with McCain as VP, the tough military mind with years of experience and influence with Romney’s business savvy for the economy and his communication skills and negotiation skills on display in foreign affairs. That is a winning ticket. Remember, Romney is a Harvard grad with a law degree from BYU. He’s VERY smart and with some toughness as a VP (McCain), we’d be in dang good shape for the next 8 years in my opinion.

Romney/McCain. Boys, put aside your differences and beat the dems!

I BELIEVE THAT ROMNEY HAD THE BEST ANSWERS AND CLEAREST IDEAS.

AS THE WIFE OF A UNION WORKER WHO DRIVES BY WORK SITES TAKEN OVER BY ILLEGAL EMPLOYEES RIGHT UNDER HIS BUSINESS AGENTS NOSE..I KNOW HOW HE FEELS..AND ROMNEY HIT IT ON THE NOSE..

WE DO NOT HATE THOSE PEOPLE FOR WANTING TO COME HERE, BUT WHEN THEY COME AND TAKE MY HUSBAND’S WORK WHICH IS A PRETTY GOOD WAGE AND HIS UNION BOSS STILL GETS THE CASH PER HEAD EVERY WEEK FROM THE ILLEGAL THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT PICTURE!

WE AND I HONESTLY THINK EVERYONE RESPECTS IMMIGRANTS..LEGAL IMMIGRANTS..WE KNOW WHAT THEY SACRIFICE TO COME HERE TO THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD…THERE IS A LONG, LONG LINE OF HONEST LAW ABIDING PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD JUST WAITING FOR THEIR CHANCE..AND IF ANYONE DOUBTS THAT THEY ARE IN NEVER NEVER LAND. DESPITE ALL THE MEDIA TALK ABOUT HATE FOR AMERICA..JUST GIVE THE VISA OUT AND SEE HOW FAST THEY FLOCK HERE!

gOV. ROMNEY WAS MY GOVERNOR..I AM NOT A MORMON HE DIDN’T CONVERT ME..BUT THINGS WERE MUCH BETTER. OUR LEGISLATURE FOUGHT DAY AND NIGHT TO CUT THE GOVERNORS OFFICE ABILITY TO DO ANYTHING…THEY EVEN TOOK AWAY HIS EXECUTIVE POWER TO APPOINT A SENATOR HAD KERRY WON.. HE TRIED TO TAKE OVER THE PORT AUTHORITY..(remember the woman who died in the tunnel?)..at the Very beginning of his term, but the Legislature took that away..THEN AFTER THE ACCIDENT THEY DROPPED IT IN HIS LAP. THEY ALMOST TURNED THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE INTO A TYPICAL MASS. NO SHOW JOB…NOW THEY HAVE A DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR..DEVAL PATRICK..WHO THEY ARE ATTACKING ALSO..AND HE HAS DONE NOTHING, HE PROMISED TO CUT OUR REAL ESTATE TAXES ETC..NO LUCK! HE HAS SO LITTLE EXECUTIVE POWER LEFT THAT HE HAS GOTEN IN TROUBLE FOR BUYING DRAPES, DRIVING A STATE OWNED CAR AND USING A HELICOPTER TO TRAVEL THE STATE! OF COURSE THE DEMS REALLY DIDN’T WANT HIM EITHER…

ROMNEY DID A GOOD JOB HERE…I AM NOT SURE YET WHO I WILL SUPPORT BUT I DO KNOW IT WILL NOT BE A DEMOCRAT AND IT WILL NOT BE MC CAIN..I AM JSORRY TO SAY THAT BUT HE HAS CODDLED AND CUDDLED WITH TOO MANY OF THE LOONY LEFT..KENNEDY, KERRY AND FEINGFOLD..AND I KNOW TWO OF THEM TOO WELL ..BUSH LEARNED EARLY ON NOT TO DEAL WITH THEM…MC CAIN IN DEALING WITH THEM HAS EVEN SOLD OUT THE VETERANS BY SHOWING ANY TYPE OF “respect” for the Kerry/Kennedy gang..THEY ARE THE ONES THAT APPROVED OF HIS TORTURE IN NAM…AND THAT IS DISGUSTING! MC CAIN HAS NEVER CALLED THEM OUT FOR CALLING HIM AND HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS WAR CRIMINALS…SHAME ON HIM!

Mitt won. Won’t it be nice to have someone who hasn’t spent their life in politics running the country. He’s also been successful in the private sector.

Why does Carl Cameron not like Mitt?

Romney swept the floor tonight! -Makes everybody else look childish and under-qualified.

I’m more and more impressed by Mitt Romney. Here’s what I’m noticing…

His “attack” ads bring to light very specific actions/votes/quotes made by his opponents. They have never attacked nor disparaged the person. That seems appropriate in politics.

Those who attack back do so with vague generalities, such as, “Get your facts straight” or “Your ads are misleading”. My thinking is that a better response, if it’s available, would be “Here is, specifically, where your ad is wrong or misleading”. How hard is that? If they’re just vaguely complaining that it’s wrong, instead of specifically correcting him, it makes me think he’s actually right about the ad.

Did you read about what he did to turn around the bankrupt and corrupt Salt Lake Olympics? He led by example. The previous leaders had their business meetings catered. Mitt said, “We need to save money. We leaders need to set the example for the entire organization.” (paraphrased) So, he brought in pizza for the business meetings. And, if you wanted to eat, you paid a dollar a slice! THAT’s leadership. More than just TALKING about it. That’s simple, clear action. That and things like that filtered through the organization and it became profitable and successful.

Isn’t that what we need in a president?

He seems to be a person who can LEAD, who can work with others to get things DONE.

Oh, and Mitt won this debate, though IMO, only narrowly. Even as a Mitt supporter, I was very impressed with all the performances, even Huckabee, who I’m very much against.

That Focus Group was seriously biased toward Romney. I can read body language and eye contact very well, and I knew right off that crowd was a Romney crowd. There’s no way that crowd was representative of NH undecided voters. Someone already mentioned about the person who said they were for Romney because of his stands on pro-life and values, and take note also of the person who said they were “electing a President and not a Pastor.” Fishy does not even begin to describe this group. Not only were they not undecided, but some of those answers sounded very scripted. I’ll go out on a limb right now and tell you that the exit polls will show that more undecideds go to Huckabee than any other candidate. Those who have followed my posts know that although I’m a Huckabee supporter, I call them like I see them.

I don’t believe Fox or Luntz purposefully stacked the group, but there’s no doubt there was a concerted effort to get Romney people in that room tonight.

Mitt Romney was the clear winner of this debate. He looked, sounded, and acted Presidential. He controlled the debate by asking pointed questions to McCain and Huckabee. Huckabee was the biggest loser tonight when he refused to answer the question of whether or not he raised taxes by 500 million dollars as Governor of Arkansas. McCain on the other hand was shown as he is known to most Republicans and that is a War Hero who is unfortanetly far too Liberal. Guilani and Thompson were non-factors in the debate. Mitt Romney won and is my choice as the next President of the United States of America!

Fox News,
You had a chance to be an excellent source to help the public to get a feel for the
various candidates tonight but settled for a transparent attempt to help Romney
salvage his faltering campaign. To a lesser extent it was also obvious that you
would have preferred it if Thompson, Guiliani and Huckabee had been left out
of the forum as you did Paul. For the first hour it seemed to be the Mitt and
McCain show thanks to the biased moderating of Chis Wallace trying to make sure
that the media darlings remained so. “John, would you like to respond to Mitt”…” Mitt, would you like
to respond to John” etc. The funny thing is that after 90 minutes the truth will out. Mitt
came off as a desperate arrogant bully. John helpfully sounded more like a democrat garnering face time and
just trying to get along, as he does in the Senate. The rest, when not being attacked by Wallace, presented themselves as solid articulate spokesman for their basically conservative views. My impression as to the order of finish is: Thompson and Huckabee followed by Guiliani and then Fox’s favorites. Need I add
my opinion to the long list of commentators suggesting that your focus group was a joke?
The poorest showing of course was made by you, Fox News. This almost rivaled CNN’s effort.

I thought Romney won. I thought McCain did well – and he needed to after his snark fest the night before. He bombed on immigration, though. Huckabee was almost completely incoherent on immigration and taxes. He really doesn’t have an answer to the questions about his record there, so he needs to just say “I made a mistake” and move on. He just keeps digging himself deeper in holes. Giuliani and Thompson were strong. Giuliani no longer looks like a front runner. Fred Thompson knows his stuff and schooled Huckabee on the workings of Habeas Corpus.

Will Romney’s performance be enough to knock off McCain? After last night, I was sure of it. After tonight, McCain may have managed to save his skin, but Romney played so tough that I’m thinking it will be Romney in a very, very tight race.

Romney nailed it tonight. Huckabee could not answer the simple question about whether he raised taxes by half a billion even though he was asked 3 times. Want some syrup with that waffle. I was upset with the last focus group in Iowa that loved Huckabee but Luntz group accurately reflected what happened in the election. I think this one will be the same and Romney will win. As far as Huckabee’s populist approach I think he forgot what party he’s running for.

Mitt Romney was strong and presidential in the debate tonight. He definitely won! He struck me by how well he stuck to the facts and did a good job holding Huckabee to his comments. I never noticed before how Huckabee talks out of both sides of his mouth and is much more attack focused than Romney.

Huckabee’s body language implies that he is intimidated by Romney. Does anyone seriously believe that Huckabee could stand the wear and tear of Washington? He can barely handle sitting next to Romney during a debate – his body language supports that. He is clearly intimidated and the last person we need as President of the US is a man/woman who lacks confidence.

Also, I was amazed at how old John McCain looks tonight. He looks tired and great-grandfatherly. I think someone on his staff should also tell him to stop trying to look younger by doing the hair comb-over. It looks really bad. Imagine a president with a bad hair comb over. You might as well elect Donald Trump.

By far Mitt Romney won. Mitt gave clear solutions for cutting taxes, stopping illegal immigration, and how we are going to compete with China in the free market. I also liked how he talked about how Washington is upside down right now and how they have not brought the right change. And how he has shown he can make change, with him being in the private sector over 30 years and helping the 2002 Olympics and being Gov of Massachusetts and made a way to provide health care for every citizen in that state without raising taxes.

Romney was the most prepared, most professional, presented himself the best, and definitely the most Presidential. I don’t think he was cocky. I do think he aserted himself when necessary. And I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want a weeny whiney President of the United States, and after all the attacks Romney has been under he is looking like the guy who can take it when necessary and still get the job done. I definitely think that Clinton or Obama would lose out to Romney in a head on debate.

I couldn’t tell you who won because I didn’t watch. But I can tell you who lost! The American people did! Because Fox News is trying to keep his policies from getting out they excluded Ron Paul. Nevermind he raised $20,000,000 last quarter… or that he surpassed Guiliani in the Iowa caucus last week! I now watch CNN. At least they are a little less biased than the “fair and balanced” Fox.

I agree with most of the people here. Romney won – No Question!

Huckabee is scared of Romney and McCain looks old and tired.

My vote is that Mitt won it tonight. The other candidates are gunning against him (and for good reason). Good job Mr. Romney.

Tonight in NH I think it was very evident that the man to beat is Mitt. He was like a “poop magnet” tonight with all crap being pitch at him by McCain, Thompson and Huckabee. The sad reality is that Iowas voted for Huckabee because they liked his flavor of church–we need to elect our best candidate who can run the government of the free world and beat Hillary or Obama. that is not Huckabdee–no way. they”ll walk all over him. Tragically issues weren’t the factor in Iowa. What does matter: Financial smarts, business experience, the energy to effectively govern and articulate his opinions–he even speaks french.

Romney does seem to know what he’s talking about. I trust him to not raise taxes, to reform government and protect us. I think Fred is so strong, I just can’t see him fighting hard to the end. I remember Bob Dole and what a schmuck he was, he couldn’t get excited to save his life and Clinton rolled right over him…I don’t want that again. McCain can go any which way, we’ve seen him do it. Rudy is great and I think he can be trusted to stick it to the liberal wing. Huckabee is compassionate conservative times 1000 which means Bush spending levels times 1000. We need to cut down the size of our government. In my mind, there are 3–Fred, Rudy and Mitt. Today, I like Mitt most, we’ll see tomorrow.

As an undecided voter leaning democratic, I was very impressed with Romney. Huckabee seemed shallow and in denial. McCain seemed old, his hair cut also bothered me. It seemed to look like Adolp Hitler photos I see now and then. Scary.

If Romney has done all that they said tonight ie saving business etc then he has my vote after seeing his performance tonight. I guess I need to check it out.

Mitt Romney won. He readily pointed out his extensive outside Washington experience, which is the change that Republicans need to beat the Democrat nominee, which is looking more like Obama all the time.

Nobody mentioned Huckabees crazy talk. His comment about the largest and most powerful army in the world. The big boot on our enemies… that talk belongs in a pulpit. His ideas are so completely impractical. You know his “fair” tax of 23% is really 30%. On a $100 purchase you would pay $130 and $30 of it would be taxes. So he says $30 of $130 is 23%. That is fuzzy math from a dirty worm. That includes paying 30% more on your next home purchase.

Huckabee also made the comment that his past job was to end death. A ridiculous statement even for the most fundamentalist christian.

The problem with the government is it is run by politicians. The country is a business in a world economy and our politician are running it in the red. They have no concept of profits vs. losses. You cannot run a business this way and you cannot run a country this way. Romney knows that. He is an intelligent successful businessman. We need him to get America out of the red and profitable again… so we can actually afford to have a large military. You need money to survive in a world economy and America is losing it fast.

Romney shined tonight! He is the man to save America from the politicians.

America is a business in the world economy and we need a businessman and not another politician to run it.

Go MITT!!!

I found it odd that Romney right off the bat was allowed to butt into Huckabee’s first response and this did not happen with any other candidate that I can recall throughout the whole forum. Romney would not let Huckabee talk. He kept interrupting. I am from Arkansas and so I completely understand what Huckabee was trying to explain about the tax issue. Between Romney interrupting and then Chris Wallace cut him off and went on to another question and didn’t let him finish. I guess he could have been rude and said, let me finish, but he didn’t.

Here is the deal about the tax increase he was trying to explain. Arkansas, as he tried to explain, was under a Supreme Court ORDER which he inherited (which was issued under Bill Clinton’s and continued through Jim Guy Tucker’s terms as governors) that schools had to be restructured and that ruled that funding was INADEQUATE. There was absolutely nothing different that he nor the state legislature could have done differently. Arkansas was under a time limit to bring it up to speed and there was nothing they could do but to raise some money somehow through some sort of tax solution. This is what he was trying to say, and Romney kept interrupting so as to try to skew what was being said. There’s the truth!

Also, it seems as though Mitt Romney was allowed a lot more time than a lot of the other candidates including Huckabee. Go back and review the tape. I believe he was cut off more times than any one else and did not get the time that Mitt Romney was given to just go on and on.

I agree, this Frank Luntz focus group seemed to lack credibility. I don’t believe they were undecided voters. They sound like Romney supporters to begin with. One of the men in the focus group said that Huckabee’s position on life was not clear. That floored me. Huckabee, more than any other candidate, made his pro-life position abundantly clear. And yet, Romney admits he has changed from pro-choice to pro-life before he announced his run. I just don’t buy it. He postured himself to become Massachusetts governor and it is clear he is doing the same to be electable as president.

Romney comes off to me as though he is completely scripted and has that ‘Ken doll’ personna to him. He reminds me too much of Bill Clinton, and we had our fill of him for 12 years down here in Arkansas and another 8 years in the White House.

I was undecided between McCain, Romney and Giuliani and after both debates, Romney was clearly the winner. Those on here who claim the group was Romney rigged need to get over it unless you have some sort of proof. If they give love to your guy then you love them. In fact I remember watching one of the first NH debates where Romney seemed to get trashed that was a Fox debate as well.

Mitt Romney won – I think Mitt KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE BALLPARK for me. He came across on having a very competent understanding of the economy which paled in comparison to the other candidates.

It was especially convincing for me when he discussed China and the threat that they will bring. After hearing him, I would feel much more secure with that rapidly expanding threat than with all the other candidates combined. John McCain would just be convinced he could find Osama Bin Laden there. Huckabee would tell the Chinese he couldn’t possibly punish their kids for their parent mistakes and offer the Chinese kids free tuition, but ONLY if they could get in illegally. Thompson would have trouble communicating through translators because you can’t translate “uh” very well. Rudy would just want to communicate with the Chinese what he did in New York, and that they should be scared of him.

As far as the other candidates performance:

Huckabee – seemed like he was trying to hide something out the gate when he would answer Mitt’s “Net Net” question. He also wouldn’t answer a couple of questions directly given by the moderator – and the moderator called him on it bigtime.

McCain – seemed like it was REALLY hard for him not to play the 3rd grade playground bully tonite. He did let a couple slip, which made him seem really immature. I guess AGE doesn’t necessarily coincide with MATURITY and WISDOM. He also seems to be running on one theme – terrorism and believing in the surge more than anyone else. Its getting OLD JOHN!

Rudy – all he wants to talk about STILL is New York. Same old same old rhetoric. We probably all have memorized what he will say – NY this and NY that. We need to see more facets of a candidate than that!

Thompson – He says “uh” every 2 or 3 words. He loses me because of it. Maybe a script would help? He also needs to expand his range of topics.

First, I am sick if Huckabee and McCain claiming to run “positive” campaigns. I was embarrassed to see McCain tarnish his image with the kind of childish taunts he poorly delivered last night. (That goes for you too Huckabee, etc.) You are running for President of the United States of America, not Student Body President. Thanks to whatever campaign personel directed him to control himself tonight.

Second, Huckabee seemed willing enough to interject in others commments, but refused to reply to Mitts question without a moderator. Turn about is fair play, Sir.

Second, I think Guiliani is smart to stay quite tonight. People have heard of him and anybody who takes the lead gets scrutinized. He is better of holding on quitely and waiting to come out when the others are tired and bloodied. But, I’m not voting for him unless he’s running against an actual Democrat.

Thompson is irrelavent. You can’t win president without being present.

I am not for censorship, but could the moderators screen the Ron Paul comments. I would doubt there are more than a handful of people spamming Foxes comments sections since the copy and paste function seems to be a favorite tool. We cannot isolate ourselves from the world (aka: hide) Remember Pearl Harbor? or better yet September 11? It doesn’t work.

Yes, right now I would vote for Romney. Sorry to those of you who don’t like the dials. I love to see them go off the screen Romney is the best candidate: he will keep our families safe, he will keep our country safe, he will keep our finances safe. What more can we ask for from a President?

Mitt showed this is an election for men and the boys can quit their whining and take their ball and go home.

FOX New’s exclusion of Ron Paul proves that his message is the strongest and that FOX is afraid of the power of that message. While the GOP is being played as fools (all the GOP rolling their eyes and laughing at Ron during the ABC debate), the democrats are looking slick, getting serious debate questions, raising more money and winning the anti-war vote.

The exclusion of the record-setting fundraiser and a candidate that beat Guiliani in an actual caucus vote is nothing short of manipulative. FOX News should be ashamed of themselves, especially for claiming “there isn’t enough room” at the table for Ron.

In the end, the GOP party will likely loose the election and we’ll have both a congress and a president run by the big-government Democrats. Sad.

So I’m not the only one who notices that Carl can barely hide his disdain for Romney? He isn’t the only one, CNN did a piece on the chilly Even the focus group showed high approval when Romney gave his patient explanation of what an attack is, and what it is not. The story I want to see is why reporters are so mesmerized by Huckabee that they have a herd reaction to his victimhood whine after being asked a question, “he attacked me!” So how many times will Carl say ATTACK!! tomorrow when Romney has the audacity to say Huckabee raised taxes? Anybody want to go lower than 35?

Mitt Romney clearly brought it all together tonight. He weathered the storms of last night and tonight and responded with razor sharp intellect, often rendering his opponents speechless. He has the most thorough command and depth of knowledge on all the issues. It used to be a toss up for me between McCain, Romney, and Thompson. After McCain’s immaturity and cantankerousness recently, Romney is clearly my front-runner.

I just thought that Huck, Fred, and Mitt don’t belong there, all for various reasons. Mitt’s issue is that he is so damaged good from last night that I can’t see how he’ll recover.

I’d like a Rudy v. Mccain battle, which Rudy would win. I want Rudy.

I watched last night and tonight with an open mind and hands down Mitt Romney pulled away from the group as the only candidate who can take on the Democrats. Some are strong in a certain area or another but have huge gaping holes in major categories (McCain-age, immigration-Huckabee-foreign affairs, tax cuts). One of the most telling things that Fox News did was to run the credentials at the bottom of the screen. WOW!!! Huckabee has NOTHING in the way of education that qualifies him to be President. All the others had multiple degrees, most legal degrees and extensive training and Huckabee is seriously outclassed in the resume dept.

I am a Huckabee supporter but I thought Romney won this latest debate. Huckabees problem was he looked like he was dodging the tax question early on, otherwise I though he handled himself well. Huckabee was too worried about talking taxes instead of explaining his taxes. Taxes is not always a dirty word, over-taxing is a dirty word. I really like the idea of his fair tax plan. I would like to see him detail it out more, trouble is it ain’t really possible in the debate.

As to Luntz’s polling, it has grown tiresome and only good to amuse the broadcasters and Luntz himself so he can pat himself on the back and say “Me Omniscient”, kiss my booty and kneel before my wisdom.

If you’re a Huckabee, McCain, or Romney supporter then you have reason to feel good about this debate. All did what their campaigns would have wanted them to do. But…..Romney is misreading voters just like he did in Iowa, and although he is connecting on all the themes his pollsters are telling him to, they aren’t what the undecided voters are looking for.

Also it’s important to understand that most undecided voters won’t make up their mind based on a debate. Most of them will have the opportunity to see candidates up close and personal, and the rest will see clips of campaign stops on their local news and newspapers. That will be the deciding factor.

Look at all of the Huckabee and McCain supporters thinking that Mitt had people planted in the focus group or that Mitt didn’t look good tonight!! It is laughable that the conspirators are out now of those backers. yeah, Mitt went and planted all of those guys. haha Mitt showed class and was the true professional tonight. McCain and Huckabee supporters are still hurting from what THEIR candidates did to themselves yesterday, actually all of them for all targeting Mitt in a snide way. I have no problems of Mitt’s record being looked at…honestly. This is politics and records should be reviewed and discussed. Why someone earlier in a post was whining about Mitt getting “free airtime” about his contrast ads. They shouldn’t bother you if the ads aren’t really true right? I mean Mitt didn’t call a press conference and talk about an ad then decide to not the ad but showed it anyway asking the PRESS not to show it…pretty please too, I heard him say it…right?!! Get real people. Mitt won the doubleheader this weekend. Fred did look good and Rudy was solid but his immigration policy is very, very weak.

Romney dominated tonight. I was unsure who to vote for, but Romney did it for me tonight.

“First, I am sick if Huckabee and McCain claiming to run “positive” campaigns.”
thank you ,Chellerella! it makes two of us:)
I think campaign ad or statement could be either right or wrong . I do not care is it “positive” or “negative”. I need to know is it correct or is it wrong. Let me decide is it positive or negative.
and McCain with all due respect ( and i truly respect his service to the country ) has a record of “positive campaign demagoguery” Tell me please senator McCain what “negative campaign” is?
I ask because i did support Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004 . I was appalled that John McCain went against those veterans. Why? These are veterans of the war same as he is. These are US citizens who had right to speak their mind. You think they were wrong? Argue with them! You think they were lying? Then sue them!
But do not try to shut them up just in order to be nice. It is a very distorted sense of nobility .
And here we go again with Romney.
McCain’s jokes about Romney were very negative by the way and he was filibustering him all the time which was very negative thing to do as well.

Mitt won tonight easily. Saturday’s debate was sophomoric and filled with one liners. Some parts reminded me of a high school debate for Student Body President (not about issues, but about who can serve the best cheap shot).

Today’s debate was more about letting each individual respond and present their views. Given that fourm, Mitt was able to show his command of the issues, was very presidential, and displayed a high level of intelligence. This result of this debate was much more telling to me than last night’s.

Is anyone here aware that Mitt Romney as Governor of Mass. refused to take pay for serving the state and he has said he will not accept any pay for serving as president?
He wants to help his country. He has my vote!!

If Mitt Romney doesn’t get the Republican nomination, then I will lose total faith in the judgement of my fellow Americans. McCain is a hero, no doubt…so is Rudy. That hardly makes them Presidential. Mitt Romney has the leadership qualities needed and also is the ONLY candidate to have a REAL healthcare plan that was tested and worked! He is tough on the war and wants to see us succeed. He has the vision needed to see that our country is not a safe haven for illegals. This should be an easy choice for Republican voters as well as those independants that lean towards the conservative side. However, I can see how people can be swayed because of our liberal media. They almost refuse to recognize Romneys achievements during this primary process. It is clear that they fear him the most as a potential threat to the Democrats. Even his fellow Republicans are jabbing him from every angle. This only happens to those who are feared as a real threat…

The Republican Party has a Superstar in Mitt Romney!!! He is like the Energizer bunny or that Timex commercial of “he takes a licking and keeps on ticking”!! No one in this race has faced the intense scrutiny that this man has. They bashed his religion, his good looks, his beautiful and supportive family, and the insane part is they seem to try to make him feel guilty because he has been a financial genius and massively successful and therefore made lots of money. Wow the man wants to spend his millions on trying to make our nation better for us and our children. He really is the Boogeyman!!!!!

Wake Up America and ESPECIALLY NH and get behind this man. He can beat the Dems. Can you even imagine Obama and his “fire” against either Huckabee or McCain. It would be like the sharp new executive and the tired old man. I like McCain ok but think age is a real factor this time, I think Huckabee is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but Mitt has just taken and taken and taken their flack for months and months and he is still standing. That is not only what we need in Washington against the Democrats, but what is imperative to have if our party is to have success. Factor in that McCain was well rested in NH while Mitt and others are just simply exhausted. That kind of stamina and tenacity is what we need in a President. You Go Mitt….all the way to the White House!!!!

As a staunch Ron Paul supporter, I am disappointed in Fox’s decision to exclude him. I do not care for any of the five candidates on stage tonight, but MItt definitely won the debate.

ron paul in a landslide! the rest of the candidates, all look and sound like clowns.

I just wanted to let Fox News know that I really enjoyed listening to candidate Ron Paul’s Town Hall Meeting held in New Hampshire tonight. It can be found on YouTube. Boy, does that man know his economics and history.
Oops! Sorry, I missed the debate.
I’m still wondering why Fox censors a candidate whose support is rapidly rising (more points than Giuliani). And why it censors the only candidate with the traditional Republican message of a constitutionally limited federal government.
Why would we want more statists (big government politiitians) in power?

Romney won hands down! He knows what he is talking about. His being in the upper 5% of his class at Harvard was very easy to see tonight. He nailed Huckabee on his $500,000,000.00 tax increase he keeps trying to say didn’t happen. He nailed McCain on his voting against Bushs’ tax cuts twice, and that his immigration bill was after all amnesty. Romney proved that his ads were not attack ads, they were comparative ads. Huckabee and McCain were hung on their own petard and didn’t like it. They then tried to miss lead everyone by attacking Romney, when Romney was telling the truth.

People, think about something, Romney is the only one who can compete and win in November. McCain is to old, Huckabee has to much luggage as does Guiliani, and Thompson just wants to go home. Imagine, the oldest man to run for President in our country’s history, McCain, against the youngest man to ever run for President in our country, Obama. It doesn’t take a brain surgan to figure out that we, The Republicans, lose….period. It would take us 20 years to get back in the race.

Romney won, hands down! I really don’t like the way that the other candidates misrepresent challenges on issues as personal attacks. Huckabee’s dodging on the question of tax raising was an eye-opener. Guillani and Thompson looked disinterested and disengaged.

Mitt Romney, President
Rudy Guiliani, Vice President, 2008!!!!

So, by analogy, if 100 people were asked to watch the sun come up tomorrow and they all reported that it did, you’d claim the group was rigged? Yeah, right! Those of you who would look for excuses, who would expunge the obvious, who would blatantly accuse others of falsehoods just because your “horse in the race” didn’t perform as well as you though he should, should be ashamed of yourselves.

Romney absolutely won tonight. He was clear, articulate, intelligent and upfront and unapologetic about contrasting his policies with those of the other candidates; precisely what a debate is for. He was much more professional than old-man-McCain’s kindergarten name calling last night and the holier-than-thou (but I’ll still show the negative ad to the media) Huckabee.

It’s entertaining to hear all the wacky, upset conspiracy theorists on this comment board.

Does anyone know where to view tonight’s debate again online? Thanks a lot.

Without a doubt, the winner of tonight’s debate was Mitt Romney. I’d love to see him debate the Democratic nominee–it would be a very interesting contrast between experience and inexperience.

Admittedly, who I vote for is primarily determined by his past. I don’t care that much what critics say; I don’t care what religion they are; and I don’t care if they’ve been wrong a time or two. What matters most is the person’s list of accomplishments. Add to that the way he runs his personal life (yes, because that’s as good a second measure of a man as there is). What matters most is answered by the question “What did they DO?” Bar none, the candidate that meets my qualifications if Romney.

I’d love to see Romney go to Washington and get things working the way they should, and reorganize the place to eliminate the nearly $1 TRILLION wasted every year. That by itself would be a huge boon to the economy!

It’s very obvious Romney has the best command of a broad range of topics and is hands down the most intelligent of the Republicans. I don’t see the arrogant/bully personality that others have mentioned. I admire his successes and the fact that he was capable of building a fortune is a positive. He’s lived the american dream and he can help the rest of us maximize our potential with solid economic and tax policies.

Where are all of the Ron Paul comments coming from? Democrat posters. I am a Texan and think every state has its nutcases. Paul just happens to be ours. Fox made a wise decision. Perhaps the Democrats should include him in their debates if they like him so much. Afterall, he would more appropriately fit in there. Republicans have good, qualified candidates and shouldn’t waste time or money on diversions. Thanks Fox!

Ron Paul won, since his strong message was silenced by not being invited to the forum. Is that an example of Fox News being fair and balanced?

Check out Ron’s message in New Hampshire on YouTube:

Ron Paul Town Hall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxldrCsVByA

Thanks for keeping the media open and democratic!

-johnny

I thought that Romney did well. Too metro-sexual for me. Huckabee is a talker, but I can’t trust anyone from Arkansas after the last one. Besides, I know a little bit about what he did/didn’t do there. He is spinning. McCain is electible and probably the best qualified as far as foreign relations is concerned. I can’t accept his stand on Immigration though and believe that this is as important as the war of terror. Thompson is mature but appears to be a tad bit lazy. Guilani is more than acceptable on terror, but too liberal on too many domestic issues. A lawyer, a preacher, an actor, an entenpreneur, and a military bureaucrat. I’m leaning towards McCain, and I think that he won the debate, but I am still undecided at this point. He needs to harden his stand on Immigration. All of that being said, any of these gentlemen are head and shoulders above any Democrat candidate. I applaud Fox on leaving fellow Texan Paul out of the mix. He is a distraction.

Chellerella

Yes all the comments are copy and paste. It’s the same guy in his mom’s basement that believes that the us government orchestrated the 9-11 attacks.

Read a history book about Pearl Harbor and understand that America’s involvement in the Great War is what spurred Pearl Harbor. Then read why America went to war with Germany in the Great War, hint it really wasn’t about the Lusitania.

Watch Fox news and be told lies about what a person said. Ron Paul does not believe that the US was behind the attacks, he believes our policy with other nations can lead to negative affects. The US may try to do what we think is right for another country but it never ends up good. The US is not infallible, its foreign policy is not infallible. If anything the US foreign policy has been more harmful than good, ie Korea and Vietnam.

Ron Paul did win the debate without showing up.

Why was he excluded? Read and find out for yourselves what the message is that fox does not want you to hear.

Romney won without question! Clearly ardent supporters from each candidates camp think their man did well, and some seem bitter about their candidate loosing, but let’s put differences aside and back THE ONE CANDIDATE THAT COULD BEAT THE DEMOCRATS IN NOVEMBER!!! Remember that McCain was less attractive several years ago than George W, and is way too moderate to get evangellicals excited. Huck Finn has great support among the Christian right, but will not carry far in swing states, Giuliani has moral issues and is also too moderate to fully unite the party.

Romney, is conervative enough, but has the appeal that would likely sway voters, most importantly he seems to have the best credentials to turn America around.

C’mon Mr Luntz – you can do better then this.

My neighbor in IA had the MittMobile at his home on New Years Day and then ’somehow’ ended up on your focus group here posing as an independent.

I know you have to produce a neat little segment but this one seemed contrived to me.

Mitt Romney easily won that debate. Those who say the Luntz focus group was rigged just don’t like what they see. I know where the voters came from, Romney just came across as the most presidential, intelligent, articulate and prepared canidate there. He hit a home run this debate.

Ron Paul should have won the debate. It’s a shame all your opinions our entirely based on main-stream media opinion and religious preferance. If you could only look at the facts and decern for yourselves whats best for this country without a doubt I know you would choose Ron Paul as our next president.
And of course you think Ron Paul supporters are conspiracy theorists because that’s popular opinion, which is a cowardly and ignorant thing to believe. The real conspiracy theorists are you, the people buying into the conspiracy that Ron Paul is a nobody, a loon. He’s a freedom loving man who wants to make this world a better place through logic and sound policies if we would only help him get there.
Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John Mcain, and Fred Thompson are all giving you the same policies and philosophies that is bringing this country down under the current regime. And electing a democrat would be no better if not worse. Please get informed about Ron Paul’s stances before you count him out.

- A true conservative and lover of America

Ron Paul should have won the debate. It’s a shame all your opinions our entirely based on main-stream media opinion and religious preferance. If you could only look at the facts and decern for yourselves whats best for this country without a doubt I know you would choose Ron Paul as our next president.
And of course you think Ron Paul supporters are conspiracy theorists because that’s popular opinion, which is a cowardly and ignorant thing to believe. The real conspiracy theorists are you, the people buying into the conspiracy that Ron Paul is a nobody, a loon. He’s a freedom loving man who wants to make this world a better place through logic and sound policies if we would only help him get there.
Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John Mcain, and Fred Thompson are all giving you the same policies and philosophies that is bringing this country down under the current regime. Please get informed about Ron Paul’s stances before you count him out.

- A true conservative and lover of America

Mon 5:24 AM / Jan 7th / 2008

Dear Americans:

Mitt Romney showed leadership, he answered questions succinctly, and discussed issues on a much broader spectrum.

We do not need an average person in the White House, but rather someone who has brains, who can stay poised and focused during debates, and moreover… stand up to real life-threatening situations in this fragile world today.

Mitt Romney showed strength and confidence, he is the one who can bring back HOPE to all Americans and to the free world, and he will defend and protect our lives and that of our next generation.

Thanks for listening.
WEB=Chicago, IL

I thought Mike Huckabee won! He was the only candidate that appeared to have a grasp on the struggles of America’s blue collar families. The rest of the candidates appeared totally oblivious to the economic and social struggles that average Americans deal with. What I saw from the other candidates was more of the same, Washington type politicians who are totally disconnected and out of touch. I am voting for Mike Huckabee because he seems to understand that maybe for corporations and the wealthy, the economy is great but for a middle income person like me, things are not that great. The only way a President can actually help Americans is to truly know what is going on, Huckabee is the guy!!!!!

Not interested since it was not sponsored by the Republican Party in New Hampshire and not all candidates were present. The debate in ABC is the best hands down. I urge everyone to watch it and see what every candidate looks like when the discussion is not scripted.

Here’s a list of who I can’t vote for and why:
Ms. Rudy & The Huckster both made Judicial Watch Top 10 most corrupt politicians for 2007.
Romney’s wants to check with his lawyers to see if he can go to war instead of checking the Constitution which has very clear instructions.
McCain’t voted for the illegal Iraq war and is willing to stay there for 100 years.
Freddie can’t figure out something as simple as fiat currency.
And all of the above are members of the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) whose main goal is to have a one world government.
NO THANKS

Ron Paul won this debate. His exclusion meant he got to have a televised Town Hall meeting.
It’s on YouTube. (The best place to get FAIR & BALANCED news)

He is the only candidate who can save our economy, save our national sovereignty, save our God-given rights to life, LIBERTY & the pursuit of happiness.
He is the only candidate who doesn’t flip flop on issues.
He is the only candidate with integrity.

The top 2 issues are the economy and bringing our troops home (per several polls including the Facebook poll from Saturday) Ron Paul is the only candidate from either side who understands and can fix the economy, so he is the only logical choice for President.
He is the only Republican who wants to bring the troops home NOW, so he is the only Republican who has a chance against the Dems.

Vote Ron Paul or don’t complain when your dollar crashes.

Everyone should watch the previous day’s debate to see what the candidates actually look like when their discussions are not scripted.

I thought Fred Thompson was the only one who really had anything substantial to say. Romney did a good job as well but Fred had a lot more substance. He is the only true conservative in this race and I don’t understand why people aren’t looking harder at him – his record makes the case.

As a NH voter I have seen the same reaction to Romney every time he talks to voters. If they hear him and meet him they like him. The Luntz focus group of undecided voters responded just like I have seen thousands of others over the past year.

Romney won. John McCain has become a Democrat – which is a bit too much of a Maverick for most Republicans. Rudy really is a 9/11 broken record.

Romney clearly won. All of them make great promises and say they will accomplish certain things. Romney seems to be the only one who actually says HOW he will do them.

Huckabee was a turn off when he kept answering Romney’s question with a question. After three times asking the question, Huckabee never answered the question, wonder why!

Thompson and Gulliani seemed uninspired.

McCain did an ok job, but rather than being bold and aggressive, it seemed he just wanted to get through it without hurting his narrowing lead.

I’m not thrilled with any of them, but of the 5, Romney’s got my vote now.

Mitt won hands down. He is so far above the rest of the field and I have never voted Republican but I am this time. He is an outsider and a brilliant businessman and to boot seems like a very decent fellow.

The winner, who will also be next president, was clearly Mitt. Had did not lose temper or become frustrated, like others explaining their records. Funny thing career politicians do when they can’t answer their records in TV ads, they simply call them ‘mean spirited’. Sorry Huckabee, McCain, facts are facts.

Steve, Mich.

Mitt Romney won, period. McCain sounded good on foreign policy, but not on taxes or illegal immigration. Huckabee looked like McCain’s attack dog. Rudy and Fred were inconsequential.

Mitt covered a broad array of topics very well. He is the best choice to move the economy forward.

I am tired of the debates! Debating back/forth means very little to me. I want to hear their goals not arguing. Always defending oneself does not leave much room for stating ones strengths. McCain is right, if we don’t contain terrorism what else is left? His answers were concise and to the point, Romney/Huckabee went on and on about themselves and I believe ARE NOT AS EXPERIENCED/CAPABLE of heandling the world situation as McCain is. I do not always agree with this policies but he is definitelu right about the prime thret to this country.!!!!!

Chris Wallace’s moderation of this forum made it the WORST of the forums presented so far. I thought the candidates ALL did well considering the questions they were presented. It reminded me of throwing a piece of raw meat into a circle of hungry pit bulls. Most of Chris Wallace’s questions pertained to what one candidate had said about another…thereby setting them up to prattle about their opponents. Questions that would reveal how they would handle important world or national issues were barely touched on…and even those issues that were discussed were just the SAME OLD SAME OLD.

I am SO TIRED of hearing the subject of illegal immigration/amnesty positions explained ad nauseam… The way illegal immigration needed to be addressed prior to the arrival of the last 10 to 15 million illegals was much different than the way it must be addressed presently…with their continuing greater and greater influx.

I don’t know who won this sham, but I do know who lost. Fox lost me as a viewer for excluding Ron Paul. The rest of them all sound the same to me, and really don’t represent a large percentage of anything I support. I keep feeling like I’m being pushed out of the republican party, and if that’s their goal, then they will have no room to complain when they lose this election.

I will first say that I am a Thompson supporter. So, as a result, my rating of the debate is slightly skewed. What I saw were 2 candidates that had a good debate, they being Romney and Thompson. Romney, having been the overwhelming target for Huckabee and McCain, aquited himself well and had good command of the issues that were brought up. While I still think that he has much to prove to the electorate at large, I think that we, as Republicans, could do far worse than to nominate him. I also thought Thompson did well. What doesn’t seem to work for many works for me. Thompson does not seem prone to getting amped up about much which leads people to believe that he is boring, tired, asleep, pick your adjective. His command of the issues is excellent, he has put forth detailed plans covering just about every issue in the campaign, and when he speaks, he is speaking honestly and powerfully. He is the only one talking about telling the people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. That is refreshing to me in this world of retail politics.

I thought that Rudy had a neutral debate. He didn’t help or hurt himself. I think that most of his answers were good but, like Fred, he was overshadowed by the continuing war between Romney, Huckaby and McCain. His experience as mayor is a benefit and he has records that back him up. I would liked to have seen the moderator spread the wealth a little bit as there were occasions when he let those three simply go back and forth to one another for extended periods of time. It was no fault of the candidates as the debate set up and the moderator allowed for it.

I thought that Huckabee had a few very bad moments, the most crucial being in the first moments when he clearly did not want to admit that he raised taxes as governor far more than he lowered them. It was obvious that he knew he was in a danger area and his failure to admit it only seemed to hurt him more. However, he also looked very good at times especially when engaging in questions around “the people”.

I did not think that McCain did very well at all. He still refuses to admit that his biggest problem with the base is his propensity to align himself with ideas that are anathema to us, i.e. immigration reform, campaign-finance reform, etc. He still insists that what he wanted wasn’t amnesty due to a measly $5000 fine. He will likely never understand. Also, I felt a level of arrogance from him last night when everyone started talking about experience and he made it seem that only his experience was worthwhile while the others were just kids. While I deeply respect his service to the country, I think he is too far to the left for a Republican nominee.

My conclusion is this. This election will present possibly the greatest difference between two candidates in my lifetime. Every one of the top-tier democrat candidates are unabashed liberals who can’t wait to take control so that they can take your money and increase government control of your life. The best way to counter that, in my opinion, is to elect a strong conservative who will be able to articulate and present our views and stands in a common-sense manner to the electorate. That is how Reagon won two landslides in the 80’s. Of course, I think that Thompson is the strongest conservative of the group with few, if any, political skeletons in his closet. I also think that Romney would do a very good job of advancing the conservative ajenda. This is an election that we cannot afford to lose. Remember, the overwhelming criticism of the last Republican congress was that they did not govern as conservatives. Make sure that we elect someone who is a conservative who can lead fromthe front.

The Mittster is back. I noticed that he appeared tired during a town-hall meeting, but last nights debate was different. He is back and proves he is the only candidate to take on the democratic party. I’ve been following his career since the 2002 olympics. The man is a unstopable. He hit a home run during the last 2 debates proving he has the character and poise to be our next president. Mitt in 2008

Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire forum hands down.
Romney is a proven leader. He is articulate, intelligent, strong on stopping illegal immigration, fiscally responsible, and he understands the core issues of fundamentalist Islam and the jihad threat.
FYI…Romney won the Wyoming caucus on Saturday January 5, 2008, and is the only candidate from either party to have actually won delegate support. Huckabee and McCain both received ZERO delegate votes in Wyoming, foretelling the idea that Huckabee and McCain have little to no support in the heartland of America.

Funny, all the Romney supporters say “ROMNEY DOMINATED THE DEBATE”. Do we really want a domineering man to Dominate us as President? I don’t think so. Does he Dominate his wife like this? Is she allowed to work outside the home for someone other than himself? He really stuck up for Corporate America as well. I think this hurts him with the common man. If you want the SAME OLE, SAME OLE, then Romney IS your man. He is NOT a man of change.

Mitt, no doubt. Undoubtedly the only guy tough enough to beat the Dems in November.

Although I am a Fred Thompson supporter and think Fred would be the best president of the group, it is undeniable that Mitt Romney won the debate and came off as the most presidential and most appealing candidate for a general election.

Another point: I can’t believe people still want to throw away their conservative perspectives and support Huckabee – who is more Bill Clinton than Ronald Reagan, btw. Huckabee failed miserably last night.

1)Huckabee couldn’t stand up and admit to his tax increase truths. Nobody really bought that line of BS, i hope.

2)Huckabee has conflicting positions on immigration (to the obvious amusement of everyone present at the debate).

3)Huckabee actually said its not about taxes or gov’t size, but its about “making gov’t work” …i guess this gives him the justification that taxes are OK and bigger gov’t is OK if you FEEL like its helping someone, somewhere. Talk about a clear deviation from true conservatism and true republicans think.

Oh, and one more thought: These Ron Paul fanactics who are disproportionally clogging all these comment boards and blogs are getting annoying. There’s only about 15 of them and they each post messages from hundreds of email addresses to make it seem like a movement of some sort. I’ll be glad when that lunatic crawls back into his hole and we can all proceed without the nonsense.

I think Luntz is a major plus for Fox News. I do need to agree with the prior post, however, that it appeared that Luntz framed the audience to go Romney. Remember, Luntz was able to experience the real-time graphing and Romney did score big-time with that methodology. I can see how that could happen. Missing but for Mr. Crystal’s view is the consistency with this candidate Huckabee is traversing the links. McCain looked great.

Mitt did not win.

Fox news might have called the debate “Consolidated reasons to vote Democrat”. No where else could anyone get such a concise grouping of every negative thing about the entire Republican field including film clips.

Comments from the diner were about as dumb as one could imagine. WHo selected the weak minded 95 IQ group. They bit on every “WHEN IM PRESIDENT” bait thrown at them.

Fred who was not in the negative add junk obviously had no questions asked of him so one woman said he never got out any issues. He was the only one who described accurately any actual policy including medicare, taxes and borders. NO OTHER CANDIDATE did any precise or accurate description of their plan, just “when Im president we have to fix it – dah!

The wise man listens intently, he may or may not speak but he has solved the riddle for himself
and those around him. Eventually e must lead the not so wise from through the maze.

IT IS TIME FRED.

I guess there is one thing I do not understand. Mr Luntz gathers 30-40 “undecided” votes two days before the NH primary, has them watch the debate/forum, with electronics scoriing devices, then asks a series of questions after the debate. When asked about who they may be voting on after Sunday’s forum, the majority selected Romney. Luntz also stated that this was a very intelligent group of people.

What gets me is that we still have undecided “intelligent” people two days before they have to vote in NH and they made their decision on who to vote for soley based on the forum…not on the issues the candidates have put out some time ago. Let’s face it, the debates are for the candidates to put their game face on, to one-upmanship against the other candidates, and to look “Presidential.” If that is what convinces someone to to vote for a candidate for President, I can see why we have issues with this country.

I decided some time ago, based on looking at the candidates’s records, how the lead their states or performed as Senators od Congressmen, their consistancy (did they change their views to pander to the people or press just to get elected), what plans (more detailed, specific, and comprehensive, the better) they have published, and their morals, vaules, and honesty, and forthrighthness.

If one was to consider what I mentioned above, there is only one candidate that fits that bill and that is Fred Thompson. He has been a consistant conservative his entire private and public life, developed and published comprehensive plans on all the main issues months ago, speaks bluntly and to the point, is honest, has intefrity, is decisive, and has a solid record to stand on. There is no pretense with Thompson; what you see is what you get. That must be the reason no other candidates have attempted to attack his record — it can’t be attacked. Unfortunately, with the MSM and other news outlets pretty much ignoring Thompson, or taking pot shots at him on his laziness, lack of “fire in the belly”, his tiredness, that he can’t win, printing unsubstantiated articles on him dropping out, etc, it’s no wonder he last some votes in Iowa.

If you all want this country to move forward and fix the issues we have, you better take a look at Fred Thompson before you vote for that candidate that “looks Presidential.”

Romney won. He has knowledge of every subject and articulates it well. I believe he would be a great President and he gives republicans the best chance of beating the democrats. Huckabee is funny but very shallow.

It was clear last night that the Focus Group was fixed. I tend to not go this route, but over the past several weeks these focus groups have all seemed hand-picked for a particular answer. I agree with the previous statement that Huckabee won hands down. Middle-class America IS America. IF this focus group truly represents New Hampshire, then it just goes to show how FAR OFF New Hampshire Republicans are from the rest of America.

I stayed up late last night to watch the debate for a second time. I did this so that I could look at it by the numbers. I did this because I felt as though this debate was a little squewed. When the debate was over, I confirmed my suspicions. Here is how they break down.

Mitt Romney Time: 17:14 Questions & Rebuttals: 13
John McCain Time: 16:00 Questions & Rebuttals: 15
Mike Huckabee Time: 16:46 Questions & Rebuttals: 12
Rudy Guiliani Time: 13:39 Questions & Rebuttals: 9
Fred Thompson Time: 10:24 Questions & Rebuttals: 6

When I saw this, I was very alarmed. Why did Chris Wallace allow this to be so squewed? Many have taken shots a Mr. Thompson, including Mr. Wallace, for not being engaged in this debate. Shame on Mr. Wallace for allowing this to become a three man debate. If I was having to sit at that table for 90 minutes and only got 10 minutes to speak, I would have rather bored. When I look at these numbers, I feel that Fox News is trying to hide something. First, they do not invite Duncan Hunter or Ron Paul because their Nation numbers are below 10%. Ok, I can understand that. But, when you invite someone to a dabate for 90 minutes and only ask him 6 questions, that is disrespectful to the man. If I were Mr. Thompson and it was my time, I would go to 9 different TV stations and spend 10 minutes each discussing my stances on the issues. It would have been a better use of my time.
Shame on all of you have taken shots at Mr. Thompson, especially Mr. Wallace and Mr. Barnes in the post coverage show. You can’t answer questions, until they are asked. Mr. Wallace was the moderator and dictated who spoke and when. Mr. Wallace also interrupted Mr. Thompson more than any of the other candidates. He needs to be replaced. He clearly has a bias against Mr. Thompson, since their last dust up on Fox News Sunday. Fred Thompson is an honorable man who deserves more respect.

I’m an independent in NH and Mitt Romney blew away the competition last night at the debate. He definitely convinced me to vote for him.

I was between McCain and Romney, but last night Romney strongly, intelligently and passionately showed (1) Mitt is tough on illegal immigration while McCain still wants amnesty and just calls it a different name, (2) Mitt is an economic genius who will cut the income tax and corporate tax, and eliminate the death tax, while McCain has proven to align himself with the most liberal senators against the Bush tax cuts, (3) Mitt is youthful, energetic and a problem-solver while McCain seems a bit tired and petty, and (4) Mitt is a Washington outsider and an institution-reformer, while McCain is an old Washington guy bouncing around the same, failed policies.

I’m convinced NH saw their man last night- Mitt Romney.

mccain won period

My vote is for Mitt Romney. He is the only candidate whose expertise encompasses a vast range of skills which are necessary to move the U.S. forward into energy independence and prosperity while securing the safety and individual rights of every American citizen. He is in command, knows who he is and stands by his principles. He kept every campaign promise he made during his bid for Governor of Massachusetts and did it in a liberal democratic State. He may not have military experience but he can appoint John McCain his Secretary of Defense, the only position Senator McCain is well qualified for.

I was glad Ron Paul was not in this debate. I watched the other debates with him in. He seem to be yelling at anyone that did not support his view. He did not seem he could control himself.

Mitt Romney seems to stiff. He wants to spend his millions on attacking others. Yet dodges his record when asked. He has nothing on anyone on illegal Immigration. One time with illegal workers. Then a second time.Where does everyone say he looks Presidential? Looks more like an uptight boss.

Mike Huckabee is right on the fair tax. It would give everyone more reason to invest and save. I do believe he did better than the focus group gave him credit.

I watched the first of the debate over. Had to see what the focus group was referring to. I seen All did pretty good, but Mitt he was not funny. Bringing up campaign support members and not sticking to issues. Seems he is worried more about his hair than the common voter.

I watched the whole forum and found Romney to be not only the man with the answers but doing a presidential job of making sure his ideas get across. Romney is the right man to go against Obama, who may act presidentail as well but has no experience and no problem solving ideas. Obama will create more porblems then solve them. Mitt is a ‘go to, can do’ guy! He can deal with the Dems, and get the conservative issues on the front burners. He is a Washington outsider whcih is what is always needed to effect change.

Everyone who appeared at the Fox Republican Candidates’ Forum is unqualified to be President of the United States. Each of them is a serial violator of his oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Now none of us are perfect and we are all sinners so I guess they could be forgiven for their past indiscretions, BUT they have the gall to promise to continue violating their oaths.

Only one man currently running is qualified to be president of the United States by virtue of his record of faithfully fulfilling his responsibilities under the Constitution and Fox News excluded him from the forum.

BTW, you really never should have shown anything other than closeups of the candidates and the moderator. The wide angle belied your given “excuse” that there wasn’t room for Dr. Paul. You could have fit the candidates from both parties in there. This is why you’re on the path to irrelevancy.

It was more than clear that Mitt Romney demonstrated that he is the “real deal”.

Huckabee was very evasive in not answering tax questions and looked very uncomfortable.
McCain came off cocky and haughty in his responses.

Governor Romney was huge in his responses on immigration and pointed out that changes are needed in Washington and that he has a track record of successful positive change. His answers had the most substance. He is obviously a great leader.

Lastly, Mitt Romney demonstrated a Reagan Like charisma and a confident presidential presence even under pressure from his competitors. He was very poised and focused.

Mitt Romney won hands down.

I thought Mitt Romney was exemplary last night in the face of the strong double-team from McCain and Huckabee over the last week. It was clear that their handlers told them their collusion strategy was getting “overcooked” and when left to deal with “issues”, they stumbled.

It’s clear who the strong candidate here is. I can’t stop laughing (that’s sad “ha,ha” not funny “ha,ha”) when I hear people ranting about Mitt being “too perfect”, “too slick”, “too manfactured” or always “says what people want to hear”. Which is to say “too good to be true”. YES. HE IS THE PRESIDENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!. Smart, Experienced, Moral, and yes, GENUINE. At some point, it’s time to jump on the Romney train.

McCain and Huckabee won. It was clear from the onslaught right at the beginning from Romney against Huckabee that he is afraid of the surge he is having.

i heard there were plants in the crowd – a guy who has been seen in other “random” focus groups last Fall? Frank, can you address this?

I think the focus group got it absolutely right and they were watching the whole thing. Romney is the one to take on the likes of Obama. Can you even imagine any of the other GOP candidates doing that? Romney demonstrated class.

It was Wannabee who tried to be a bully (again) and Mitt handled him for what he is. But he did it with style and not with the venom that you feel when McCain and Huck try their hyena pack tactics. Romney talks issues.

But let’s stay on track. Who is the most capable, most presidential, and has the most specific vision? There is no question that it is Romney. Don’t let the day pass without helping round up support for him. If we sit around and wait to see what is going to happen without getting involved, it might be too late too soon and we may miss a chance to do our part in getting the best candidate elected. Rally your friends and get involved now!

I also must think this was a “phony” focus group planted for the “phony” candidate. I am truly an undecided voter and this debate did little to make anyone stand out—except to make Mitt look arrogant and smug and more unlikable.

Interesting how some people think that the focus group was a joke but they seem to ignore the fact that the overwhelming majority of comments made here say that Romney won too. Romney proved that he’s the strongest candidate with the more versatility than any of his opponets. McCain could only talk about his ability in national defense and Huckabee couldn’t seem to say anything.

Gov. Huckabee won. Sen. McCain with a strong second.

PS. Fire F. Luntz! He gave the same “analysis” in Iowa debate and well … the rest is history. What’s his background? Who else is he working for? At least the NH group didn’t all raise their hands when asked if they came into the debate supporting Romney like the Iowa group did. He trained this group better. I don’t need Luntz to cherry pick the “best” moments from the forum, that’s why I watch the whole thing. Next time, get me one of his monitors…

It doesn’t matter who won, the fact is McCain will win NH and probably win the nomination, as he should. He should of won in 2000, and he will most certainly win in 2008. He is the only one who stands a chance against the Dems. Mitt would get ripped up by Billary!

After watching last night’s forum, if I were voting in tomorrow’s New Hampshire primary, I would vote for Mitt Romney. I’ve been waiting for a candidate on the Republican side to really catch my attention. Romney did it for me. While some of the other candidates tried to make petty jabs, Romney rose above the fray, focused on the issues that matter to me, and spoke in a concise, straightforward way. I’m convinced that he would be an effective problem-solver as President, and I’m starting to feel that he would also be the most inspiring of the Republican candidates — which I think will be important, particularly if Obama continues to roll to victory on the Democratic side. While I disagree with Obama on the issues, he is a very inspriring, charismatic guy, and I believe Romeny can go up against Obama because Romney shares Obama’s strength in giving an inspiring speech, but also has the executive experience the President needs to get the job done.

I was excited for Huckabee after Iowa however, have been a little disappointed in him recently. While he has toned down some of the pastor-speak it still comes througha little bit much – he could keep winning without it if that were my only concern. Let me caveat by saying, I am a devout Christian but keep my religious beliefs very personal and sincerely believe our founding fathers intended for us to elect a President based on merit, skill set and ability to get the job done; not by passing a religious sniff-test. Romney has a lot to learn from Huckabee but one thing Huck could learn from Romney is to keep the religion a little closer to himself. Now the thing that disappointed me in Mike – I found myself getting uneasy in my chair as he was faced with tough questions about his knowledge of foreign affairs and immigration policy. He came across as defensive and unprepared. It became clearer to me that Huck, while the ultimate nice guy, probably isn’t the guy yet to sit as Commander in Chief of our country. Not saying its over for him, it was just eye-opening how he could have taken the opportunity to score a touchdown and instead ended up fumbling. And what was with the petty remark toward Romney, when pressed about children of illegals? He is supposedly taking a position above that – again, a disappointment.

McCain I thought was pretty harmless, didn’t do anything to sway me either way. He can identify all of the problems we are facing yet doesn’t go into detail on his answers to the problems. I wish he wouldn’t have essentially promised something he can’t deliver in Bin Laden’s death and fear that his position on immigration might come back to haunt him.

Giuliani was also a little disappointing – a got frustrated with his lack of response on Huck’s proposal for a consumption-like fair tax. Mayor Giuliani totally avoided the question and went into his work programs for NY.

I have to admit Romney sounded the most intelligent and articulate. He has clearly been an attack target for the others yet each time he responded he came across poised, knowledgeable, and not scared to get into details. I was particularly impressed with his thoughts on Thompson’s answer to social security – it came across as thoughtful, realistic and somewhat complementary to what Thompson offered. Also impressed with his position on job creation – so many people, myself included, gave Huck the benefit of the doubt when it comes to taking care of the middle class but Romney hit the nail on the head when he said you taking care of those paying the payroll as well – if that is not done, job creation doesn’t take place. I thought it was about time that Romney own up to the flip-flopping and thought he did a pretty decent job of communicating why his views have evolved.

I would have to give this one to Romney.

Romney destroyed the competetion! Go Mitt!

As an independent voter, I am solidly behind Mitt Romney. It was clear on Saturday that the McCain and Huckabee camps have decided to join forces and try to take Mitt down. I lost respect for McCain (and as a war hero, I’d rather not lose respect for him) with his snide, surly personal attacks all delivered with a smirk. As for Huckabee, his support comes primarily from evangelicals (60% of those who voted for him in Iowa) and his attempt to get his attack ad broadcast without paying for it was blatantly sneaky. We don’t need a short tempered curmudgeon nor a snake oil salesman as the leader of the free world. Mitt has a can-do attitude coupled with real world experience turning around enterprises and governments that are failing. Apparently for some, success breeds contempt. We need Mitt!!!

I can’t believe what I’m reading. This country doesn’t need a “Mr. Nice Guy” as our president. Think about it…We need a hard nosed, intelligent, strong, determined, honest, powerful leader who can deal with terrorism, the energy crisis, deranged world leaders, and have the foresight to move us ahead in business innovation. When a candidate tells us the TRUTH about another candidate’s voting record, it is not negative campaigning, it’s what we need to hear…wake up America! Last night I found the candidate who can be all that I expect out of my next President…it is Mitt Romney!!!!!!!!

McCain won, but GO HUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Romney clearly won the debate and I think that will be reflected when NH goes to the polls tomorrow. As for Romney dominating the debate and do we really want a domineering man as President. The answer is that we definitely want someone who can hold their own under fire and take charge. That is what it means to win a debate. As for the rest of the nonsense about domination – go back and get your GED and then we’ll talk further.

Up front….I support Romney. Although I thought Saturday night was tough for Mitt, it was painful watching McCain try to deliver a “zinger” (was like Hillary opening Letterman) I thought it made him look small…and I like McCain. Romney did much better Sun-night. As a conservative, for me, McCain disqualified himself with his “recent” immigration policy fiasco. I was quite upset with McCain as I was emailing and writing letters to anyone who would listen to stop the Kennedy-McCain immigration legislation from going forward. It struck me that I was battling someone from my own party!? I’ve always liked John McCain, still do. he’s an upstanding guy and is sincere in what he believes, but, one can be sincerely “wrong” and I think he was. After listening to the immigration portion of the debate last night I believe McCain is still on the wrong side of this issue….at least from a conservative view.

I’ll spare the platitudes for Mitt ( all the good stuff has been articulted here already) except to say that I think in the general election Romney vs Obama, Romney wins. Two agents of change, one with lots of experience(Mitt) and the other(Barack) with….mmm not so much.

An Romney vs Hillary, Romney wins. No explanation neccessary.

I don’t think any of them won. In fact, I think they’re all losers. Ron Paul should have been in this debate, however, him being unfairly excluded has only boosted his campaign and attention to him, which is great. Fox News is embarrassing itself and its NH debate was no more than the babbling of radical warmongers who want to keep America going in the wrong direction.

The focus group got it right. Romney was the clear headed winner with substance and presidentiality.

Ron Paul won. His exclusion was unnecessary and unnerving. Why would a candidate that received 10% in the Iowas caucuses (ahead of Guliani and Thompson) deliberately be left out of the forum? Why is Fox trying to dictate who are viable candidates so early in the process?

Google Ron Paul for serious answers to the serious problems facing our country.

I watched the entire forum and it was hands down a victory for Mitt. He was by far the most articulate and was the ONLY one to actually answers the questions and not side step like Huckabee does on every answer. Mitt was able to explain his record and did not have to make up excuses for his record. I disagree that the focus group was influenced by anything other than Mitt’s obvious command. Do I think he will win NH? Probably not as I feel Mitt’s only weakness is he is Mormon and people in this country are still ignorant and boggotted towards the LDS faith. Mitt should be our next president and if we can rally behind him I am confident he will be one of the best this country has seen.

Ron Paul could never win in a general elections and does not have the tempermant to represent the USA he is just another Ross Perot

Romney Won, hands down!

He really is Americas best choice!

John McCain will make a great Secretary of Defence for President Romney.

Yes, Mitt is a polished personna… that shouldn’t disqualify him for office. He’s a class act and right on the issues that matter. 2008 will be a tough year for the economy…even more reason to elect Mitt. And he’s right on immigration.

- McCain is an honerable man but too old… would be a one term president that is clearly on the wrong side of the immigration issue, especially when his home state of Arizona is being overun by illegals.
- Huckabee is a one issue candidate (abortion) who is a great speaker… he’ll fizzle out in the end.
- Guiliani did a great job after 911 but this doesn’t qualify him to be president. A liberal in aconservative race.
- Thompson is great on the issues but hasn’t gained any traction…. and won’t.
- Paul…..give me a break.

I thought Romey won on all counts. I think Chris Wallace all but ignored Fred Thompson and Rudy. Even though he concentrated on the top three it would have been more fair to spread it over all. This isn’t a done deal even though many would like it so.

Mitt definately won this debate. I was very impressed and continue to become more certian I will vote for Romney.

Really don’t worry about who “won”
Mitt Romney as Governor of MA did very little which I believe is a good thing.
Nothing is better than something bad which taxpayers have to fix with more money$
McCain is too old.
Huckabee is a contradiction in terms.
Ron Paul believes his own rhetoric
Fred Thompson seems bright and has no credentials.
Rudy????????? Great mayor…… not so sure about the presidency
Hillary….hmmm ….really not that experienced.
John Edwards……not another atty!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Obama……can you run the most powerful nation on charisma alone?
Funny thing is … they all have some good traits and ideas
I think they are all “WINNERS”. It’s the average working person I worry about!

Carl Cameron called Wyoming’s caucus insignificant, when, in fact, Wyoming has more delegates than New Hampshire. Both were docked 1/2 their delegates for jumping ahead of the approved date of Feb 5th.
Wyoming has 22,minus the penalized 14, which leaves 14 remaining.
New Hampshire has 12, minus the penalized 6, leaving 6 remaining.

So – why minimize Wyoming’s contribution? Romney lined up 8 delegates in his column in that state. That’s more than New Hampshire has to altogether!

After Iowa, the focus group was overwhelmingly positive for Mike Huckabee. Carl Cameron positively glows now as he follows Mike around. Last night, according to the focus group, Mitt was the overwhelming winner. Mike is far behind in the New Hampshire polls. Carl Cameron still glows and giggles as he follows him around and makes him the focus of the New Hampshire Republican primary. He uses positive language when reporting on John McCain, and glowing language when reporting on Mike Huckabee, but his language is consistently diminishing when he speaks of Mitt Romney.

Why minimize Mitt Romney? He came in second in Iowa, first in Wyoming, and will probably come in second in New Hampshire. After New Hampshire, he will continue to have the majority of delegates in his column.

Fox news speaks to the heart of conservatives, and Republicans. I would like to see some more fair ands balanced reporting coming from Carl Cameron

The debates have been too crowded. Ron Paul has yet to prove he belongs in these debates. Paul did not belong at the debate. I am not sure why Thompson was there. Huckabee earned his spot by winning in Iowa. McCain and Romney have earned a spot because they are the front runners in Iowa. Giuliani has earned his spot because he has been a front runner nationally. The other thing that also benefits Giuliani and Romney are the 400+ nonaligned delegates that are not tied to the national vote. Though I have not heard how they are stacking up in the process yet, they are probably leaning towards them and not the other candidates. The unaligned (super-delegates) in the Democrat party have already theoretically given Clinton a 100 delegate lead over the pack even though she lost Iowa. I am not a paul supporter though I have stated time and time again I would like to see him do well so as to shake up the current status quo in both major parties. I actually respect what he has done to this point. But he has not made his strong Internet presence show it is any thing other than a mirage.

Of course the really important political question of the day is with its invention, is that restaurant going to start a Huckaburger franchise?

I saw the debate and did not see anyone do all that badly. But neither did I see Romney hit a home run. How in the world can the room be packed with almost all uncommitted voters and then almost to a person all now are supporting Romney? This is very odd. The deck sure seemed stacked in favor of Romney. Why did Mr. Luntz not ask if most of the people in the room came in at least inclined toward Romney? You know they had to be. And if so. how did such a lopsided group somehow get into the room. If there is nothing dubious here, Romney will win New Hampshire by a landslide. Somehow, I don’t think that is going to happen.

I first found the exit interviews from the focus group interesting, then i found out one of hte guys was also part of another focus group! this is very strange and makes it sound odd. Looks like the guy may be a fake. Please check this out. By the way, i am not a Ron paul supporter nor do I support this website. This has been burning up the internet all morning!

http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=5888

I personally think the forum was boring. I think each candidate had their bright points. To me Romney comes across like an arrogant bully. I believe he is right on some issues but he continues to lose support in my opinion because he comes across as an elitist, as if he is better than everyone else on the stage. I don’t see his efforts in going after Huckabee and McCain as doing him any good because people already see him as a part of the status quo as the democrats called Hillary. He is the picture of the establishment in which everyone wants change from.

I believe Huckabee stood out in making a clear comparison between himself and the democrats, and I believe that is what they all should be doing. I believe Rudy said that as well. He pointed out that the Republican candidates were better on the issues than any of the democrats. I also think Rudy did well by explaining his welfare policies in New York. Those are the type of ideas that we need to hear as a party because it is different than the democrats. I think McCain did okay, but he is not being honest. His plan was for amnesty, he was accompanied by other Republicans like Lindsey Graham who also pushed for amnesty and attacked the republicans in his state who rejected the plan. He may be changing the words and twisting the facts, but he supported amnesty. It did Romney no good to attack him on that issue because the quote that was put on the screen showed Romeny was a hypocrite on the issue. That is why I believe the republicans need to differentiate themselves from the democrats more than attacking each other. We Americans are smart and can research facts and issues for ourselves, we don’t need the candidates pointing out their version to us.

Mitt Romney won hands down!!!!! All the other politicians are worried about him that is why they are all ganging up on him, and I think some of the media is doing the same. If we want a change in Washington and a better America people better look towards Romney, he is the only honest politician out there. And for the one that said the answers were by script in the restaurant, are you an actor and know what script sounds like, that is bull, he won, nothing more to say….

I am trying to keep an open mind as I live on the west coast and haven’t had the benefit of seeing the candidates live and in action out here yet. What I have seen so far is all press coverage and I like what I see from Romney and McCain. Huckabee seems sincere, well intentioned but doesn’t seem to really espouse the Reagan principles and values that makes the GOP great. His lack of conviction on stopping the flow of illegal immigrants and his past AK legislation to pay for illegal alien benefits really scares me as we have a real problem out here in CA. I saw a live interview with McCain on FOX and he was whining about Romney’s attack ads on him and how he disapproved of “negative” campaigning. I had to laugh because right afterwards FOX ran a personal attack ad McCain was running completely taking out of context some of Romney’s quotes from the debate. I think comparitive ads are OK on facts, past votes, positions or record, but don’t pile on or make personal attacks on other GOP contenders. I see a little hypocrisy now…he knew these ads were running as it said he approved the ad. I am a little surprised by FOX news’s coverage and especially Carl’s. The guy seems to really be in the tank for Huckabee as he used every opportunity to suck up to him during the Iowa caucuses and right afterwards with his suck up interview. Where’s the balance Carl? He also won’t say anything positive about Romney. He went so far as to mis-report his delegate victory in WY (Carl incorrectly reported Romney as having won 3 delegates and how insignificant the victory was. In reality Romney won 8 delegates and I haven’t seen Carl correct his mis-reporting yet…take note folks from WY) I hope Carl can become a little less biased in his reporting. In any event, all the GOP candidates all seem so incredibly more seasoned, informed and prepared then any of the front-running DEM candidates. With an unchecked flow of illegal aliens into our country sucking up free benefits, islamofascists growing like weeds and out-of-control government spending (Thanks alot George) this election is so much bigger than just personality….I hope America wakes up and gets it!

For all of the Paulers who are whining about Ron Paul being left out. You all were talking about this when there was a report about 2 or 3 months ago that the debate was going to be between the top 5 candidates in the race. If you were complaining about it then, why did you not believe that over a 2 to 3 month span he would have worked his way into the top 5, of course with your help?

Duncan Hunter is still in the race and he is not whining about not being in the contest because he clearly understood what had been set up months ago. Quit trying to make it like you were censored or silenced, the fact is your candidate is not in the national top 5, get over it!

Ron Paul won… his town hall forum on the same night was far more informative, with real questions and real answers. He spoke for a full hour on the real issues, and tonight he’ll reach even more people on the Tonight show.

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I would have to say that it is weird that a majority of the focus group spoke so passionately about Mitt within one forum (that was boring). Fox also showed two of his advertisements which is as McCain said, millions of dollars in free advertising, especially with the audience that Fox draws in, and it is the “experts” on Fox that has acted so baffled and disappointed the Huckabee won Iowa and has done so well.

I like the Fox Network and appreciate their programs, but sometimes you just have to wonder how everything works so perfect for only 1 guy all in the same night?! Especially since everyone I have talked to today has given a mixture of opinions, none of which was heard from the focus group.

i watched the debate with my husband ,we are legal immigrants with strrong love for the republican party and thus fox news is the only news channel we watch.but seriously mitt did not win that debate,he was just ok,its clear to me that fox news and the republican leadership are rooting for u,i can say its clear brit hume is on his side.the debate was rigged to show the flaws others have in their personal lives,wheather it be age or marriage while mitt was made to appear as the fairest of all.saying he doesnt apologise for changing to prolife,forgettting that wasnt the only flipflop he made.i know people will see through it.
i also felt he was arrogant and had this disdainful look on his face when he looked at his opponent as if the were inferioir and dont no nothing.
i hope he losses big,so we can move on to real people.

carl,i love ur work and all that u guys do at fox news but please tell them to stop trying to influence the way people think by overly rooting for mitt.

I’m more concerned about FOX’s coverage since Romney & Hillary’s defeat in Iowa. Is it just me or have Fox reporters & pundits been hammering away at Huckabee, Obama & McCain in an attempt to revive Romney & Hillary’s campaigns? I realize a race without Hillary might cause a reduction in ratings, but give me a break.

I also question Frank Luntz’ so-called “focus group” last night. I found it extremely suspicious that the vast majority of the undecideds in attendance were so enthusiastically willing to raise there hands in favor of Romney. I watched the debate and Romney in no way dominated it to the extent Luntz’ group indicated. Who are these people? How were they selected? Hmmm

Lastly, FOX please stick to reporting the news and stop trying to create it. The likes of O’Reilly showing up to instigate a scuffle at an Obama event and the other obvious bias in reporting causes you to stray far from being “fair & balanced.”

This was the best debate i’ve seen this political season. Chris Wallace did and excellent job. He equally challenged everybody in areas that they needed to be called on. I’m a Huckabee supporter but I think it was jut Mitt’s night. I think Huckabee did fairly well. He stumbled initially but recovered well. He didn’t win but he didn’t do poorly and so that’s a plus in my book. Unlike others, I don’t whine when my guy has his feet put to the fire. I need to see Mike answer the tough questions so I hope they keep pounding away. He’ll be battle tested when the real fight comes later in the race. Like metal being forged in the fire, you have to pound away all of the impurities and the finished product is pure and strong. A tool ready to be put into service for the people. Go Mike! Go! Huckaboom!

Huckabee did well, Thompson looks like he needs a good cup of coffee, Romney is to scripted, McCain is to tired and Giuliani just plan boring.

There is no way these were undecided voters. This was a total Romney PR Blitz, unreal. Lutz should be fired, that entire “focus group” was insulting to viewers intelligence. I thought all the candidates did a pretty good job but there was no clear winner.

Romney won, regardless of what the Luntz focus group thought. He had the best answers and landed shots on Huckabee and McCain with little resistance. This was an incredible night for him.

Decent answers by Giuliani and McCain, but this one was Mitt’s.

It was painful, I stopped watching. I was expecting someone to steal the show, especially with only 5 competing. To me, that never happend. thumbs down.

My vote is for Ron Paul. He is the only candidate that will not violate the United States Constitution. Every other candidate that WAS invited to Fox’s unfair and unbalanced forum on January 6, 2008 supports a war that was never approved by Congress. The Constitution clearly states that Congress shall have the power to declare war. According to the article FindLaw Forum: “President needs Congressional approval to declare war on Iraq,” our current President believes he does have the authority based on authorization Congress provided his father in 1991 for Operation Dessert Storm. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Other than Ron Paul, the Republican Party believes in the Constitution as long as it benefits them.

No clear winner.

It is clear that Mitt Romney won the debate. He kept to his qualifications and was THE MOST PRESIDENTIAL. I’m TIRED of McCain constantly bring up his military service like he is OWED the Presidency. Alot of us served in Viet Nam, and we don’t all wear it on our sleaves. Also, IF McCain’s handlers were smart they should tell him, enough with the PHONEY LAUGH and to quit smiling like A CHESSER CAT!

No Question! Mitt Romney came off polished, well versed and with conviction.

I am a Fox News loyalist. Huckabee definitely won. I am disappointed somewhat with my favorite people on Fox for intentionaly favoring an Establishment Rep. candidate. Huckabee is “The Guy” we have all been wishing for. I hope the Huckabee resentment from my favorite political reporters get fair .

Based on his principles, I already know Ron Paul’s position(s) on most every issue. Therefore, Ron Paul won the debate.

I believe Gov. Romney has shown that he is more skilled, experienced and trained to do the job of president. He separated himself from the pack by selling to the people that he will do things the way Ronald Reagan and many Americans want a candidate to do. There is never an attack by anyone or a question that he cannot answer honestly, concise, and with passion. He will be the next President because the american peole will see his greatness.

Did anyone notice the guy that has now appeared in and has spoken in two separate focus groups? I thought these were random people. Hmmm. Please investigate and get Fox News to clear the air on this. The Focus Group looked really bogus to me; especially to think that the majority of those present were making up their minds from a 2 hour debate.

Thanks!

[...] the only ones who found Frank Luntz’s focus group curious. Carl Cameron’s Fox blog is rife with comments about how bizarre it seems, and many of the candidates’ forums are aflame with discussions [...]

Win or lose McCain is history after NH. He will not get enough Republican votes to win any other primary. Vote for Romney, he is the only republican that has a chance against Obama. He is no Ronald Reagan but he is the closest to it this election.

I thought Mitt Romney did a great job in Sunday evening’s debate.

Mitt demonstrated again that he deeply understands and clearly articulates the issues at hand facing America and other people and locations around the world. We saw how Mitt consistently strives to delve deeply into and address the critical issues at hand, while others seem to be skimming along the surface and staying on the edges. Maybe that’s because Mitt has greater knowledge and experience to better grasp and respond to what is going on in our world and how to effectively work towards accomplishing needed changes in Washington, America and the world?

It was very good to see that McCain and Huckabee are trying to overcome wasting time in their adolescent activities of whining and taking personal digs. Hopefully McCain and Huckabee will soon advance to answering questions posed to them instead of the political talk that slips out so easily.

When is Huckabee going to own up to what he did while serving as Governor of Arkansas, his record of performance, and quit taking offense whenever Mitt makes an analytical comparison? The way Huckabee goes on the defensive so quickly leads me to believe there’s more that the voters really need to know about his past record.

Also, Huckabee’s bumbling along, when important questions are presented to him, clearly shows that he needs to get up to speed and learn more so he can discuss issues accurately and intelligently, starting with the basics first. Huckabee will hopefully learn very soon that not everyone is going to buy off on his Evangelical appeal, and that he needs more substance to be a balanced consideration for president. We’re not looking for a minister!

When it comes to who could withstand the Democrat’s nominee, McCain and Huckabee would be eaten alive by the Democrats if either should win the Republican nomination. McCain is a has been in Washington, and should feel very fortunate that his constituency still supports him, even when he has been in Washington so long and hasn’t made the changes that he now says he will make happen. If he’s such an agent of change, how come he has made so very few changes for good in all the years he’s served as a senator? M A V E R I C K, that’s what he is now.

The more I learn about and watch Guiliani, it becomes clearer to me that he is carrying far too much questionable and heavy baggage into this campaign, skeletons in his closets. Guiliani still has 9/11 questions to answer.

Thompson, while knowledgeable and competent is ready to be turned out to pasture…possibly a suitable candidate for an upcoming Geritol commercial? Thompson rambles so much in his replies that I’m not sure if he remembers where he’s headed with what he was going to say. He’s closer to a retirement home than he realizes, and I hope he keeps a hold of his day job.

Thanks FOX News for hosting the debates… You’ve provided voters with another opportunity to see who these candidates really are and what they’ll really do.

In conclusion, hopefully more of the debates will be handled as Chris Wallace did the one he hosted Sunday evening, wherein Chris provided clear and pointed questions, which stimulated substantive dialog, and helped reduce the antics of McCain and Huckabee against Mitt. Chris helped the candidates get and stay focused, and avoid their petty and personal attacks on Mitt. Little do McCain and Huckabee realize that they’re providing an opportunity for voters to see that how Mitt demonstrates his bedrock strength and ability to stay focused, answer questions without politic talk, and do very well to stay on track under pressure.

I’m glad I visited this comment section, because I was beginning to wonder if I was crazy. I, too, wondered what the so-called Focus Group was thinking, when they said that Romney won the debate or forum. When I watched him verbally battering the other candidates, the words that came to my mind were: Bully… Overly Aggressive… Ruthless…. Will Stop at Nothing to Get Power… and Mean-Spirited. Look at his eyes.

I, too, was confused about the focus group’s sudden and dramatic switch to Romney, the whole room full of ‘em. Then I found out that someone has spotted the same guy in two different Fox focus groups, four months apart. I hope that’s not true, because we’ve been die-hard Fox News fans for many years now (since we watched CNN try to throw the 2000 and 2004 elections). I’ll look forward to hearing more about this allegation.

New Hampshire’s ruggedly independent, East-coast voters might like mean millionaires, but the rest of America likes Gov. Huckabee. That’s why RealClearPolitics shows him as the #1 candidate nationwide.

Fred Won. He only spoke when he had real wisdom about an issue such as Social Security. He didn’t ramble as much as the others… I like that

I hope someone at FOX really reads these posts. The “focus” group was ridiculous and the network isn’t fooling anyone. Please stop insulting us!

Mitt Romney continues to lead the pack. His responses are clear, directly to the point, and they are not evasive. He radiates confidence and is far sharper than any of his competition. McCain is a nice person but doesn’t have the intellectual qualities that are so visible in Romney. I believe McCain also exaggerated his military “command” experience during the debate. His five + years in the Hanoi Hilton don’t count for “command” time.

I have spent some time reading everyone’s comments about the debate on Sat. and the Forum on Sunday. My comments are as follows:

1. Fox had every right not to include Ron Paul in Forum. His numbers just don’t reflect that he has anywhere near the support needed to be a viable candidate. Having said that, they also could have easily not invited Fred Thompson for the same reason.

2. Regarding Frank Luntz’s focus group. Contrary to some of you conspiracy theorists, they were not planted by Mitt Romney. They were contacted exclusively by Frank Luntz’s team. This guy has a long standing reputation and he is not going to destroy that by “trying to help Mitt Romney.”

3. To the Romney Supporters – The fact is up until the last two debates, Mitt has not done very well in the debates. He has seemed to come off as too scripted. The Forum on Sunday was probably his best performance. (Perhaps he should insist on always having a sit down format, it served him well.)

4. To the Huckabee Supporters – You cannot deny that Mike was deliberately avoiding the question about his tax record. Like it or not, Mitt Romney is accurate and the fact that Mike wouldn’t give a straight answer was glaring. It was also glaring that Mike was not happy about the fact that Mitt was challenging him on his stance with immigration. (He didn’t show the temperance that a President needs to have.)

5. To the McCain Supporters – John McCain usually comes across as a nice guy. These last two events found him lacking in all candor. His comment about Mitt Romney about being the Candidate of Change was only humorous to McCain and that was apparant. During the last Forum the thing that stood out the most was that he didn’t want to talk about ANYTHING other than defense. While I agree that defense is very important (Afterall, we are a nation at war), we are also a nation facing many other issues. McCain was clearly not prepared to discuss any other issues. He also was not willing to explain how the McCain/Feingold Bill did not provide amnesty. We all know that it does.

6. To the Thompson Supporters – I’m sorry but he really does come across as being tired. He does not represent himself as even wanting to be there.

7. To Giuliani Supporters – I am taking a wait and see attitude with Rudy. Sunday evening was certainly not his best performance. He needs to be able to do more than just talk about New York. He started to talk about other things but then he races back to New York.

Conclusion: To me, Romney did come off as the winner on Sunday. Contrary to the McCain and Huckabee supporters, (By the way, contrary to what Mike Huckabee stated, I am convinced that the McCain and Huckabee camps are working together and I am convinced that Ed Rollins is the mastermind of that idea. Ed has a long standing history when it comes to politics. Mike Huckabee stating that he is not going to go negative and having Ed Rollins as his campaign manager is an oxy moron), he (Romney) didn’t come off as arrogant, he came off as confident. He had great command of his facts. He acknowledged that he changed his position on abortion.

The thing that I really can’t believe is that I am hearing McCain and Huckabee complain about the amount of money Romney has spent. Are they running on the Republican ticket or the Democratic ticket? Because that’s the argument that the democrates have always used about the Republicans.

I am interested in a candidate that can talk clearly about multiple issues. I want a President who is intelligent and who is professional. Afterall, he will be interacting with world leaders. On Sunday night, Mitt Romney was that person. If he can continue to show that he is that individual, then I will feel very comfortable having him represent our country as the President of the United States.

My comment is intended to respond to Lynn’s concern regarding the Focus Group and the fact that there was a gentleman in the audience who had been in a previous Focus Group.

Fact: Frank Luntz was upfront about that point. He explained that they will often include a few people in multiple groups as part of their study. Frank Luntz is not just interested in whether people were for or against any particular candidate. He uses the data that he collects for multiple purposes, i.e. comparing how that individual responded in one debate vs another.

In fact, he also asked the group how many were actually leaning towards Romney before the Forum and that gentleman raised his hand. There wasn’t anything sinister going on. What we all witnessed was a study in human behavior and human reaction. We have all been witnesses to human reaction in all these responses as well. It’s really quite interesting.

I watched Ron Paul’s uncensored town hall meeting instead of the Fox debate. Ron Paul is candid, honest and the true conservative in the race. I’ll definitely be voting for him.

VOTE RON PAUL!!!!

Romney, without a doubt, won! I was so glad that the constant smirking and insults toward Romney on Saturday’s debate were toned down on Sunday. MaCain and Huckabee came across as mean, threatened bullies Saturday. At least on Sunday they were more civil.

As for Fox being fair and balanced, they are so biased AGAINST Romney that it is offensive. The focus group on Sunday was the first positive thing that Fox has run on Romney, and it was driving all of the other commentators crazy!!

To Whom it May Concern,

I think Mitt Romney won the debate. However I don’t think it will matter because others seem to have it out for him.

Sincerely,
Dan Thoams

I think McCain, Huckabee and Giuliani were the best in the debate, while I get annoyed listening to Romneys attacks and failures indicated by his studdering and his inability to listen to the other candidates without attacking them every time. I know…Mitt is right about everything and everyone else is wrong about everything. Mitt ought to be a democrook.

I agree completely with Dan. Romney stood out at the Forum on Fox. I sure hope he does well in NH as I want to be on the ballot in Calif. on Feb 5. He will make a great leader and that’s what we need, a leader, not another intrenched politician. Politicians have not made it work so far, so let’s fix the broken system with Romney who is a proven business man.

Romney won. finally the Mormon is pushing back, and with class. Sure, FOX staged the FOCUS group, just like they staged Johnny Mac’s Mother and the Devil’s brother!

There were people saying that Hillary Clinton had people planted in the audience when she was being questioned. Apparently, there was a gentlemen in the audience in two segments of the questions portion and the graph portion in NH and in Iowa. My daughter pointed this out to me and when I looked over the audience, sure enough the same gentlemen was in the audience twice. What’s going on Fox News? You are playing the same game the others are. Don’t be too fast to point fingers. You’re doing the same thing.
Let’s go Mike Huckabee!!!

I am a Republican, but I would like to know how others feel about this. Senator Obama was shown not saluting our flag. Senator Clinton, Gov. from NM, and other on the dias were saluting the flag and saying the pledge. The only one NOT was Senator Obama. How do you feel about this and his running for President? This really bothers me. GO MIKE HUCKABEE!!!!

Mitt was brilliant. I am completely impressed with him and his credentials. He’s the only one as far as I’m concerned that understands our economy. The fact that he has changed on some issues doesn’t bother me in the least because he has the record to prove the changes were genuine and not just “talk” like the others.

I did not like the way the debate was set up, you really should get an audience into the picture you get a fell for things with an audience there even if they don’t make a sound, also who thought of putting them together on that small table they all looked like they were packed in so tight I thought Huckabee was going to come out like tooth paste. Please Fox News do a better job next time or I won’t watch the next debate.

Mitt is a slick-talker, but in the era of youtube, where authenticity is a premium, he won’t win in the general election.

He said McCain’s program is not amnesty, and later, said it is, and then said he never claimed it was. These sorts of triple flip-flops make him a disaster.

Huck was evasive, and therefore dishonest.

Let’s get rid of those 2 jokers.

Romney won. Was not close.

If they emoved the word “I”from the language Romney wouldn’t have much to say.Whoever said that He reminds them Of Kerry,has hit the nail on the head….With all the half truths He spits out He reminds me of a Harry Reid wanna be also

I am still a Huckabee supporter but I am bit sure why many people are still trying to right Romney, and others, off in this campaign. Romney has come in second twice, and there are still enough pledged and unpledged delegates available to make this race winnable by anyone. If the race stays and finishes close, the unpledged candidates will force a lot of horsetrading in the backrooms. But Huckabee did hit on one of Romneys problems. He really does look and come across as the guy that does company firing. He does not present himself well to the public. He looks and moves like a Ken doll. And that hair is to reminiscent of Edwards’ 400-dollar haircut. He needs to work on the image. Like it or not image goes a long way in the voting process. He needs to turn his looks and image back towards the fellow that was smiling naturally and looked like he could be someone that would walk along side you in times of trouble and not someone whom is having people push you out of the way so litter-bearers can carry his Eminence towards his path of rose petals.

Romney was clearly the sharpest, most articulate, most reasoned, and most confident and comfortable during the debate. His stability and ability are just what our country needs.

I don’t by that Romney is FOX’s little pet. Carl is Huckabee’s little follower. If anything, the media is trying to take Romney out of the picture, as if he has no chance even though he has the most delegates to far! Most media stories twist Romney into a negative light and praise McCain and Huckabee (be objective and look at the titles from the last two months). Romney is seen as trying to ‘put a positive spin to his loss’, rather than it being characterized as a positive trait like committment of perserverence.

I felt like Romney handled being beat up gracefully, and he stood up to some of it– he should. He tried to make Huckabee answer a question and I’m sure he’s very frustrated with everyone labeling him the negative attacker when all his ads have done was focus on issues/records and he’s fed up with Huckabee never addressing his record, only whining and attacking Romney’s character. If you can really say that Huckabee’s snide comments haven’t been more personal and negative and you buy into his whining that Romney is bullying him, you should go back to elementary school because that’s the way Huckbee is acting. You could see Romney was reaching his limit, but he has more self-discipline and demeanor than either Huckabee or McCain who seem to revel in this new partnership to take down Romney.

Guiliani had some good ideas about immigration but he can’t hide from his liberal record. Huckabee and McCain both shy away from directly answering ?s about their record. McCain talked about a fence and the borders but avoids talking about what to do with illegals who are already here because he wants us to forget about his bill that does give some amnesty and will not keep more illegals from coming here. What’s more serious or important, that Romney once said it’s a reasonable approach and then when he could come up with his own plan, he doesn’t think it is the best route– or that McCain supported it, wrote it and believes in it???

None of them, except Romney, are well-rounded enough, smart enough, and dignified enough to compete with the democrats or be the next President.

I’m from Iowa and still fired up about how The Huckster fooled all his blind followers here who would rather vote for someone because he is a pastor than someone with brains and ability to face all the country’s big problems. Iowa was early, unfortunately some people in following states are voting for him just because he won Iowa but more and more people are looking at him and recognizing what a fraud, unintelligent, goofy guy he is. Can you really see him meeting with Foreign Leaders and being respectable?? He never answers questions straight up, doesn’t defend his record, just whines about other people ‘being dishonest about it’. HE has been dishonest about his record. He says all the taxes he raised were after “80% of the people voted for them”– NOT TRUE. Do you HUCK supporters stay open enough to scrutinize his record. Does it matter to you that he is being dishonest about his record in order to get elected? Won’t he be dishonest on the job if he is dishonest while he’s pursuing the job?

Read http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/huckabees_fiscal_record.html.

Huckabee brags about how his democratic state kept re-electing him as evidence of his doing something right– all it signifies is that he ran the state the way a Democrat would. He is NOT a fiscal conservative!! Conservatives are refreshed by him talking about Christian values outright. Romney does too. Mitt wants God to stay in our schools and on our $, but he doesn’t force it on you in a condescending way like Huckabee does.

Somebody answer me specifically how Romney is NOT a conservative?

Abortion is the one thing people are criticizing Romney for. It is important, but not as immediate an issue as Iraq, terrorism, illegal immigration, health care costs and the imminent recession that everyone is talking about. Also, if you really watch and listen to Romney explain his change it is very reasonable. He has always been opposed to abortion morally, personally. When it was theoretical, he believed government’s role in what people should do was more in line with choice. When he actually had authority as governor, he had to personally face making something into legislation, he had to go with his personal conviction. I think that’s what we expect our leaders to do. He wants Roe vs. Wade overturned, would love there to be no abortion in the country, but is not going to force that view on the whole nation. He would be President over a lot of people with differing views on it. Huckabee’s ad that he put out/didn’t put out MISLEADS people to believe that Romney is responsible for or in support of the MA healthplan allowing $50 toward abortions. Romney opposed it, it was a state court ordered mandate that he had to obey. Like Mike Huckabee touts that he ‘obeyed the law in Arkansas’ by raising taxes for education then makes some remark about ‘I don’t know if you have to obey the law in MA…’

Which leads into the fact that Huckabee (and McCain) have both been more negative on this campaign than Romney– despite what the media keeps trying to perpetuate, even with Chris Wallace’s question on the last debate. Ridiculous. Romney has pointed out differences on their records. He pressed Huckabee to answer his question about taxes. The meanest thing he has said is that “he (Huckabee) makes up facts faster than he talks”. Hucakbee has attacked Romney’s character by calling his campaign dishonest, his comments are riddled with snide, personal cracks, his early comments about the Mormon faith were very specific ideology differences in order to rile up evangelicals against Romney. Huckabee jabs, then takes this ‘good guy, I didn’t mean to’ stance, knowing the damage has already been done and he comes out LOOKing like the more moral man. What a bunch of crap he has been pulling. I am floored that Huckabee got anything from NH voters!

Mitt Romney brings the most breadth of knowledge, best solution oriented approach to what is facing America. He brings people from all sides to the table, gets the best information and makes successful, critical decisions. Watch Greta’s conversation with him on the Mitt Mobile to learn more about his Foreign Policy approach. Watch all 3 parts to the video. It’s a GREAT look at him. He shares his stance on terrorism and I think it would have helped a lot of people in NH who voted for McCain just because of his military/foreign policy experience. It’s curious that these clips weren’t more visible on the website during the Iowa and NH voting. Fox?? Romney is a dignified leader who can work with the international community. His experience in the Olympics may even help other world leaders respect him.

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?0308/010308_greta_rom1&On_the_Record&Mitt%20Romney&acc&On%20the%20Record&-1&Shows&494&&&new

McCain has some good character, although he seemed to relish a little too much in jabbing Romney on the debates. He can be bull-headed like Bush though. He’ll stand up to people or go against the grain, but that’s only good if he’s fighting for your exact point of view. I don’t think he would be any more effective in working with the international community than Bush has been.

In debates McCain avoids talking about what he plans to do about all the illegals already here. He focuses on a fence and securing the border only. That’s because he wants us to forget that his immigration bill really does offer a type of amnesty that won’t deter more illegals from coming. It doesn’t punish people who have broken OUR federal laws. This is just one summary of his bill:

http://www.heritage.org/Research/GovernmentReform/em975.cfm

It’s scary to see American’s voting for pastors, candidates they admire because of war experience, or because they ‘like his smile’ and ‘think he would be a comforting president’ (Obama). Do you realize that we need a strong leader?! This next President is CRUCIAL to our future. I agree that a vote for any other Republican OTHER THAN Romney is helping the Democrats. A Democrat will get America on it’s way to socialism. Europe is seeing the effects of socialism and they are starting to turn away from it and voting in conservatives.

I especially appreciate the comments on here from Canadians. They have a different society and yet are close enough to be knowledgable spectators of our country. LISTEN to them! Don’t listen to the media or their biased commentators (know who these people work for before you listen to their stance!). Listen to individual, respectable sources. How does Romney having some democratic supporters make him not a conservative.

I can see people being leary of Romney that he has had his eyes on the White House for some time. So what? Realize that every one running or who has ever run for presidnet has had his/her eyes on the White House. It is usually because they want to be in a position to make things better. Does being rich and white really mean he will not be an excellent President? I’d rather have my brilliant employer run the country than my hick co-worker who steals condiments from the break-room. (Yes, Huckabee really did steal furniture from the Governor’s mansion). Romney is wealthy, but don’t forget that he didn’t take pay for his governorship or the Olympics and he tithes 10% of his income! Does income really have any bearing on the characteristics we need as a leader– yes, he has been successful in his endeaveors…

I can see Romney has a tendency to exaggerate, but it’s out of enthusiasm more than it is calculated deception. When he is called on it, he admits fault. What more can you ask for? On the other hand, Huckabee has said “oh, I don’t know anything about the Mormon faith?”, when he was a main speaker at a Baptist seminar in SLC which was designed to refute Mormon doctrine and convert Mormons. Don’t you think you need to know their doctrine if you are going to try to discuss it and refute it with them? Isn’t that kind of false statement a little more alarming and telling than Romney’s slip about seeing ‘more change in the next ten years than we’ve seen in the past century’ or whatever?

The other arguments about Romney being too perfect etc. are just absurd. I like what another writer wrote about the fact that Romney’s got all 5 sons strongly supporting him and they are a close-knit family. Watch them. That says alot about the way he has lived his life.

http://www.mittromney.com

KEEP UP the support. Polls show that people BELIEVE Romney will get the nomination, but it won’t happen in a vacuum. You have to get out there and VOTE for him!! I can’t do any more from Iowa (yet!)

I was impressed with Fred Thompson tonight. He has been low-key up until now and tonight he showed passion.

If people want a President who has good core values and speaks the truth vote for Thompson. The rest of the herd are strictly politicians and can’t be trusted.

Ron Paul won the debate.

Paul made the most sense. The rest sounded like variations of the same theme.

I am a Father of four children all ages Under 7 years old. I am the sole bread winner in my family due to the fact that my wife cannot afford to pay for daycare and get a second job. I work hard and do a ton of Overtime at my job when I can. I am also at the point of bankruptcy and it had nothing to do with creditcards and either my wife or myself out spending. I want a President that will embrace the lower middle class like myself that may not make it through the month with our electric still on.

I believe the Only…. Candidate that will truely help my family survive into the next few years is Mike Huckabee… I Think he won the debate.

1. Huckabee 2. McCain 3. Thompson 4. Romney 5. Guiliani 6.Some libral

ALL OF AMERICA LOST when Fox EXCLUDED the views of Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter in their Forum. Despite Fox’s shameful attempts to frame the debate by only allowing Pro-War candidates a voice, thinking people take notice and ask why the establishment is so scared of dissenting voices? ‘COM ON FOX, whatever happened to your “Fair and Balanced reporting” slogan??? People see through this B.S. and are turning off Fox News…

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Excellent post. Keep it up!

Citizen Eco Drive Watch…

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