Florida GOP debate : Worth “Getting upset about?”

01/27/12 09:45 AM

By Ayen Bior, abior@smu.edu  University Park, Texas — It was a warm 74 degrees in Jacksonville, Fla. Thursday but the heat was on at the University of North Florida where four presidential hopefuls gathered once more to participate in what proved to be a pivotal debate in the Republican primary. That warm feeling that most political fanatics (or maybe just me) get right before a debate was replaced by a scorching intensity that matched each candidate’s visible focus. No doubt, the first question (asked by an audience member) solidified the tone for the night and unleashed the the claws. The question regarding 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States sparked a lot of agreement and disagreement. The consensus was that they came...

A fight from four: Santorum strong, Gingrich disappoints, Paul steady, Romney wins

01/27/12 09:14 AM

By Christine Jonas, cjonas@smu.edu If anyone believed the race for the Republican nominee had been whittled down to two men prior to the Thursday night Florida GOP debate, then they were in for a recount. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich continued their strategy from Monday night’s debate by attacking each other every chance they got. But Thursday night’s CNN debate upped the ante. With each blow one delivered the other struck back tenfold, and this time Rick Santorum jumped right in to join the fight. Ron Paul was less interested in bashing his opponents and focused more on getting his message across when answering each question presented. The hot topics were immigration, space programs and healthcare. Like all debates there must be a winner, and Romney...

Gingrich continuing to lose steam, lose touch

01/27/12 09:09 AM

By Amanda Oldham, aoldham@smu.edu After a lackluster performance in Monday night's debate in Florida, Newt Gingrich decided that perhaps he should shoot for the moon. Literally. During Thursday night's debate, Gingrich talked up his big idea of colonizing the moon. A smart strategy considering the recent cutbacks at NASA have been a blow to the Florida Space Coast. With NASA and the housing industry both hurting, citizens of Florida would take to a candidate who apparently had their specific issues at heart. And with the audience allowed to applaud and interact during the debate after Gingrich's temper tantrum earlier this week, surely Newt thought he had this one in the bag. Quite the contrary. Despite Mitt Romney's apparent retreat from the vicious attacks...

All I have to say is ‘wow’

01/24/12 15:47 PM

By Lexie Hammesfahr, lhammisfahr@smu.edu  The NBC Debate in Tampa, Fla. can best be summarized by a comment Brian Williams made before a commercial break: "When we come back we will welcome in the other two gentlemen into this conversation." Mitt Romney was warned. He was briefed. And still, he chose to attack Newt Gingrich instead of focusing on the faults of President Obama's administration. The Daily Beast predicted it when writer Howard Kurtz wrote: "Undoubtedly, Romney will press Gingrich to release the details of his Freddie Mac non-lobbying contract, and papers from the House probe that led to his reprimand and $300,000 fine (though the 1,300-page ethics report is available online). But these jabs will seem like what they are, a transparent attempt...

Romney, Gingrich go head to head

01/24/12 15:45 PM

By Kate Gardner, kateg@smu.edu And then there were two — two candidates noticeable on stage, at least. Monday night’s debate centered on lengthy exchanges between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, leaving Rick Santorum and Ron Paul noticeably quiet and on the outskirts of the debate for quite some time. Following Newt Gingrich’s triumph in the South Carolina primary, the audience saw a role reversal where Romney, and not Gingrich, was on the offense. In this capacity, Romney did not fare well. Although Gingrich is much better on the attack versus on the defense, he skillfully danced around Romney’s accusations of influence peddling involving Freddie Mac and his eligibility for the presidency. Romney needed to make viewers care about Gingrich’s early...