bautista,

Mitt already addressed religion's place in a presidential election. And he got it right.

Please stop trying to bring it up again. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has expressed their political position--the are neutral and don't tell their church goers how to vote. If they did, there wouldn't be a Harry Reid AND a Mitt Romney. There are Mormon's across the spectrum and in the political world, they are like you and me, AMERICANS.

coMITTed

i do not begrudge the hard-working, honest, caring, dedicated members of the mormon church. i can't begin to express how much i MEAN live and let live.

i see danger in a man who has such a high standing in a religion with such ideology as no separation of church and state,

i just think this situation is dangerous.

but, it was a stimulating debate, and i hope you have a good night, as well. :-)

Huckabee is a nice guy, no doubt, but he blew it tonight. He sat back and wasted the momentum gained by winning in Iowa.

McCain is a good man, an honorable person. Tonight, he also blew it because he looked and acted very much like a guy who is losing. His personal attacks on Romney were not appropriate, nor were they effective. He is not funny, not charismatic, and not witty. He tried to be all of the above and failed miserably. Instead, he and Huckabee ganged up on Romney and tried their best to beat him up. I think they hurt themselves more than they hurt Romney. They sort of fell into their own trap.

Romney is smart, and would bring much needed integrity, hard work, and business savvy to the Whitehouse.

It is so interesting that people watching the same debate can come up with so many different opinions. In my opinion the immaturity of Huckabee and McCain (as well as several others) was classless. Seriously, if the worst they can do is continue to point out the old "flip-flop" issue then they must not have much to work with. Romney has not been afraid to explain his cause for change. I personally want a president who thinks about issues logically and isn't afraid to change their stance if they truly feel they were wrong. I thought Romney acted with class in dismissing the jabs and rebutting with facts. Also, with regard to the drug company comment by Romney, it is refreshing that he understands how drug companies really work. Drug companies take a big risk when putting money into research for a new drug. It is a business of high stakes, and as a result high proffits. The industry works on the capitalist model. Sure, the proffit margin does seem high at times, but without the incentive the innovations would not continue. It is a fine balance that most of America truly does not understand.

Hey Ef!
I understand your concern but don't agree with it. Ask the people in Massachusetts if Mitt Romney has made their lives different because of his faith.

To assume that our country would be in jeapordy and your life would be negatively affected because of Romney's faith, is paranoid and simply not justified.

What is it that makes our country so wonderful? It's this, the fact that we can discuss, debate, and feel free to do so.

TAP...

Good on ya man. No more talk about faith and religion.

Personally, I don't vote the party line, nor the religious line. I vote for who I think is the best choice.

I like Mccain and I like Romney. However, if neither of them win the nomination, my money would be on Obama. Even with his lack of experience, I think he "gets it". Plus, he seems to be completely genuine, intelligent, and driven.

But TAP, mutual respect and have a great weekend!

promise, this is my last post.

thanks, mitch. that was an impersonal, intelligent argument.

i will consider what you wrote, and i appreciate the way it was written.

i do agree that it IS wonderful to be able to debate ideas in a free country where. that's definitely one of the things i love about america.

signing off now, i swear! it's 1:30am here, and i'm sleeeeeeepy.

take care, mitch. :-)

Media Influence amazes me.

I watched the debate tonight (GOP) and then I watched the post-debate commentary.

I have a RIGHT WING theory and I'm interested in hearing responses.

The media is all pretty much saying that Romney got hurt tonight. I have to admit that it seemed like everybody was punching him. But as I watched the "punches" being thrown, they were pretty weak. Not much substance to them, mostly just jabs.

OK, so here are my questions, if you would, answer these for me. Please note that I am really not 100% committed on my vote, I really do want your opinion.

1-I believe that most media is liberal and because of that, they may see Romney as the biggest threat to the Dems. If so, it makes sense that they would want Mitt to do poorly. Do you believe that the media wants Mitt to fail?

2-Mitt Romney has been singled out as the only guy who runs negative ads. Is he really the only one out there running negative ads or is it because he has raised and has more money to run more ads?

3-Who is your vote for President and Vice President RIGHT NOW?

To ef, I hoped you would just reflect on the idea of taking care of your OWN stones. When wrong info is thrown out to the world, to me it is like yelling fire in a theater. That is why people, including myself, have responded to your postings. You claim that you are informed, but your comments make it clear that you are not.

No candidate has faced more scrutiny than Mitt Romney, well maybe Hillary. Every single candidate has changed a position in their political career or life and no one gets crucified for it like him. It was a very personal issue as well. He is strong on the issues and tonight showed me he was clearly the more articulate, professional, and ready to be President. If America is ready for a leader that is KNOWN for being successful in everything he pursues he is the man. He is quick to say he is not perfect, makes mistakes, but he was clearly groomed by his father and successful people around him to be a leader and settle for nothing less than success. He has a financial head for business and will keep America's economy strong. He had the most energy on that stage and I read he was very ill. McCain looked like an old man and Huckabee won't stop talking in parables. Romney and Guiliani were the most impressive.

Huckabee did an excellent job---the best out of anyone on the stage. He stood firm on the issues and answered questions in a positive straight forward manner. He is a very refreshing politician---he has my vote.

I do agree that the media has been excessively negative towards Romney and has ignored the thinly veiled personal attacks by Huck and McCain.

My Pres./VP ticket right now....Romney/Gingrich!!!
Both have concrete free-market plans for improving concerns that face this country. I think they're a winning conservative ticket. Gingrich's recent book on free market solutions to environmental concerns and Romney's free market health care would pose an intimidating and cost effective alternative to liberal policies. Thanks for asking.

Mitt Romney was great tonite, trying to stay on issues and what he has done and wants to do. The others hateful attacks on him were ugly and demeaning for them. McCain was awful, Huckabee is not to be trusted, something in the water in Arkansas? Smacks of "Clinton" same old politics!

This is the first presidential debate that I have watched so far. I was really impressed with Mitt Romney. I liked what he had to say...especially about what he has done for health care in his home state. He seems to be a real leader and has shown strong leadership qualitiesIin the private sector and as State Governor. Not sure why he was the only one being attacked. The others must feel him a real threat. I saw that he won Wyoming Caucuses yesterday. Religion, to me, is a non issue. He has strong conservative principles and moral values, faith in God, dignity (as shown by not attacking others as they attacked him) etc.. He seems more than qualified and capable to be President of the United States.

Unbelievable! In a country formed out of the motivation of religious freedom and that has presidents of a variety of different faiths - I can't believe faith has become such an issue.

I hadn't seen a republican debate yet but Mitt Romney really stole the show in my opinion. Sure everyone was going at him, but they were just emotional cheap shots. I don't know of anyone who could have sat there and taken all of that with such poise as that guy did. As of now I'm voting for him.

So tell me, Erik, you didn't want John McCain before tonight? Tonight's what did it for you? What I saw tonight was Romney giving McCain a chance to clarify his opinion...an opinion that ultimately does result in allowing millions of illegal immigrants to remain in the country. Let's call a spade a spade...that's amnesty. Whether for free, or at the cost of $5,000...it's still amnesty. If it were a change in immigration policy it would read..."any foreign immigrant wishing to apply for US citizenship can pay $5,000 and get in the back of the line." It rewards people for breaking the law.

Romney comes across as completely disingenuous. While I admit the snide remarks by McCain were a bit much, it is clear that the other Republicans don't like Romney. And it is not cause they fear him. He is transparently insincere.

Hi Mitch:

I only watched part of the GOP debate as redfishing in Galveston Bay was a higher priority than following my candidate for once.

I agree that Huck and McCain looked like bullies. I don't think the liberal media is against your guy (Mitt) or mine (Paul). I don't really worry about so-called negative ads unless they get to the level of the 2004 Swift Boat campaign. I don't care for the subtle anit-Morman stuff going on and pray the SB will see the light and reject it.

I don't have a problem with Mitt or several of the other GOP candidates - but I hope they listen to Paul when it comes to economics and big government. We simply cannot afford to police the world and really don't need to. Think about families, small businesses and the like - it all comes down to living within your means and controlling spending. If you don't live within your means, you threaten the viability of your family and, indirectly, your community. Multiply this by ten million and you have a picture of our country as a whole and the potential damage that can result from out-of-control spending.

I believe that monetary policy, inflation, currency devaluation and deficit spending is the real 800-pound guerilla/terrorist in the room. We have become so comfortable with our lot that we look to the Middle East as our own ship slowly sinks without a single life-jacket donned.

It is nice to see all the Romney staffers posting here tonight. Us average Americans see right through this propaganda. Get some sleep. You candidate is done.