Whatever else you think of Ron Paul, it is entertaining to hear the phrase "Austrian theory of the business cycle" in a Republican debate (though it almost sounded like he said "Australian"--"tie me von Mises down, boys..."?)

[Update at 9:26]

Fred takes off the gloves and finally goes after Huckabee for his NEA endorsement and opposition to vouchers. "That's not the position of the Reagan coalition. That's the position of the Democratic Party."

Huckabee's response (paraphrased) boils down to, "well, people reelected me."

Pretty weak tea to make your credentials as a conservative. Lots of Democrats, even very "liberal" ones, get reelected. Fred's job is to draw a distinction between himself and the Huckster as the only true conservative in South Carolina, and so far, I think he's doing well. We'll see if he hits him again.

[Update at 9:42]

Ron Paul is really coming off as the crazy uncle at the holiday dinner, ranting about things that aren't even relevant to the question. Brit Hume: "Congressman, all your fellow candidates agreed with the passive response to the Iranian provocation. Who or what are you responding to?"

[Update afterward]

A memorable phrase from the consensus winner tonight, Fred Thompson, on immigration: "High fences and wide gates."

If anyone is inspired by his performance to send him some money in the wake of his performance, he's looking for it.

Rand

I generally agree with you on this one. Fred did good and Both Paul and Huckabee floundered about a lot. I don't like how they shortened the answers at the end as it just made everyone go over.

Perhaps a reason the media has minimized Thompson is a suspicion/fear that he has the best shot at earning the adult vote and beating the Democrats. The guy is as consistent and coherent.

Perhaps a reason the media has minimized Thompson is a suspicion/fear that he has the best shot at earning the adult vote and beating the Democrats. The guy is consistent and coherent.

I just ponied up a bit of $, meager though it is, for Fred.

If anyone but Fred Thompson gets the nomination, I can see a lot of republicans staying home on election day. I fully expect Ron Paul to loose the republican nomination and run as an independent.

So much a Fred Head I even have the baldness pattern. ;)

I'm warming up to Fred and (hold on I need to put on a flame-retardant suit to say this) I think he would make a great VP for Giuliani *runs and hides* ^_^

Of course the reverse could work well too.

I love the Fred position on using an executive order to tell OMB to ignore all earmarks, all the candidates should sign on to that. Simple, effective, legal: bOMB earmarks!

Here's to hoping Fred wins a double-slam in MI and SC.

Craig,
I raised that same point here recently. It seems to me that FT just isn't getting air play, not even for the MSM types who suffer from BDS.

Me thinks they do protest too little.

If Star Trek was on the air; he'd be a character like Col. Green, or Khaan. Wait there was a character like Paul on the last season of Enterprise.

"If anyone but Fred Thompson gets the nomination, I can see a lot of republicans staying home on election day."

Maybe so, but not this Republican. I am also pragmatic and know that any one of the Republicans (save Ron Paul) is better than any of the Democrats.

Cecil,
I'm with you. Let's just hope it's not a super liberal Dem vs a kinda liberal Republican. But it seems a good chance.

Will McCain make it to the end? Or will his head eventually turn into one big scab and just fall off?

Depending on how Fred does over the next 24 hours I'll probably donate as well.

As far as the "whoever wins is still better than what the Democrats will offer" issue, my issue with that is that a vote is unqualified. I can't write in "I'm voting for you but I don't like you because of X, Y, and Z." The MSM took advantage of that by turning the Republican loss of Congress into a referendum on Iraq and not a referendum on whether or not there were any real Republicans left in either house.

Can anyone think of an _organized_ way for those of us who are voting in the primary to tell whoever wins that to get us to vote in the general election you really need to do X, Y, and Z? For example, if Huckabee wins I just might stay home, and I'd like to tell the evangelical wing of the party that. Even though I do support the Fair Tax. Huckabee sucks that much....

-MM

MM,

I agree with you. I had problems with Bush as Governor in Texas, but supported him because "he was electable" in 2000 and "better than the alternative" in 2004. The result was enough to get me stay home in 2006. The hope for letting the Democrats take over in 2006 was for the message to sink in by 2008. Based on Huckabee's jump prior to Iowa, I don't think the message took.

I can support McCain in the general election. I disagree with him on many issues, but I trust him to do exactly what he says. That's an important character trait that's worth my vote. I use to support Giuliani, but that was when I thought the war on terror was the biggest issue in front of us. I was willing to deal with other drawbacks for that issue. However, the GWOT, though far from won, has done a good job and the threat is less today than it was 4 years ago.

I can't trust Huckabee. He's as slick as the previous Presidential candidate from Arkansas. I could almost vote Obama before Huckabee. I don't trust Ron Paul as well. I don't know many Ron Paul supporters personally, and I work next to his district. I like Fred, but for all the talk of a surge in SC this weekend, I don't see it in the polls so far. I donated to his campaign since he announced, so he's my candidate choice. So long as he remains on the ballot in Texas, he has my vote even if he concedes before then. Perhaps that will be a message.