No Runny Eggs

I promise, this will be the last national politics thing today (though I do reserve the right to update those posts I already have up if the weed patch known as the CNN/YouTube debates sprouts anything else; for anything else, hit the roll). I’ve got a set of spreads to crush and some Cowpokes fans to poke. I also think there’s a few things brewing in the land of cheese and beer.

Jim Geraghty asks whether Pubbies get to get in on the planting at the next ‘Rat debate. Given the ‘Rats are so afraid of conservatives they refused en masse to appear on Fox News, I can answer that in two words, with the second being “no”.

(Long H/T trail – Kathryn Jean Lopez/The Corner via DaveM/AoSHQ)

Adam Yoshida (who was obviously more sober than I), dug out the fact that the gay general is on the LGBT Americans for Hillary Steering Committee. And you wonder why a whole lot of conservatives had a very bad feeling about the ClintonNewsNetwork/BoobTube debate. Lopez adds that this wasn’t the first time that Kerr was mixing it up with ‘Rats, as he was on Ketchup Boy’s Steering Committee.

And some people wonder why a whole lot of conservatives are very distrustful of the Clinton News Network.

(Editor’s note; dunno how I didn’t unleash a few f-bombs on this one; those Blues are really hitting me. I bow to the master.)

Once again, I’ll be rolling with the CoverItLive software. Before I lose the audience to the full bumper crop of those live-blogging listed immediately below (I’ll update and correct as I find them), I’ll quickly refresh you on how I live-blog: Because I am not the fastest typist in the world, I paraphrase a lot. I’ll probably also swear a lot (I’ll be downing Labatt Blue like there’s no tomorrow), and I’ll almost certainly be taking shots at everybody involved before the night is through. The questions will be in italics, the candidates’ comments, paraphrased as they’ll be, will be in normal type, and any smackdowns I need to deliver will be in parentheses.

Now, here’s a very partial list of who else is going to be live-blogging this thing:
– Michelle and Bryan live-vlogging at Hot Air (That should be the live link. You do have a monitor big enough to put their vlog and my meager efforts up, don’t you? This IS 2007, and a 19″ monitor at 1280×1054 is the bare-bones minimum nowadays.)
– Allahpundit has what may be the smallest open thread in Hot Air history (sorry AP; timing is everything)
– Things are sure busy in the Hot Air camp; Michelle has a live thread on her own site.
– Jim Lynch at bRight & Early
– Jim Geraghty (I think I’ll have to keep the blog home with this one; if memory serves, Geraghty puts up new posts rather than make people refresh one particular post)
– Brian at Liberty Pundit (he’ll also be using the CoverItLive software)
– Mary Katharine Ham is on the scene
– Patrick Ruffini will be joining her (lucky bastich ;-)
– Stephen Green will be drunkblogging again, with the comments thread separated as usual (I’ll probably be matching him beer-for-martini; time to start)
– Free Republic will certainly be lively (live thread added 6:17 pm)
– Ace checked in right after this thing went up (and, yes, I checked all my feeds right at 5:59)
– Brennan also checks in
– Team Fred has Sean Hackbarth on the case, along with audio.

If you’re wondering why I switched to Labatt, it’s the price and the inavailability of Sam Adams Double Bock.

This time, they’re from Stephen Green. There’s too many to steal and embed here, so head on over to PajamasMedia to watch them. You definitely do not want to miss the question to Ron Paul.

Revisions/extensions (3:25 pm 11/28/2007) – Just because I can…

While we wait for ultimate in stupidity (Frosty the Snowman to make a return engagement on CNN), here’s a couple more items for the “Stupid Party” pile:

– (H/T – the ripped-off Slublog) Sinistar, the guy behind doubleplusundead, found out that Minnesota GOP vice-chair Michael Barrett has been ripping off the material of various “lesser-known” bloggers (as if AoS HQ, the 2007 Weblog Awards Best Conservative Blog, is “lesser known”) and passing it off as his own. Barrett refused to do the right thing, which would be apologize and start attributing stuff he borrows. Instead, he took the cowards’ way out and after mumbling out a semi-apology, “hung it up” (I give him 3 months before he’s back to stealing, only from a new blog).

– (H/T – Dad29) It seems the Virginia GOP is insisting on participants in its Presidential primary February 12 sign “loyalty oaths” to support the official nominee (especially if it’s the hand-picked one of the “R”NC, Rudi Giuliani). The Roanoke Times rips them, mostly deservedly-so. Suggestion for the Virginia GOP; if you can’t stand a semi-open primary, do caucuses.

I’m still in a funk. Thankfully, MKH and William Smith did the prep for me. It’s good to have a feed reader.

Just as a reminder, whether I am still in a funk or just drunk, I’ll be live-blogging this thing:

Disgruntled Truck Driver has two sets of questions up, one for Dems and lefties, and one for Pubbies and righties. Since I’m of the right half of things, I’ll take the latter:

1. Do you approve of EVERYTHING President Bush has done while in office? (Be specific) Nope. Spending went out of control; instead of fixing Medicare, we got a massive increase; and the utter failure to secure our southern border against either a country wishing to refight the Mexican-American War or a bunch of Islamokazis is inexcusable.

2. Do you believe that EVERYTHING that Republicans did while they controlled the House and Senate was good? Oh, hell no. Again, that spending and expansion of the welfare state didn’t happen just because Bush wanted it.

3. What is more important to you? How much a politician “cares” or what a politician “does”? It’s all about the results.

4. How motivated are you to see a Republican be elected on a scale of 1-10? It honestly depends on whether that Pubbie is not or is a member of the bipartisan Party-In-Government. If said Pubbie is a PIG, I’m not exactly interested.

5. Will you vote Republican because you believe the candidate will be what’s best for the country or because Hillary scares the living crap out of you? How does, “Both, boss,” sound? Keeping Hiliary out of the Oval Office is what’s best for the country.

6. Does the idea of a Democrat as Commander in Chief make you feel more or less safe? Far less safe.

Guess there is just enough left standing in Vegas after the Uncle Jimbo invasion last week for the Democrats to hold a debate. The party starts here at 6:45 and on CNN at 7. I decided to try out something a little different, something called Cover It Live. If everything goes as planned, it will show up immediately below, and you won’t need to refresh for new content once it starts. Just as a reminder; I probably will rip everybody a new one before the night is done, I paraphrase a lot, the questions are in italics, the answers are in normal type, and my own comments are in parentheses. Oh, and if I swear, I apologize; these are Dhimms I’m dealing with.

Michelle Malkin’s got the popcorn popped, and Jim Geraghty has the Cliff Notes’ preview. I expect most of the rest of the regulars to bring the beer; I’m going to need it.

5:27 pm (no, the live-blog applet isn’t live yet) – The gang at Free Republic is early as usual.

5:52 pm – Brennan the American Pundit is borrowing my method of madness. He’ll be better and less colorful. Also, the link to the CNN live stream is up

6:15 pm – Gabriel Malor has the AoS open thread up. Meanwhile, the real reason why I am testing the shiny new toy just went down the crapper; Mitt Romney torpedoed the Dec. 5 Iowa Pubbie debate (H/T – HotAir Headlines)

9:12 pm – And the live-blog is out. The replay is available in the above window.

We’re now less than 2 months out from the Iowa caucuses, and under 3 from the likely end of the primary portion of the race. That means it’s time to winnow out the chaff, at least on the Republican side. Fox News decided to exclude from its December Iowa debate the candidates that haven’t picked up 5% of the polling in Iowa. The net effect is Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, and Tom Tancredo are out of the next show. Personally, I believe that’s about a debate or two too late because that leaves 90 minutes (if memory serves, that’s the length of the Fox News debates) of having a chance of substantive discussion. Even better, if things hold, I’ll be able to do a profanity-free live-blog.

Before I get back to the Republicans, I’ll quickly note that the Democratic race is still Hillary Clinton’s to lose even though Barack Obama has closed in Iowa. While she’s doing her best Bill Clinton impersonation by planting questions in the audience, Obama just isn’t able to capitalize because even the Democrats realize that explicitly calling for tax hikes, even for their Holy Grail of Social Security, isn’t going to fly with the electorate. The good news for the Republicans is that Clinton has a very hard ceiling of under 50% in the various national head-to-head polls. The bad is she also has a very hard floor of above 45%.

In a big blow to the campaigns of John McCain and Fred Thompson, the Republican National Committee decided to go halfway down the road of the Democrats and take away half of the delegates from the states that are holding primaries before Super Duper Tuesday, February 5. McCain’s and Thompson’s strategy of using a pre-SDT primary (New Hampshire and South Carolina, respectively) to leverage their way to victory just went down in flames.

Similarily, Mitt Romney’s strategy of buying his way to a sweep of the traditional early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and using the homestate advantage of Michigan, has been somewhat neutered. While he will, in all likelyhood, win Iowa, all the money he has spent in New Hampshire and South Carolina has just gone down the drain.

With that bit of background out of the way, let’s move on to the candidates:

Rudy Giuliani – His strategy of focusing almost exclusively on Super Duper Tuesday and the large-population liberal states is essentially intact. Even though losing half of Florida’s delegation will hurt him, Florida is still the largest pre-SDT prize, larger than Iowa or Nevada (Giuliani is leading there in the latest polls, regaining the momentum from Romney), and he pretty much has the ex-NYC vote and thus the state locked up. It also is the last contest before Super Duper Tuesday, so if his double-digit lead holds up, he will have the big momentum going into February. He also picked up the biggest personal endorsement of the season in Pat Robertson. The bad news is a lot of conservatives aren’t buying the Robertson endorsement, and the rumblings are that they will stay at home in November 2008 if he’s the nominee.

Mitt Romney – The good news: he should have most of the early states. The bad: not only has he lost half of that benefit, but at least so far, that projected success has not translated to projected success on Super Duper Tuesday.

Fred Thompson – With apologies to Sean Hackbarth, the slow-motion Thompson campaign simply hasn’t caught on with those answering the polls or the majority of the insiders. However, Thompson has reportedly scored the biggest overall endorsement of the season with the National Right to Life Committee. The volume of blue-on-blue fire directed at Thompson hints that the pollsters and the insiders are missing something.

John McCain – He does have the pro-illegal-alien wing of the Republican Party locked up with Sam Brownback’s endorsement. Unfortunately for him, that’s not nearly enough to overcome his extremely high negatives over his opposition to tax cuts, support of the media’s gatekeeper role, and dislike of the religious portion of the Republican base. Worse, even if the New Hampshire effect wasn’t halved, he is going up against a pair of “hometown heroes” in Romney and Giuliani.

Mike Huckabee – I’m honestly surprised that he’s hanging in there as the big-government evangelical. Judging by the RealClearPolitics state-by-state polls, it’s essentially just Iowa that’s giving him any hope whatsoever. He doesn’t have the money to exploit any potential upset.

Ron Paul – Yes, he’s raised $9 million over the last 3 1/2 months. Just don’t ask too many questions on where that money has come from, as there is strong evidence that a significant portion of that is from less-than-honest-or-legal sources. The ideological heir to the late-19th-century anarchists hasn’t done anything useful with that influx of cash, and the ease of intercontinental travel and communications has made his neo-isolationism suicidal.

Duncan Hunter/Tom Tancredo – If I were a game show host, I would say something like, “Thank you for playing. Bob, tell them the parting gifts they didn’t win.”

If it sounds like I’m depressed, I am. The Republican race has turned into the right-of-Communists’ version of Hiliary (with better legs) versus Slick Willie (with better hair), with Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney picking up all the endorsements “that matter”.

It remains to be seen whether the endorsement of Giuliani by Pat Robertson will simply be the death knell of social conservatives or the death knell of Republicans as a whole.

Here we go again, basically relying on my semi-drunk R-rated notes along with the tape from Stan to fill in the blanks from the HamNation Memorial Clinton Bashfest. It’s SOOO much nicer listening to Brit and company than Prissy Chrissy. I wonder if Clinton will continue to refuse to debate on Fox News once we get into the general election season.

Fox News – B – For the most part, they let the blood be spilled. Golner dragged down the team’s performance signifcantly, and the exclusion of Alan Keyes to include Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter isn’t exactly defensible.

Rudy Giuliani – B – Don’t let my constant “Rudi” calls in the live-blog fool you. Once he got done lying about his conservative creds (and that’s exactly what they are, lies), he became UPS Man and delivered the raw red meat. Those early lies knocked this down from a probable “A”.

Mike Huckabee – B+ – He wasn’t around much, and seems to be resigned to the fact that he won’t be President in 2009, but he’s making lemonade out of that by becoming the early front-runner for the Veep slot no matter the man on top.

Duncan Hunter – C – Once again ignored, but finally found something other than Red China to talk about. Caused Romney to stumble on CubaCare Taxachusetts. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been paying much attention to the recreation of the Soviet Union.

John McCain – A- – Delivered the Smackdown of the Night, and is committed to the protection of America. A couple bouts of vagueness hurt the final score some.

Ron Paul – F – Once again, proved he’s the wrong man for the wrong party in the wrong era, and that he’s clueless on history to boot. Couldn’t answer a single question without dipping into the Hussein Obama/Osama bin Laden playbook of foreign relations. If we could get at least one non-Paul-nut debate before the convention, I would get to remove the R-rating from my live-blogging efforts.

Mitt Romney – C+ – Easily his weakest performance. Revealed himself to have hands-so-soft when it came time to break out the brass knuckles, but eventually managed to get a good shot at Clinton. Worse, he doesn’t see that the Dems have no intentions of compromising on anything, and we all know what happened to the last guy who resolutely said he was a “uniter, not a divider”.

Tom Tancredo – C- – See the start to Duncan’s grade, but he got in a heck of a shot on Nancy Pelosi in between his one-issue anti-illegal-alien crusade. He was led into it by Thompson.

Fred Thompson – A- – Just call him Broadsides Thompson. Plenty of shots to be had for all within range. Still has a bit of a problem with specifics, however.

If I’m back home in time to do some live-blogging of the debate, which starts at 7 pm on Fox News Channel, sothis is where I will do it. Otherwise, The usual suspects (namely, Allahpundit, Free Republic and Matt Lewis, though I expect RedState to have it up as well should have it, along with Fred’s campaign in bilingual (DAMMIT!). Unlike the first, which featured nothing but 2nd- and 3rd-tier candidates and the introduction to Campaign 2008 of Alan Keyes, the 8 surviving “big” names will be the only ones invited to this pool.

As usual, I paraphrase a lot, even if it’s in quotes, the questions are in italics, my own comments are in parentheses, and the times are Central Daylight in 24-hour format (I won’t have time to keep on putting in “p.m.”). Also, as usual, I’ll probably insult every candidate before the end, some more than others. So, with 19 minutes before we go live to Florida, that’s that.

Actually, that’s not quite that; The Real Sporer is live-blogging as well, and the Vodkapundit will be drunk-blogging (he wasn’t real clear whether it would be at his place or at Pajamas Media). That reminds me; get the first beer out of the fridge.

18:45 – Hopefully Pixy Mixa fixed the commenting problems at Ace of Spades, because Ace has joined the party. Guess nothing is going to get done tomorrow morning as we’ll all be drunk.

18:51 – It’s Pajamas Media for Stephen Green. First gulp of Maximum Ice down. Meanwhile, the Spanish version of the Thompson Team take is now live.

18:57 – Supposedly, Fox News is streaming it. I can’t get it to work. Meanwhile, the Paul-nuts are busy itching their texting fingers.

19:00 – We go live to Brit Hume, the man the DhimmiRATs are most-afraid of. Joining him are Chris Wallace, Wendell Golner and Campaign Carl.

19:01 – Up come the Gang of 8 – Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Duncan Hunter. Brit lays down the ground rules, complete with the lights and the “ding-ding” (when I use that, that means they ran over).

19:03 – We start with Wallace to Rudy – Who is more conservative, you or Fred? – Rudi starts off with the lies, claiming he ran the most-conservative gubmint in the US in the last 50-60 years (that rumbling you hear from California is Reagan turning over in his grave). “You can always find one exception or two….” DING-DING! (I can think of more than 1 or 2)

To Mitt – Same question – I’m a uniter, not a divider. Mitt finally hits on Hiliary, and takes a swipe or two at Rudi. (oh, Mitt, you governed much like her as well, or doesn’t CubaCare Taxachusetts Edition count?)

To Thompson – SMACK upside Mitt’s head – “I didn’t know there was any room to the left of Ted Kennedy.” “I compiled a 100% pro-life voting record.” Oh, and Rudi supports fed funding of abortion, sanctuary cities and Mario Cuomo. DING-DING.

Rudi, retort – He voted against tort reform. DING-DING.

Back to Fred – I support state rights, and Rudi fought to keep sanctuary cities.

Back to Rudi – We reported everybody who committed a crime, but didn’t report anybody in school. Oh, and Fred doesn’t have executive experience.

19:10 – To McCain – Who’s more conservative, you or Mitt? – I’m running on my 25-year record (which is mostly liberal). I’m prepared because I led the largest squadron in the Navy, and not for profit.

To Mitt – Retort – “I respect McCain and his service.” I fought against Teddy in 1994, and fought against the Taxachusetts ‘Rats. I’m a uniter, not a divider.

Back to McCain – Defend hitting Mitt on his lawyers remark – When it’s time to piss or get off the pit, that’s the wrong time to call in the lawyers.

Back to Mitt – I’m backing off the lawyer comment if it’s an immediate security threat. The question was, ‘What role does Congress have?’ I won’t go off half-cocked, and another smack at Hiliary as Bush did go to Congress.

19:15 – To Paul-nut – Defend your support for gay marriage. – Pulls the TOT/McCain defense. Get gubmint out of marriage because it’s a religious. Trust the courts to read the dictionary and respect the states (have another toke, Paul). DING-DING

To Romney – Why do you support a traditional-only marriage amendment when your main opponents and Paul-nut don’t? – It’s because my state got fucked by those Lawgivers-In-Black. DING-DING

To Rudi – Defend your opposition – We don’t need an amendment until more states go down the Taxachusetts road (if memory serves, New Jersey and Hawaii already have, and Californica is on that road). DING-DING It’s not just a religious institution, it’s a civil institution, Paul-nut you dumbass.

To Huckabee – Can somebody like Rudi personally “oppose” abortion while publicly supporting it? – “I’m not interested in fighting these guys, I’m interested in fighting for the American people.” Most of those who wrote the Declaration of Independence were clergymen, and “I still believe in that” (refering to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness).

To Thompson – Defend your lawer’s defense of abortion – It was just professional, and I forgot about it.

To McCain – Are you mending fences with the evangelicals or are you a maverick – “I don’t change and I haven’t changed.” I won’t pander, and I’m proud to have engaged in reconciliation, even with the Vietnamese. “I believe in reconciliation, and I believe they’re an important part of the party…. I hope the (entire party) will support the nominee of the party.”

To Tancredo – Are the rest of the guys “hyphenated”? – “It’s not a sin to discuss (differences).” Touts his ACU and National Right-to-Life ratings. DING-DING. “Everybody runs to the right in the primary, but moves to the left, and that’s why people are so cynical>”

To Hunter (oh, he’s here) – “You’ve been dividing the party the last 10 minutes, Carl.” Contrasts the Bay of Pigs with El Salvador.

19:27 – Golner up now on health care. To McCain (missed the q) – “It’s an important issue.” If you don’t believe me, go to England. We want to move the tax incentives from the employer to the individual.

19:29 – To Paul-nut – Is charity the way we should provide health care to the poor? – Nobody is happy with HMOs except the HMOs. We need Dhimmitude, not freedom. (can someone please gong Paul-nut out of politics) DING-DING (thank you)

19:31 – E-mail Q from Kendrick from California – Why is CubaCare Taxachusetts good for Taxachusetts but CubaCare not good for the entire country? – “It’s different from HiliaryCare” because the gubmint isn’t running it (what’s the difference if it’s mandatory?)

19:33 – To Hunter – It’s the mandates that makes CubaCare Taxachusetts the equivalent to HiliaryCare.

19:34 – Romney – It’s the Rats’ fault. DING-DING I’m proud.

19:35 – To Huckabee – “We have a health care maze…and crisis.” Channels The Other Thompson and Suzie T (for those out-of-staters tuning in, that is “We’re going to make you healthy whether you want to or not”).

19:36 – To Tancredo – Your entire health care plan is anti-illegal-immigrant. What about the 50 million who don’t have health insurance? (ignoring that many of those 50 million are illegal aliens) – Hammers the original CubaCare and Michael Moore. What’s the Constitutional right of the feds to get involved? (none I can see) If there is any, let’s expand HSAs. DING-DING. Let’s get the feds out.

19:38 – To Thompson – Is No Child Left Behind a mistake? – Some states have taught to the test. “I like testing, but tests have to mean something.” We need to recognize the role of the federal government, currently 8% (Constitutionally, it is 0%). DING-DING. “We need more fathers to stay and raise their kids.”

19:40 – To Rudi – You met your match with the schools. You alienated the teachers, so how are you going to win back public school teachers? – Choice, and to hell with the tradesmen who masquerade as public school teachers. The problem with NCLB is the enforcer; it should be the parents. DING-DING. “It’s (education) the single biggest civil rights issue for the 21st Century”.

19:42 – BREAK!

Thanks for the traffic, ST. Meanwhile, while RedState hasn’t popped up on my feed reader, Team Thompson’s English live-blog has, as well as a corrected link to Matt Lewis’ TownHall live-blog.

19:45 – Chris Wallace asks how are the gang of 8 will beat Hitlery, while pointing out all of them are losing to her in the polls. First on the firing line, Romney, who’s 12 points behind – Is she fit to be CinC? – The Chinese tiger is rising, and somebody who never spent a day in private business isn’t the right person. I’ve done it, she hasn’t run anything, even in gubmint. DING-DING. Another 30 seconds to answer the question? – HELL NO!

19:48 – To Rudi, who’s 4 points behind – Is there any real difference between you and Hitlery? – “Are you kidding?” There’s 2 things we agree on, we’re both Yankees fans, though she discovered them in Chicago, and (missed the other one) caught it thanks to Ian, America can’t afford all her ideas. Takeaway line, which I did catch – “America can’t afford you.” But, but, but you’re down in all the key battleground states. – Well, Ketchup Boy was up in the polls in those same states. DING-DING!

19:50 – To McCain, who’s 3 points behind – Is continuing the Iraq War a winning strategy? – I’d rather lose a campaign than lose a war. I’ll hammer fairly on spending. Brings up the Hitlery/Upchuck Schumer $1 million Woodstock museum. Allahpundit and Ian had better have that monologue , and Ian does. I’ll win because she’s a liberal Democrat, and I’m a reliable conservative.” (well, half is right).

19:53 – To Huckabee – Was it a mistake for the front-runners to skip the minority debates? – Yes. “There’s nothing funny about Hillary Clinton being President.” DING-DING

19:54 – To Thompson, who’s down 12 – “Hillary is a good applause line.” Lists the heap of spending all the ‘Rats would fund on the backs of the rich, who are defined by the ‘Rats as everybody who works. “If we stick to our basic principles, we’ll win in November.” DING-DING.

19:56 – To Paul-nut – Since you and Hiliary are of the same mind on the War, how are you two different? – I’m the one that wants O-W-T OWT!

19:58 – Brit to Thompson – Expound on your touching the third rails of SocSecurity and Medicare. – “We’re bankrupt in the next generation…. It’s unsustainable…. Can you comprehend that not being discussed on the campaign trail?”

20:00 – To Rudi – That will open Thompson up to the “cut” charge. Will you be as bold? – Let’s start with private accounts. Medicare and Medicaid are going belly-up first, so let’s privatize them as well, as well as more people buying their own health insurance so the prices drop. Those not covered are not the poorest because they’re covered by Medicare, they’re buying stuff like TVs and cell phones.

20:02 – To Romney – Same question – Nope. I won’t open myself to the “cut” charge, at least to the poor (keep on redistributing, Bill Jr.). Brit – You saw what happened to the last guy who said he was a uniter, not a divider. – But, but, but I’m DIFFERENT (Bravo Sierra; the national DhimmiRATs will never find common ground with Pubbies.).

20:05 – Same question to Huckabee – Let’s call it personalization because of WorldCom. Points out the actuary tables were set up for people retiring at 65 and dying at 67.

20:06 – Same to Paul – We need to take care of those who are too old to get out, and let those younger out. Deal with the dollar (how do you propose to do that with the $oro$es and Red Chinese of the world manipulating the currency, Paul-nut?). Accept Dhimmitude (stock answer; I’m surprised he didn’t say “gold standard” in there as well).

20:07 – Same to McCain – Convince the populace with charts. It has to be bipartisan (which means it will never get done, as SocSecurity is the original 20th-Century Rat plan to create a one-party system).

20:09 – To the forgotten man, Hunter – Hammer Red China.

20:10 – To the other forgotten man, Tancredo – I agree with everything, especially with structural changes. Killing discretionary spending won’t fix it. There’s a plan to make it worse; give it to illegal aliens, who are also responsible for much of the health care problem.

20:11 – BREAK PART DEUX! I need a refill.

RedState shows up late with an open thread, and Jawa Ragnar joins the live-blogging. Meanwhile, Ian comes through with the three-way catfight over who is more conservative.

20:14 – And we’re back. Campaign Carl to McCain – It looks like the Soviet Union is back, and was Bush naiive dealing with Vladimir Putin – “I saw three letters: K-G-B.” Russia doesn’t have the territory or the capabilities to reignite the Cold War, but he wants to get them back. I don’t give a flying rip if Pootie-Poot doesn’t like US missile defense in Czechoslovakia (er, is it the Czech Republic or Slovakia) or Poland.

20:17 – To Hunter – Putin gave us an opening to put Aegis in the Black Sea (as if that’s going to float). We have to keep missile defense strong.

20:18 – To Rudi – Should we work with Mother Russia on missile defense? – It’s a good time to expand NATO well beyond the North Atlantic (say, don’t we have close working relationships with Japan and Australia?). Ronald Reagan quote time – “The answer is a very strong military no other country would consider challenging.” DING-DING. Increasing military spending would send that message to the Soviet Unio…er, Russia and Red China.

20:20 – To Thompson – Shouldn’t Turkey be allowed to go into Iraq? – Let’s hope it doesn’t go to that. Turkey is a friend who has the right to defend itself, and the PKK is a terror group. We should be able to work it out diplomatically DING-DING, but Plastic Pelosi fucked it up.

20:21 – To Tancredo – No shit she fucked it up to fuck up Iraq. Pelosi is not a good Speaker and a worse SecState.

20:22 – To Huckabee – Let’s arm the friendly Kurds to fight the bad Kurds, and make it clear to the Turks there’s no good to be gained by going in.

20:23 – To Paul – It’s all our fault (BULL FUCKING SHIT, YOU DUMB FUCK! The Kurds and the Turks have been at each others’ throats for centuries. Guess the Paul-nuts are NOT in the audience, as Paul-nut got boos.)

20:24 – To Romney – “We got the peace dividend, but not the peace…. The UN is failing in its mission to protect the world and prevent genocide.” DING-DING We also need a strong economy and a strong education system.

20:25 – Golner trying to invoke Reagan with Paul-nut – Have you left the party or have they? (er, Golner, Paul-nut is a literal definition of a RINO as he’s a Libertarian). – We have lost our way. (Hey dumbfuck, how many attacks on American cities have happened since 9/11/2001, which, BTW, you also blame on us).

20:27 – To Rudy (missed the Q) – “A nuclear-armed Iran is more dangerous.” If Iran and its Soviet partner thought we would use any means necessary to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons, sanctions would probably work. DING-DING. Contrasts Peanut Farmer’s and Reagan’s methods of dealing with Iran.

20:29 – Golner brings up the “lazy” question to Thompson – I’m a country boy who was an assistant US Attorney at 26, went to DC at 30, elected to the Senate twice in a state S(l)ick Willie carried twice, much more I missed. “If I could do all that and be lazy, I’d recommend that to everybody.” Brit ends, but not before Thompson gets in his big and young family.

20:31 – AND WE’RE CLEAR!

Revisions/extensions (10:05 pm 10/21/2007 and prior, and now 6:20 am 10/22/2007) – First, I added links to a few videos over at Ian Schwartz’s place. While I was doing that and bemoaning the fact that I have neither a TV tuner on either computer nor video editing software, Stan at Free Constitution found posted the full five- ten-part YouTube version. Thanks, Ian and Stan.

Update #1 (10:58 am 10/2/2007) – Hillary’s unofficial numbers are in.

Update #2 (2:46 pm 10/3/2007) – So are Ron’s.

Massive revisions/extensions #3 (4:22 pm 10/15/2007) – The numbers are rolling into the FEC, so let’s roll with those.

R&E #4 (6:17 pm 10/15/2007) – Brownback’s, Kucinich’s, and Romney’s numbers are now in to add to Thompsons’ (both Fred and the dearly-departed-from-the-race Tommy), Guiliani’s and Huckabee’s. Guess the rest of the candidates are burning the midnight oil.

Almost the last revision/extension (12:03 am 10/16/2007) – Everybody else is in except Mike Gravel.

R&E #6 (12:34 am 10/16/2007) – Got a couple of the primary/general election splits courtesy Amanda Carpenter.

R/E #7 and 8 (8:32/8:40 am 10/16/2007) – Still no Gravel, but the link to Edwards’ report now goes directly there. Also, McCain fixed a clerical error, so that link goes to the amended report.

I’ve lost count of the revisions and extensions (9:52 am 10/16/2007) – Amanda dug up McCain’s “general-only” numbers, so I’ve updated again.

Last revision/extension unless the campaigns revise their numbers (5:11 pm 10/18/2007) – Gravel’s dog finally coughed up his homework.

When I was out in DC, Kevin told me to watch the burn rates of the various campaigns. With that in mind, the FEC official 3rd-quarter numbers are starting to get posted. Let’s get this party started:

• Fred Thompson, with the caveat that this filing includes most of June and the starting number is zero – $12,612,567.83 net donations from individuals (after a few refunded donations), $105,425.02 from PACs for a total of $12,717,992.85 in donations. Add in $2,436.11 in interest earned, and subtract $5,606,450.56 in net expenses, and the Thompson campaign had $7,121,744.26 cash on hand at the end of September. Even after subtracting $678,432.01 in debts incurred by the campaign, they are $6,443,312.25 in the black. The burn looks good.
• Rudy Giuliani – $11,208,318.11 net donations from individuals, $1,000 from the Saratoga County (NY) Republican Committee, and $44,233.80 net from PACs for a total of $11,253,551.91 in donations. Add in $18,326,220.29 in cash on hand on July 1 and $137,265.24 in interest, and then subtract $13,066,846.79 in net expenses and a $365.00 donation to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and the Giuliani campaign had $16,649,825.65 left on hand at the end of September, with $11.6 million available now. Toss in $169,255.74 in debts owed, and they’re $16,480,569.91 in the black. While the burn rate is above 100%, it’s sustainable through the primaries.
• Mike Huckabee, who will be taking federal matching funds siphoning off tax dollars once they are released – $1,021,905.35 net donations from individuals, $9,773.74 from PACs for a total of $1,031,679.09. Add in $436,190.66 cash on hand as of July 1 and $1,645.81 in interest, and subtract $818,214.88 in net expenses, and the Huckabee campaign had $651,300.68 cash on hand as of the end of September. Toss in $47,810.16 in debt, and they’re $603,490.52 in the black. Upon financial review, he’s an even darker horse than the polls suggest.
• Sam Brownback, who will also be taking tax dollars – $808,485.86 in donations from individuals (no refunds), and $8,800.00 from PACs for a total of $817,285.86 in donations. Add in $447,764.39 in cash on hand as of July 1 and $930.48 in interest, and subtract $1,158,943.15 in net expenses (including an unexplained $10.00 “other disbursement”), and the Brownback campaign had $94,653.58 cash on hand at the end of September. Fortunately, they have no debts, though unless that federal cash comes in forthwith, they’ll be in the red in a hurry.
• Dennis Kucinich – $992,890.82 in net donations from individuals (including a $10.00 refund that appears to be mislabeled as one to a political party committee), $7,750 from PACs, and $10,321.70 from his own pocket for a total of $1,010,962.52 in donations. Add to that $204,171.65 cash on hand as of July 1 and $23.84 in interest (boy, he must have bad banks), and subtract $888,063.99 in net expenses, and the Kucinich campaign had $327,094.02 cash on hand at the end of September. Most unusual for a ‘Rat, the campaign neither has debts nor appears to be planning on feeding at the taxpayer trough for campaign funds.
• Mitt Romney – $9,459,868.83 net donations from individuals and $73,400 in net donations from PACs for a total of $9,533,268.83 in donations. Add in $8,500,000 in a loan from himself, $12,121,553.85 cash on hand as of July 1, and $76,391.85 in interest, and subtract $21,014,597.17 in net expenses and a $100.00 donation to the Republican Party of Florida, and the Romney campaign had $9,216,517.36 cash on hand as of the end of September. Throw in $17,350,000.00 the campaign owes Romney and they’re in the red. Worse, they’re burning through the cash they do have at an over-100% rate.
• Christopher Dodd – $1,361,888.01 net donations from individuals and $105,205 from PACs for a total of $1,467,093.01 in donations. Add in $6,378,270.69 cash on hand on July 1 and $30,691.80 in interest, and subtract $4,001,181.36 in net expenses, and the Dodd campaign had $3,874,874.14 cash on hand at the end of September. The good news for them is they are debt-free; the bad is if 3rd-quarter fundraising and spending trends continue and they don’t make a late call for the taxpayer trough, they will be out of cash right about the Iowa caucuses.
• Hillary Clinton – $25,870,541.05 net donations from individuals (of note, the campaign refunded $1,235,369.12 this past quarter, an amount that Flip terms “large, but lacking”) and $212,805.92 net from PACs for $26,083,346.97 in donations. Add $45,226,832.29 cash on hand July 1 and $425,325.51 in interest, and subtract $21,235,066.67 in net expenses (including a $250.00 item in the “other” category), $13,425.00 in donations to various causes – African American Museum of Iowa, Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Manchester, NH, Belknap County (New Hampshire) Democratic Committee, Cerro Gordo County (Iowa) Democrats, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Democratic Party of Oregon, Elko County (Nevada) Democratic Party, Gopher Hill Festival Society in Ridgeland, South Carolina, Hampton (New Hampshire) Democratic Committee, Jefferson County (Alabama) Democratic Executive Committee, Kent County (Michigan) Democratic Party, New Jersey Democratic State Committee and Tom Harkin for Senate), and $23,000 in “disgorgements” to the US Treasury, and the Clinton campaign had $50,463,013.10 cash on hand at the end of September (I don’t believe that includes any funds specifically for the general election). That amount includes $15 million not available until the general election. After taking into account debt both owed by and to the committee (the latter is $499.28 owed by Neal Hamberg for “press reimbursement”), they’re $48,116,026.13 in the black. And the Dhimms along with their presstitute echo chamber continue to bray that the GOP is the party of the “rich”.
• Duncan Hunter, who will also be dipping into the taxpayer trough – $486,336.98 in net donations, all from individuals. Add to that $214,501.89 cash on hand on July 1 and a $50,000.00 loan from himself (that’s right, no interest earned on the bank accounts this past quarter), and subtract $616,097.25 in expenses and a $2,000.00 donation to Sydney Hay for Congress, and the Hunter campaign had $132,741.62 cash on hand at the end of September. Even without that $50,000.00 loan, they’re in serious financial trouble, at least until the fed funds kick in.
• John McCain, who may or may not be dipping into the trough but whose campaign finances almost make Hiliary’s easy to follow – $5,412,958.82 net donations from individuals, $2,500 from a trio of Michigan “party committees” (Cox 5200 Club, Kevin Green for the State House and Nick Smith for Better Government), and $51,445.00 net from other PACs for a total of $5,466,903.82 in donations. Add in $3,224,427.60 cash on hand on July 1 and $12,395.71 in interest, and subtract $5,262,984.06 in net expenses (I think; the summary is quite muddled), and the McCain campaign had $3,488,627.91 cash on hand at the end of September, with only about $1.7 million available now. Toss in $1,730,690.84 in debt, and they’re $1,757,937.07 in the black. The problems continue for the McCain campaign.
• Ron Paul – $5,197,492.87 in net donations from individuals and $6,725.00 from PACs for a total of $5,204,217.87 in donations. Add $2,354,855.32 cash on hand on July 1 and $24,532.76 in interest, and subtract $2,139,938.90 in net expenses, and the Paul campaign had $5,443,667.05 cash on hand at the end of September. The campaign is in good shape as they’re debt-free, and they do not appear to be dipping into the trough.
• Joe Biden – $1,688,081.24 net donations from individuals and $36,275.00 from PACs for a total of $1,724,356.24 in donations. Add in $2,764,841.51 cash on hand on July 1 and $50.00 in interest, and subtract $2,601,907.79 in net expenses in the third quarter, and the Biden campaign had $1,886,339.96 cash on hand at the end of September. Toss in $128,210.45 in debt, and they’re $1,758,129.51 in the black. They might make it to Iowa before bleeding red.
• Bill Richardson – $5,158,291.96 in net individual donations and $71,675.00 from PACs for a total of $5,229,966.96 in donations. Add in $7,129,684.07 cash on hand on July 1 and $23,205.95 in interest, and subtract $6,561,269.16 in expenses, and the Richardson campaign had $5,821,587.82 cash on hand at the end of September. Toss in $75,222.37 in debt, and they’re $5,746,365.45 in the black. Unfortunately for them, they’re in the party of the “poor”.
• John Edwards – $6,987,595.79 in net donations, all from individuals. Add in $13,511,753.60 cash on hand on July 1 and $36,778.83 in interest, and subtract $8,138,811.95 in net expenses and $267.84 in “press travel reimbursement” to two individuals from DC, and the Edwards campaign had $12,397,048.43 cash on hand at the end of September. If Edwards were a Pubbie, he would be #2 in the pack, especially since there are no debts; instead, he’s a distant third in the ‘Rat money race.
• Barack Obama, whose filing makes McCain’s look comprehensible – $20,419,120.24 net donations from individuals, $75.00 in net political PAC contributions which appear to be on the wrong line ($100 from Committee to elect Helen Miller HD 49 in Iowa and $25 refund to Recorder of Deeds Campaign Committee in Rock Island, Illinois appear on line 29), and a net $1,100.00 refund to other PACs (including a “misplaced” one to Bear Necessities for $1,000, which appears on line 29) for a total of $20,418,095.24 in donations. Add in $36,263,688.38 cash on hand on July 1 and $379,529.01 in interest, and subtract $20,973,426.83 in net expenses and $695.00 in “miscellaneous” expenses (to Bethany Life Commities in Iowa, Woman’s Equality Day in Iowa and Braian Vanriper in Iowa for “charitable contributions”, the Minnesota DFL Party for “event site rental”, and $20.00 unspecified), and the Obama campaign had $36,087,190.80 cash on hand at the end of September, with about $32 million of that available now. Throw in $1,409,739.64 in debt, and they’re still $34,677,451.16 in the black. While the burn is over 100%, they’re in great shape financially, at least if Hillary inexplicably drops out.
• Tom Tancredo, who is not only going to be dipping into the trough, but was late according to the FEC – $746,913.87 net donations from donors, $500.00 from PACs, and $125.00 out of his own pocket for a total of $747,538.87 in donations. Add in $552,510.31 cash on hand on July 1 and $30.39 in interest, and subtract $1,190,000.20 in net expenses, and the Tancredo campaign had $110,079.37 cash on hand at the end of September. Throw in $295,603.04 in debt, and they’re $185,523.67 in the red. Colorado, we have a problem.
• Mike Gravel, who missed the filing deadline for the second straight quarter (the July quarterly, which was amended twice, didn’t show up until July 16th), this time by two days, and looks to be the only Dem to dip into the taxpayer trough – $130,597.94 in donations (all from individuals). Add to that $31,153.45 cash on hand on July 1, and subtract $138,324.84 in expenses and a $5,900 repayment of loans to himself, and the Gravel campaign had $17,526.55 cash on hand at the end of September. Throw in $9,375.98 in “owed” donations from 4 sources, and take out a total of $85,853.05 in debt (including $51,715.73 owed to himself), and they’re seriously in the red.

As an aside, The Other Thompson is still looking for something north of $200,000 so he can pay off his debts and officially close his campaign.