All seven remaining Republican candidates for president appeared together in Iowa for the FOX News Iowa Debate, from Sioux City, Iowa tonight.
The debate featured U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, of Minnesota; former House speaker Newt Gingrich; former ambassador and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman; U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, of Texas; Texas Gov. Rick Perry; former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney; and former Sen. Rick Santorum, of Pennsylvania.
On Electability
9:02 p.m. - Gingrich says he is similar to Ronald Reagan, and challenges President Obama in seven, three-hour Lincoln-Douglas debates. "I balanced the budget for four straight years--pretty conservative," he said. "First tax cut in 16 years...pretty conservative."
9:06 p.m. - "Fortunately, for the Republican Party, anybody up here could probably beat Obama," Congressman Paul said. "I think the question is, what do we have to offer? I think the important thing is the philosophy I talk about, the Constitution... I see this philosophy as being very electable. It opens up the door for supporting my willingness to cut $1 trillion from the budget my first year."
9:07 p.m. - Santorum says despite being low in poll numbers, he is waiting for Iowans to "catch fire" for him by visiting all 99 counties in the state.
9:09 p.m. - "The American people care very deeply about having a president who can get things right again," Romney said. "I spent my life in the private sector... I can debate President Obama on that understanding."
9:10 p.m. - Bachmann said she's won election four times in a very liberal state, "because people wanted to know who they could trust. They respected that level out authenticity..."
9:12 p.m. - "I am getting where I kind of like these debates," Perry said, "I'll talk about what we've done in the state of Texas... I'll talk about having the type of part-time Congress I think Americans are ready for." Went on to compare himself to Tim Tebow, hoping he is the "Tim Tebow of the Iowa Caucuses."
9:13 p.m. - "I'm not going to contort myself into a pretzel, I'm not going to sign silly pledges," Huntsman said. "We have an economic deficit, and it's going to shipwreck the next generation unless we deal with it, and we have a trust deficit."
On D.C. Culture
9:26 p.m. - "I think the president...is going to go after me saying in businesses I invested in, some failed," Romney said. "In the real world the president hasn't lived in, not every entrepreneur succeeds. In the real world, some things don't make it. I believe I've learned from my mistakes." Romney went on to mention Obama had to close factories when the government took over General Motors.
9:29 p.m. - Ron Paul on Newt Gingrich: "We have a different idea of what private enterprise is."
9:31 p.m. - "We know he cashed paychecks from Freddie Mac, over $1.6 million," Bachmann said. "I am shocked listening to the former speaker of the House defend Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae," defending them. Bachmann says our nominee should be willing to shut programs like these down.
9:34 p.m. - "I only chose to work with people whose values I shared," Gingrich said, continuing that he agreed homeownership was important for Americans.
9:38 p.m. - Paul on Earmarks: "If the government takes money from you...we have every right to apply for them to come back [to our district.] The Congress has an obligation to earmark every penny. When you don't vote for the earmarks, the money goes into the slush fund and the executive branch uses it." Congressman Paul also says he has never voted for an earmark. "I would be a different kind of president--I wouldn't be looking for more power."
9:40 p.m. - "The issue we ought to be talking about is how you overhaul Washington D.C.," Perry said. "I call for a part-time Congress, cut their pay in half, cut their time in Washington in half. We do that and you pass a balanced budget amendment." Perry says Congress should work 140 days every two years, as done with the Texas Legislature.
9:43 p.m. - Huntsman says diplomacy is necessary in the United States-China relationship to build shared values. "As president of the United States, I would drive that home and make it a relationship that would work."
9:44 p.m. - Santorum, on Tax Holidays: "If money has been made overseas, it can come back at a 5.5 percent rate... we need to cut the corporate tax. Why? There is a 20 percent tax deferential between us and [other nations]."
9:47 p.m. - Romney says manufacturing, high-tech and energy jobs will increase over the next 10 years. "This is going to be an American century," he said.
The Judiciary
9:48 p.m. - Gingrich, on subpoenaing judges: "We do not have a judicial dictatorship in this country," he said. "Jefferson himself was asked, 'Is the Supreme Court Supreme?' and he said it would be absurd, that would be an oligarchy."
9:50 p.m. - Bachmann, on if the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals should be abolished: "Are the courts following the Constitution or are they following the Constitution? I would agree with Newt Gingrich that the Congress and the President have failed to take their authority. The intention of the founding fathers was for the courts to be the least powerful branch."
9:52 p.m. - "The proper procedure is impeachment, but to subpoena judges before Congress, I really question that," Paul said. "If you just say, well, there are 10 courts, let's get rid of three, I think it opens a can of worms and could lead to trouble. But to subpoena judges, that's not very constitutional."
9:54 p.m. - "As many as half of the justices in our courts will be appointed by the next president," Romney said. "The only people with less credibility than some of these judges is Congress...they shouldn't be overseeing this process."
9:55 p.m. - Santorum said he is the only one who has actually changed the courts, fighting in Iowa.
9:56 p.m. - Lifetime terms for judges should be changed, Perry said.
9:56 p.m. - "They are all good and all bad," Paul said, on favorite Supreme Court justices.
Foreign Policy
10:02 p.m. - "For you to say there is scientific evidence that maybe in a year, Iran would have a weapon, the U.N. says...it isn't going to happen," Paul said. "I would say the greatest danger is overreacting. There is no evidence they have them. We should not sit and think we need to jump the gun...we don't need another war."
10:06 p.m. - Santorum: "The IEDs which have killed so many soldiers, they came from Iran...they are a radical theocracy." Challenged Congressman Paul that the objective of Iran is to create calamity and to take on the west. "They hate us because of who we are."
10:08 p.m. - "A strong America is the best ally peace has ever known," Romney said. "We had a spy drone go down in Iran, and this president says, 'Pretty please'? Thinking some how we appease...the tyrants of the world, he's wrong. We need to rebuild our Navy, and go from 9 ships to 15...a strong military does not create war."
10:10 p.m. - Bachmann, on end of Iraq War: "Clearly, the biggest mistake President Obama has made is the decision he made on the Iraq. He is choosing, intentionally, to lose the peace." She then went on to say, "With all due respect to Ron Paul, I don't think I've heard a more dangerous foreign policy than what we just heard."
10:12 p.m. - "Obviously, I would like to see a lot less nuclear weapons, but to declare war on 1.2 billion Muslims and to say all Muslims are the same is dangerous," Paul said. "That is absurd. They come here and they want to do us harm because we're bombing them. Why were we flying the drone over Iran? Why do we have to have 900 bases in 130 countries? I think this wild goal to have another war in the name of defense is the dangerous thing, the danger is us over-reacting."
10:13 p.m. - "The problem would be the greatest underreaction in history," Bachmann said. "...Iran is within months of getting a weapon..."
10:14 p.m. - "There is no evidence," Paul shot back. "If she thinks we live in a dangerous world...she better think about Cuba. You are trying to dramatize this...you cannot solve these problems with war!"
10:15 p.m. - Gingrich, on the United Nations: "You think if we had 11 missiles fired at the U.S., this president would just say, 'Gee, maybe we could talk to them.' As Congresswoman Bachmann pointed out, she was over there and found textbooks...which promoted terrorism...we ought to radically fix or cut what we're paying."
10:16 p.m. - Huntsman said he hates the anti-Americanism and anti-semitism in the U.N. "We need a foreign policy which recognizes our need to strength the core at home. Our country is weak, our economy" is terrible. "Second of all, I want a foreign policy driven by economics first."
10:18 p.m. - Perry: "I have already called for a no-fly zone over Syria. They are Iran's partner, they are attached at the hip. We need to stand firm with our ally, Israel, in the region, and this president has bungled our response. This is the most muddled form of foreign policy I have ever seen."
Energy Issues
10:23 p.m. - "I want to get rid of the heroin-like addiction on important oil," Huntsman said. "In order to get where we need to be, we need a better relationship with Canada...it is completely within our grasp."
10:24 p.m. - Bachmann, on BP shutdown: "What we needed to do was find out the true cause of the problem," and the president put his re-election ahead of this issue. "We would have put Keystone on line immediately [if I was president]."
10:26 p.m. - Perry, on a 2003 bill which favored oil industry: "Today is the 220th anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights, and one of those, the 10th Amendment, I like a lot. It should be in the purview and decision making process of a state to make tax policies which make them competitive."
The Border and Immigration
10:32 p.m. - Perry, on calls for Attorney General Holder's resignation over 'Fast and Furious': "If I am president of the United States, and I find out there is an operation like 'Fast and Furious' and my attorney general didn't know about it, I'd have him resign immediately," he said. "We had the president come to Texas and say our border with Mexico is safer than it has ever been. I have dealt with this issue for 11 years... it is not safe there, our country is at jeopardy. If we are going to protect our country [from terrorists]...it is time for this country to have a conversation about having a new Monroe Doctrine."
10:34 p.m. - "This president has ignored this threat," Santorum said.
10:35 p.m. - Romney, on immigrants needing to leave country before becoming legal: "We are going to have an identification, with bio-information on it, and when they show that card, the employers will have to determine if the card is valid or not. We need to tell them they aren't going to be able to work here or live here...[unless they] get in the back of line" of those who tried to come here legally.
10:37 p.m. - Gingrich says he has disagreed some with Romney, and that some exceptions should be necessary, such as persons here illegally 25 years or longer.
10:38 p.m. - Huntsman says the Republican candidate must speak to Hispanics about their values, not pander. "The number [of illegal immigrants coming to America] is the lowest in four decades," he said.
Abortion, Gay Rights, Guns
10:40 p.m. - "I am firmly in support of people not being discriminated against because of their sexuality," Romney said, adding he believes marriage is between one man and one woman. Romney also said he has changed his past position on abortion. "I am firmly pro-life."
10:43 p.m. - Santorum, on Gov. Romney's change of heart: "Gov. Romney was faced with a Supreme Court decision which said traditional marriage was unconstitutional. In the Massachusetts constitution, it says only the governor and legislature can change the law." Romney ordered the courts to offer marriage certificates, Santorum said, and that he wouldn't have.
10:45 p.m. - Romney says he led an effort to overturn the court's decision. "I fought it every way I could, fighting for a federal amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. That has always been my position."
10:46 p.m. - Bachmann, on Gingrich's position on when life begins: "When Speaker Gingrich was in the House, he had a choice to defund Planned Parenthood, and he wouldn't take it... he would campaign for Republicans for partial birth abortion. This is something we can't get wrong."
10:48 p.m. - "I think my position on life has been very clear, and very consistent," Gingrich said.
10:48 p.m. - "I think it is outrageous to say in every debate I don't have my facts right," Bachmann said, "because I do. What virtue is there in tolerating infanticide?"
10:49 p.m - "What I said was I wasn't going to purge Republicans," Gingrich said. "I have consistently been against partial-birth abortion."
On Talking Against Republicans
10:50 p.m. - Santorum says we have a need to vet the Republican nominee, because "let me assure you, the other side is going to kick very hard..."
10:51 p.m. - Perry: "If you don't get your tail kicked every now and then, it means you aren't playing at a high enough level."
10:51 p.m. - "We can handle it," Romney said. "It's President Obama we need to be talking about. He is not the right person to lead this country."
10:52 p.m. - Gingrich said he's talked about big solutions and consistently said all these candidates are his friends. "Our only opponent is Barack Obama, and beating him is collectively what we need to do."
10:52 p.m. - Paul: "I don't like the demagouging and taking things out of context."
--Brandon De Hoyos, Guide to IM
Comments