Republican Debate In New Hampshire: Worst Ever

If you can get a message to Ben Sherwood at ABC News, please tell him thanks for shutting this down earlier than anticipated. In case you didn't know, BREAKING: Republican candidates for president are generically opposed to gay marriage and abortion. The debate did not "pivot to jobs" until its last third, and it ended with a CNN-type goofball question, essentially, "What would you rather be doing tonight?"

Answers were varied. Newt would be watching "college championship basketball game." Someone corrected him and said there was football on tonight. (There is, but there's also college basketball happening.) RomneySantorum said he'd be "watching the championship game." (There is no championship game on tonight.) Ron Paul said he'd rather be reading an economic textbook. I would rather be liveblogging the experience of watching Ron Paul read that textbook. (Maybe I'd catch him publishing a newsletter!)

I came into tonight wondering how tomorrow morning's debate moderators at NBC News would manage with the task of having to stage a debate mere hours after a competitor's. But it's not going to be a problem at all! NBC News can ask questions all day long about economic issues without having to worry about getting repeats of answers from tonight.

"We are so grateful for the debate tonight," Diane Sawyer said. Who is the "we"?

(Oh yeah, and no one laid a glove on Mitt Romney, in case you're wondering. He spent most of the debate relaxing. The whole notion that Romney's competitors are going to come out, guns blazing, and take him down and/or out is the most hotly-anticipated-yet-never-occurring event in American politics right now.)

PREVIOUSLY, on WORST DEBATES EVER:
Also ABC News!: Worst. Debate. Ever.
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Comments

[vidian6]

04:38 PM on 01/10/2012

Even when they try catering to what they think the crowd wants to hear, they don't even do a good job of lying about it. Newt doesn't watch basketball at all, otherwise he would know that it's called "March Madness" for a reason. And "Rick Macho Man Santorum", seems not to know when the College Championship Game was played, which all the most important games have long since been played. If you going to pretend, at least have some knowledge of what your talking about. But then again, these are Republicans.

[dakotanprudle]

01:39 PM on 01/10/2012

With this group of candidates, it's hard for me to narrow down which one is deserving of my dumb dumb award!

[madgrrl]

11:21 PM on 01/09/2012

I laughed out loud when Huntsman started to speak in Chinese. Doesn't he know that Republicans HATE intellectuals?There are not Rockefeller Republicans left! They are called liberal! Perhaps he thought he could impress independents but he won't get nominated with all that Chinese talk. FAIL!

[jeffie 3]

04:33 PM on 01/09/2012

These republican debate turn into who can h@te the most. They h@te women, gays, blacks, Hispanics, people who can think for themselves, and last but not least immigrants. Opps I almost forgot. Anyone who doesn't love Jesus. I'm glad I'm not that miserable.

[Petey131]

06:50 PM on 01/09/2012

F/F

[vidian6]

04:43 PM on 01/10/2012

You forgot anyone on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, Unemployment, or needs an education. Hope I didn't forget anyone.

[commonsense76]

05:02 PM on 01/10/2012

Forgot to mention the President. He's on the top of their list.

[munki]

04:03 PM on 01/09/2012

“Not surprised at all. Huntsman is perhaps the only one made real sense... I listened to all...
He is perhaps the only one with multifacet­ed, America first message...

Poll is too early, Newt to Mitt... Still may change. No wonder Obama picked Huntsman as Ambassador to China... Articulate and understand­s the "stems" of the mess we are in...

Simply... Impressed. The only one made sense last night... I lived in 4 continents­...
In N America, primarily the Westcoast.­..”

[madgrrl]

11:23 PM on 01/09/2012

yes but he is going for the REPUBLICAN nomination. They won't choose him.

[munki]

11:25 PM on 01/09/2012

Hmmm... Two major parties... unlike in Japan... I believe they have 6 or 7 parties???
Total chaos...

[commonsense76]

05:03 PM on 01/10/2012

Yeah, not nearly nuts enough.

[byte000me]

03:29 PM on 01/09/2012

none of the candidates have anything to give to the American people. Thier so called problem solving is for them. make cuts to hurt people especially the elderly the poor ,disabled and vets! let the rich remain rich don't tax them because there goes all thier money to sling mud!! Let people lose thier homes and be on the streets including children, let them do without food, it doesn't concern them they get thier money and rich supporters. This whole republican campaign is nothing but let's do the opposite of Obama but we don't know what that means other than losing our social security and medicare, food for the poor. let them die off then there will be even more money for the government to spend!!! Lets see an itemized list of spendings of every cent!! Nope that won't happen they don't want the American people to know anything, they work for us!!! Not the other way around!!

[Karma2U]

03:26 PM on 01/09/2012

It's early yet.

[mikiao]

02:52 PM on 01/09/2012

Watching the same people "debate" about the same stuff over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

Of course the debate was bad...it's not like they're going to say anything new. All of a sudden, Gingrich isn't going to come out in support of gay marriage, Paul isn't going to say we need to invade Iran, Perry wont say he's for government spending, and Romney wont be turning Catholic. (Sorry Huntsman...don't know much about you).

A more interesting and thought provoking debate would be to get some swine, 1 per candidate, and watch them eat garbage in the mud.

[madgrrl]

11:25 PM on 01/09/2012

recap - lets all get in a time capsule back to the 1950's....

[WHEELS221]

02:39 PM on 01/09/2012

Mitt is a career political CANDIDATE. Let's buy him a wheel chair so when he's running again when he's 100 he'll have a place to sit

[ZeraLee]

02:09 PM on 01/09/2012

I'm still trying to work my way through the debate. I can only watch a few minutes of it before I get sick. The lies and the arrogance make me want to B-slap them back to reality.

At the moment, I am stuck at the point where Gingrich repeatedly spews the word "bigot" in defense of state-sponsored prejudice. I guess it's not really bigotry if it's *his* kind of bigotry.

[wgs37]

01:22 PM on 01/09/2012

the term "Christian Conservative" is a oximoron. One can be a Christian and one can be a Conservative. However, It is impossible to be both at the same time since the meaning
and action of each word is directl;y opposite. The word Christian means one who choose
to follow Christ and to follow Christ one must be ready to account for their actions according to St Matthew 25: 42-46. A Christian answer would be, "I did Lord", whereas, a conservative's would be, "I was busy saving for tomorrow, making sure that I had enough for me, my children and
my grand children. Christ emphasis in teaching Christians how to pray was, "give us this day our daily bread" (St Matthew 6: 11). Christian faith is based on St Matthew 6: 25--29, knowing that I
care for the birds in the air and the lillies in the field can I not do much more for you?
Conservatives operate in fear, worrying about what tomorrow will bring whereas, christians operate
in faith knowing that it is Christ that brings tomorrow. This we know for sure, The Lord loves the Conservatives and the fact that they have been mislead and operating with a twisted faith (St Matthew 6: 30). The Lord is standing with outstretched arms giving the conservatives a chance
to repent and come to him.

[madgrrl]

11:26 PM on 01/09/2012

love it!

[PublicCitizen21044]

01:16 PM on 01/09/2012

I don't know about the no guns blazing because Perry is in SC talking Mitt is a job killer rhetoric that is sure to grab attention if it is true as Perry is naming companies in SC that have workers who have been victimized by Mitt's Bain days takeover manuvers. Ouch if it is true.

[Ohioliberal]

12:31 PM on 01/09/2012

Talk about empty calories - what a waste ABC's debate

[FreeThinker in AZ]

12:05 PM on 01/09/2012

Romney is the epitome of the 1% ....and can't tell the truth ...Obama will call him out on a lot of things in the real debates to come...

[Agy Wilson]

01:10 PM on 01/09/2012

He'd better be. I thought he'd call the Republicans and Tea Total-ers out a whole lot more often then he did.

[FreeThinker in AZ]

11:48 AM on 01/09/2012

Keep on lying Romney ...but look at whats coming ...Obama will call you out!!! Romney is the epitome of the 1%