Hello, and welcome to sunny Tampa, and the much-heralded CNN/YouTube debate, where the GOP candidates will laugh and sing with snowmen, fuzzy animated characters, and gay people wanting to know what they'll do as President to protect their rights. Okay, maybe Okay, maybe not so many of those! In between, we'll see fisticuffs between Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, position-entrenching by new up-and-comer Mike Huckabee, straight-talkin' by John McCain, DA-like dignity from Fox-hating Fred Thompson,and the wild applause of Ron Paul Nation — because honestly, people, it's Ron Paul's Internet, we're just blogging on it. Oh yeah, somewhere in there remains Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo. One of them can get the snowman question. In the meantime, Anderson Cooper and his fetching pout will guide us all through this uncharted new digital-debate universe, as millions look on, CNN fervently hopes. Join us now as we liveblog every last America-loving second, because we are today's HuffPo Debate Liveblog Team: HuffPo mainstay Glynnis MacNicol, communications analyst John Neffinger, viral video pioneer Phil de Vellis, plus your trusty HuffPo media team of Jason Linkins and your moderator, Rachel Sklar (me!). Together, we'll bring you all the glories that are even now unfurling on a stage somewhere in Florida, that state where nothing weird happens, ever. Come one come all! Sorry, we stole that one from the Republicans - it's their immigration slogan. Here we go!
Jason (8:17:25 PM): Michael from NJ. Will you pledge tonight to veto amnesty?
Phil (8:17:42 PM): He obviously shot it in the dungeon where he keeps all the illegals he captures
Jason (8:17:48 PM): I know!
Jason (8:19:28 PM): Oooh. Dig at Rudy?
Jason (8:19:44 PM): People we've hired that turned out to be a bad decision?
Phil (8:20:41 PM): No love for McCain
Jason (8:20:47 PM): Uh-oh. Sad McCain.
Phil (8:21:09 PM): Name checks local politician -- check
John (8:21:29 PM): This is the first angry frown we have seen out of Mitt Romney as well. He is standing very strong here, looking righteous, and Rudy hesitated... until Romney backs off and puts on his usual big, jocular grin to shrug it off. This turns into a draw, but the booing Rudy gets at the end suggests Romney has scored here.
Jason (8:34:12 PM): QUESTION: Sarah from Scottdale, PA:What measures will you take to tackle the national debt and control spending?
John (8:34:33 PM): Two questions in a row not about illegal immigrants (so far).
Phil (8:34:46 PM): Another boring YouTube vid. The questions are valid, but the use of YouTube is incidental.
John (8:34:58 PM): I dunno man, she was kinda cute.
John (8:35:27 PM): Sorry, Glynn! Owch!
Rachel (8:35:38 PM): Ahem! I'm here too. AND I'M EDITING. So watch it.
Glynnis (8:35:49 PM): McCain is dragging out the GOP spending skeletons. Something about Wyoming, bears and paternity. I'm sure there's a punchline here somewhere...Jason?
Jason (8:35:54 PM): But will McCain waterboard spending? Will he send spending to Syrian prisons?
Phil (8:36:58 PM): Does anyone think the Republicans have any credibility on fiscal responsibility?
Rachel (8:37:04 PM): Republicans do!
Glynnis (8:37:10 PM): Giuliani says the GOP needs to be like Reagan (do we still get to drink on this?) and cut across the board.
Jason (8:46:02 PM): QUESTION: Ted Faturos. Who will eliminate farm subsidies?
Glynnis (8:46:39 PM): Romney believe in corn...in all its forms. Rachel (8:46:42 PM): This video is CORNY! (Sorry.)
Phil (8:46:59 PM): Question: Should Chia pet farmers receive agriculture subsidies?
Glynnis (8:47:35 PM): Romney needs to stop appearing so amused by everything.
Phil (8:48:56 PM): Oh, great the candidate videos
Glynnis (8:49:21 PM): Anderson wants to know whether the story Politco broke about his spending is true. Giuliani says NO! It was all valid...the mob was after him.
John (8:49:29 PM): No one has been looking especially leaderly in their demeanor yet this evening. Rudy and Huckabee are a little subdued, Fred is still laconic, McCain looks beaten down.
Rachel (8:49:37 PM): When Fred Thompson is not on screen, I forget about him utterly. I see this as being about Rudy/Romney, Huckabee, McCain, and Ron Paul. Not necessarily in that order.
Phil (8:49:50 PM): The Tancredo video was terrible.
Rachel (8:49:51 PM): Terrible! He can't even speak! I swear I'm not sure that he is, in fact, speaking English.
Jason (8:49:53 PM): Wow! Tancredo's video includes scenes of him stammering!
Rachel (8:49:56 PM): Wow, he STAMMERS ON THE WORD "IMMIGRANT." It's his SIGNATURE ISSUE. In a video that he had the capacity to EDIT.
Phil (8:50:08 PM): He took on Geraldo which somehow qualifies him to take on Hillary?
Glynnis (8:50:18 PM): Tancredo's mom must be in the audience because his video got exactly one clap.
John (8:50:32 PM): You really like his tie?
Jason (8:50:37 PM): QUESTION: Leanne from Pittsburgh. My home is covered in lead! What will you do about China and the lead?
Jason (8:51:20 PM): China is cheating on trade!
Phil (8:51:59 PM): AWESOME
Phil (8:52:08 PM): The Thompson video is negative
Phil (8:52:26 PM): The video is brutal. Shows a fat Huckabee
Jason (8:52:27 PM): Yeah. And he was too lazy to even show up for it.
Glynnis (8:52:48 PM): Thompson is reaching back for footage! Everyone has a lot of hair!
John (8:53:01 PM): Anderson Cooper kicks it to Fred: What's up with that?
Rachel (8:53:05 PM): Fred kicks it back: What do you mean, what's up with that? Anderson seems chastened.
Phil (8:53:14 PM): Thompson has a good comeback when confronted about posting a negative video on his opponents — "I wanted to give my buddies some extra air time."
Rachel (8:53:15 PM): Thompson going negative so early - not a message of hope and leadership. Especially for a campaign that has been lacking that thus far. This doesn't help him.
Glynnis (8:53:16 PM): So far the candidates videos are trumping the submitted ones.
Phil (8:53:26 PM): Isn't hard to trump the submitted ones.
Glynnis (8:53:35 PM): Romney: "On abortion, I was wrong."
Jason (8:54:02 PM): "It never occurred to me what LIFE meant until I sat down and REALLY thought about it."
Rachel (8:54:15 PM): Mistakes happen, people, Romney has repented. The important thing is, he hates abortion. And isn't that really what it's all about?
Glynnis (8:54:19 PM): Romney is done apologizing to people for being pro-life.
John (8:54:28 PM): Romney takes his lumps. He does not look strong doing it, but he is very straight about this.
Jason (9:12:15 PM): Question: AJ from Millstone. If Roe v. Wade was overturned, would you sign an abortion ban?
Rachel (9:12:27 PM): ...to continue the theme...
Jason (9:12:34 PM): Rudy: No.Trust in federalism.
John (9:12:41 PM): And he gets some applause.
Jason (9:13:02 PM): We'd have to rebuild the Underground Railroad to get women out of SD and Alabama.
John (9:13:15 PM): Again, Rudy is sounding smart enough, but treading lightly in his delivery, not looking strong here.
Glynnis (9:13:16 PM): Rudy says it's a state decision. Trying to keep some independents here?
Jason (9:16:27 PM): QUESTION: Joseph from Dallas. Do you believe every word of the King James Bible?
Glynnis (9:16:38 PM): EVERY SINGLE WORD.
Jason (9:16:47 PM): Obviously intended as a gotcha for Romney.
Glynnis (9:17:00 PM): Huckabee wants to know if Giuliani needs help on this one!
Jason (9:17:21 PM): Personally, I don't know if everyone who's said to have begat someone else actually did so.
Glynnis (9:17:22 PM): And watch Giuliani dance!
Jason (9:17:25 PM): Trust but verify.
Rachel (9:17:29 PM): I love the Bible! The Bible's awesome! It's the Biblest!
John (9:17:35 PM): Rudy should shut up now.
Jason (9:17:48 PM): Giuliani's just glad Judith Regan didn't publish it.
Glynnis (9:17:50 PM): Giuliani believes strongly in...allegory.
Jason (9:18:07 PM): Oh, Mitt.
John (9:18:13 PM): Mitt: And if you liked "The Holy Bible," you'll love "The Book of Mormon"!
Jason (9:19:18 PM): Huckabee is crushing this question. Wow.
Rachel (9:19:22 PM): He is dropping scripture like a vandal, yo! And smacking down the questioner &mdash "Are we really going to pluck our eye out? Of course not, obvs!"
Glynnis (9:19:26 PM): Huckabee talks convincingly to the mysticism of the Bible.
John (9:19:44 PM): Huckabee gets 30 seconds for a mini-sermon. He's gettin' his minister on.
Jason (9:20:03 PM): Uhm, he just mopped the floor with Mitt Romney.
Rachel (9:21:22 PM):Once again, note that these questions had to have been SELECTED by CNN. In an effort to make this a "serious" Republican debate, and "a debate of their party." Guns and the Bible. With whether or not a candidate believes EVERY WORD OF THE BIBLE being a legitimate campaign issue. To be subsequently cheered or boo! Sheesh. This is a gong show.
Jason (9:23:45 PM): OMGs. Did Rudy just take credit for a reduction in SNOWFALL??
Jason (9:33:15 PM): QUESTION: Buzz Brockway from Lawrenceville, Georgia: Which one of you will consign the next seven generations to the Iraq mistake?
Jason (9:33:32 PM): I'm sorry. Have I not captured that question honestly?
Jason (9:33:33 PM): "Who will make a permanent/long-term commitment to the Iraqi people?"
Rachel (9:33:42 PM): Thompson: We shouldn't be there longer than necessary, but we should be there as long as necessary. Well, now, that's clarifying.
Glynnis (9:34:33 PM): Movies that won't be on television if Thompson gets the nomination: The Hunt For Red October.
Rachel (9:34:52 PM): We should help Iraq by giving them their country back. Hello, surge? So not working.
Jason (9:35:07 PM): Ron Paul would be well-served to learn that the "people in the North" are the Kurds.
Glynnis (9:36:45 PM): McCain says the fundamental difference with Vietnam is that they didn't want to follow us home. Like those darn Iraqis...Zarqawi and Bin Laden. Oh wait, they're not Iraqis!
Rachel (9:36:57 PM): Bit of a back and forth here with Ron Paul and McCain. Tancredo gets in there, too.
Jason (9:40:39 PM): QUESTION: Nick Anderson: Will you allow your Veep to run buck wild like Dick Cheney?
Rachel (9:40:51 PM): Cartoon Dick Cheney! No more huggable.
John (9:41:22 PM): Fred Thompson is a funny dude. Said he thought the little animated bugger might have been him.
Glynnis (9:42:36 PM): McCain says that the vice president wouldn't need so much power if our president wasn't such a ignoramus.
Jason (9:43:15 PM): Wait for it! "Right Stuff" joke!
Jason (9:43:31 PM): Oh, wow. Missed opportunity for a bad pun.
Rachel (9:43:39 PM): SCOURGE OF THE DEBATES!
Glynnis (9:43:49 PM): Oww - these candidates videos are painfully lacking in anything that might be described as a sense of humor.
John (9:43:55 PM): Duncan Hunter's ad has all the production values of the spot your local car dealer shot out in the lot.
Jason (9:44:10 PM): Hunter's ad was like the one's we have here for Easterns Motors. Except no Washington Redskins players goofing to bad hip-hop.
Rachel (9:45:31 PM): Hold on a second. Endorsed by Chuck Yeager - broke the sound barrier Chuck Yeager? Yes, the very same! That was a Trivial Pursuit question. I was a nerdy kid.
UPDATE (Rachel): There has been some controversy about Gen. Kerr since it was revealed post-show that he has previousy been associated with Hillary Clinton's gay-issues steering committee. I watched the debate re-run and I could have dozed off, but I am almost positive that they cut Gen. Kerr's question and the subsequent responses out of the replay. UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: No, they definitely cut that question out. Without disclosure.
Jason (9:53:19 PM): QUESTION: Do you want the support of the Log Cabin Republicans?
Glynnis (9:53:35 PM): Huckabee will take anyone's support!
Jason (9:53:38 PM): Huckabee wants it, won't do anything to earn it.
Jason (9:54:29 PM): QUESTION: Adam from Ilinois. What will you do to repay the money in the social security trust fund?
John (9:54:40 PM): They found someone who is not a blonde co-ed to re-ask the debt question.
Jason (9:56:00 PM): I guess Mitt Romney will pay down the debt with empty platitudes!
Glynnis (9:56:06 PM): Here's everything you won't be able to watch should Fred Thompson get nominated.
Glynnis (9:56:20 PM): Vote accordingly.
Jason (10:01:42 PM): QUESTION: Leroy Brooks. What does the Confederate Flag mean to you?
John (10:01:45 PM): Leroy is lettin' it all hang out.
Glynnis (10:02:08 PM): The questioner wants to know if the candidates were fans of the Dukes of Hazzard.
John (10:02:09 PM): Bo and Luke forever.
Jason (10:02:43 PM): Hey! Romney and I agree on something? I think Edwards' "Two Americas" message is garbage as well!
Jason (10:03:01 PM): Send your hate mail to linkins@huffingtonpost.com, America.
Jason (10:03:32 PM): Fred Thompson thinks that flag honors "various servicepeople?"
John (10:03:52 PM): The grey side of the chess set, presumably.
Jason (10:05:01 PM): QUESTION: Hank Campbell: Who among the candidates will articulate the sacrifices we need to make to repair America's infrastructure?
Jason (10:05:21 PM): Side note: No questions on the environment so far tonight.
Rachel (10:05:31 PM): That's because the environment is fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!
Glynnis (10:05:38 PM): Giuliani says it will take a village of presidents to solve America's fiscal crisis.
Jason (10:06:39 PM): What did Ron Paul's answer even mean?
John (10:07:05 PM): How did Ron Paul get from bridges falling down to "getting the government off our backs and out of our wallets"? I'm dizzy.
Rachel (10:07:23 PM): Nevertheless, he knows an applause line.
Jason (10:07:37 PM): Rudy is right. The line item veto IS unconstitutional.
Glynnis (10:07:54 PM): It's seven minutes after ten.
Rachel (10:07:59 PM): They are SO taking advantage of the fact that there is no new TV to watch.
Jason (10:08:17 PM): QUESTION: Mark Strauss, Davenport. Will you run as an independent?
Jason (10:08:24 PM): Ron Paul: No.
Glynnis (10:08:49 PM): Ron Paul wants to make it clear that he's NOT independent, he's a Republican.
John (10:09:08 PM): Ron Paul had lots of people show up at his rally... "With blacks!"
Glynnis (10:09:18 PM): Anderson needs to shut this show down.
Rachel (10:11:41 PM): Takeaways, people?
Jason (10:12:24 PM): I think that the storyline is going to be: "Romney got schooled."
Glynnis (10:12:54 PM): YouTube was the loser here. Just like Phil said, the videos were extraneous.
John (10:12:57 PM): Right at the get-go there?
Glynnis (10:13:28 PM): I think that Huckabee came off as the most reasonable candidate by far.
Jason (10:13:36 PM): Glynnis: couldn't agree more.
Rachel (10:13:46 PM): Huckabee really shone here, between the Bible question, his effective spinning of the capital punishment question into a positive, and his general poise and unflappability. And the crowd's reaction underscored that. Probably won't get the nomination, but don't count him out for VP. And everyone looks more presidential after being VP....
Glynnis (10:13:54 PM): John McCain had a few good zingers, particularly on torture, that will probably make the recaps tomorrow.
Rachel (10:14:06 PM): But the problem with McCain is that he is on the fringes of the action. He's the wise elder here — and his smackdown of Romney over torture was impressive and incontrovertible — but still, he just doesn't have the mojo. He and Edwards, man. They left an essential ingredient behind in their last runs, and it may have been their last runs.
John (10:14:23 PM): Huckabee looked good overall, and had a few nice moments -- which count for a lot in the media coverage.
Rachel (10:14:26 PM): Yes, the reply counts for a great deal. Reaches more eyeballs than the debate. Ditto the spin - that is where Hillary's drivers-licence-for-illegals gaffe got magnified and blown up.
Jason (10:14:34 PM): Romney got jumped from the get-go, yes. But he got beaten up throughout. By McCain, Huckabee. They made him look very small, very weak, very meek.
Glynnis (10:15:06 PM): But, top story, as Jason says, is definitely Romney's "illegal help." If he can't figure out who's working for him in his home, should he be running the country?
John (10:15:45 PM): Nobody looked particularly strong tonight, certainly not Rudy.
John (10:16:43 PM): Romney had a few strong moments in that initial exchange, but he undercut himself too often, spent too much time apologizing and waffling.
Jason (10:16:56 PM): I'm throwing my support behind Brigadier General Keith Kerr.
Glynnis (10:17:01 PM): On the flip side, none of the main candidates looked like maniacs either.
John (10:18:00 PM): By the way, did we get through this whole debate with not a single word about health care?
Jason (10:18:10 PM): I believe so!
Jason (10:18:46 PM): And nothing on the environment.
John (10:19:03 PM): Hm. Other than Ron Paul and McCain, who are working opposite sides of the issue, I don't think anyone else volunteered anything about Iraq, either.
John (10:19:46 PM): The environment? Well, that's no big deal. Heck, they hardly had time to talk about the Mars mission.
John (10:20:57 PM): It's a good point, though. When you ask Americans what's on their minds, you do hear immigration, but you also hear health care, Iraq, and energy policy a whole lot too.
John (10:21:15 PM): Maybe when you ask YouTube, you get something a little different.
Jason (10:21:44 PM): But not different enough to warrant the use of YouTube.
Glynnis (10:25:47 PM): I feel like the use of YouTube in these debates is so whitewashed as to make the format useless.
Glynnis (10:26:51 PM): Nothing so new here except the rhetoric seemed a bit toned down all around and Hillary was only the butt of two jokes.
Glynnis (10:27:40 PM): Otherwise, sorry not to see the snowman.
VIDEO QUESTIONS:
Question 1: Goofy song.
Question 2: Will you make America a 'sanctuary city' country?
3. Will you pledge to veto amnesty for illegal immigrants?
4. With immigration reform failing, will I have a job?
5. Lower college tuition rates - military families or illegals?
6. Do you believe in a conspiracy to make a new union?
Embedding disabled by request
7. What measures will you take to tackle the national debt?
8. What are the top three federal programs you would cut?
9. Do you support a 'Fair Tax'?
10. Will you pledge never to raise taxes?
11. Will you eliminate farm subsidies?
12. How will you keep lead-laced toys out of my home?
13. What is your opinion on gun control?
14. Do you believe in a required written exam for gun ownership?
15. How many guns do you own?
16. What will you do to reduce crime in the inner cities?
17. If abortion is illegal, what should the punishment be?
18. Would you sign a federal abortion ban?
19. On the Death Penalty, what would Jesus do?
21. How would you repair the image of America in the Muslim world?
22. Is waterboarding torture?
23. Will you make a permanent commitment to the people of Iraq?
24. Is your campaign exploiting 9/11?
25. Should Vice-President Dick Cheney have so much power?
26. A gay Brigadier General asks a question
27. Do you accept the support of log cabin republicans?
28. Will you repay the $2 trillion borrowed from Social Security
29. What is your vision for human space exploration?
30. Why don't many African-Americans vote Republican?
31. What does the "stars and bars" flag represent?
32. How can we repair the infrastructure of America?
33. Mr. Paul, are you going to run as an independent?
34. Yankees vs. Red Soxs