Live Blogging the GOP CNN/Youtube Debate

Tonight's GOP debate is hosted by CNN and YouTube, airing at 8pm EST. Like this summer's Democratic debate, viewers have submitted questions via YouTube to be presented to the candidates. CNN has combed through nearly 5,000 submissions (2,000 more than for the Democratic debate) and will pose roughly 40 to the Republican candidates during the 2 hour forum.

Three million viewers are expected to watch this debate live, or roughly 1% of Americans.

The debate is being staged at the Mahaffey Theater at the Progress Energy Center in St. Petersburg, Fla. CNN's Anderson Cooper will be the debate's moderator.

The eight GOP contenders are locked in a toss-up race for their party's nomination to be leader of the Free World. With less than a month to the Iowa balloting expect break-out moments. Candidates are losing the opportunity to make moves and have an impact. This is a historic opportunity for each of them.

Will Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney trade their jabs directly face-to-face? Will Fred Thompson take on Mike Huckabee? Will John McCain's anger flash? Will Ron Paul get any airtime?

On the format, what crazy questions will be aired? (The Democratic version included a talking-snowman.) Will Cooper break the format to make the debate more dynamic and ask more timely questions from today's headlines?
Here we go!

8:00 PM: Anderson Cooper kicks off the debate, noting the format. He gets applause for saying that the GOP debate got more questions and calls the questions "different in style and substance." CNN is doing the same introduction of the candidates like a beauty pageant as they did for the Democrats in Nevada. A.k.a., wasting valuable question time. Ugh.

8:02 PM: The Sunshine State's governor, Charlie Crist (R), is doing the introductions. He's very tan. The line-up is, left to right, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, John McCain, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo. Now it's a grip-and-grin photo op.

8:06 PM: Still no questions. Tick, tick, tick.

8:07 PM: Cooper introduces a video montage of questions that were submitted but won't be asked. CNN, of course, picked the wacky ones for their re-cap. Still no questions to the candidates.

8:08 PM: First YouTube video, a singing blues song from a Washington state submission. Sound-bite: "The Democrats have only one candidate, the Republicans eight." It's clever. Everyone smiled and laughed appropriately. But it wasn't a question.

8:10 PM: First question from an NYCer to Rudy: will you aid and abet illegal aliens into the U.S.? Rudy balks at the premise and frames the debate as giving children the opportunity of illegals to get off the street and get an education while lowering the crime rate. Answer makes sense but Tancredo and Lou Dobbs are steaming.

8:12 PM: Anderson soft-balls it to Mitt: was NYC a sanctuary city? Mitt: of course. Continues his stump on immigration.

8:13 PM: Back to Rudy: "Mitt often criticizes where he has the worst record." Goes personal and says Mitt had a "Sanctuary Mansion" because of illegals employed in his lawn care. Mitt is upset. "You know better...it's offensive." Rudy..."If you're going to take a holier than thou attitude...." Smiles are gone, fist-a-cuffs are flying!

8:16 PM: Cooper tries to break it up. Goes to another video. Same issue, do you pledge to veto amnesty legislation. To Fred Thompson, yes. Says that the Feds need to cut-off city funding for those cities that declare themselves sanctuary cities. Goes after Rudy for suing to halt Thompson's immigration bill in the '90s. Good one-liner: if NYC wasn't a sanctuary city then your lawsuit was frivolous.

8:20 PM: Cooper to McCain, and you? McCain, of course. Crowd groans. McCain keeps going. Says the whole debate saddens him. "I didn't come to the Senate to do the easy things." Makes his standard pitch, goes long. Cooper tries to cut him off. McCain invokes the "their all God's children too" line. Gets applause. From boos to cheers, nice high-wire.

8:22 PM: Tancredo pipes up, "What about the rest of us?" Claims everyone is trying to out-Tancredo Tancredo. Cooper interrupts and posses a question directly from a video submission to the congressman from Colorado. "What will you do to keep guest workers coming to the US to help small businesses?" Tancredo, I'm not. He rejects the idea that there are jobs Americans will not take, says he's not sorry for businesses that will have to raise wages.

8:24 PM: Cooper tosses to Hunter. "I built the fence," it works. Do you think Paul Bunyan helped or it was just Duncan and his Babe Blue (or Red?) Ox?

8:26 PM: Video to Huckabee, "You gave illegals discounted higher education, will you do the same for service men and women?" There were no special privileges. Sorry but I feel asleep during his sermon. I think he answered, not sure.

8:28 PM: Mitt, you've called Huckabee a liberal. "I like Mike" but he's like talking to a Massachusetts liberal. He has a lot of nice things to do with other people's money. Huckabee, "I worked myself through college..." Mitt comes back, the issue is tax-funding, there is only so much money. They're all talking now. Fingers are wagging. Huck could use a lesson on how to engage in class warfare from John Edwards.

8:31 PM: Cooper breaks it up. New video question to Ron Paul about conspiracy theories on merging the U.S. Mexico and Canada. Paul says depends on what you mean by all of this. Notes there is a difference between globalism and national sovereignty. The black helicopters are going to track that questioner down.

8:33 PM: Question on spending to McCain. "We came to Washington to change it and it changed us." Ticks off wasteful spending. He's got the goods on the budget. He gets the first mention of Reagan (who gave him a veto pen he uses).

8:35 PM: Mitt, you? The senator is right. We need change. We've got to take on entitlements. Rudy chimes in, gets the second mention of Reagan in. Wants cuts as well.

8:36 PM: Video question to Ron Paul and Fred Thompson on spending - name top 3 programs you'd cut. Thomson, "It's a target rich environment." I would save Social Security. I have a plan. Cooper injects, so what's your top 3? Thompson says 100 programs listed by OMB (Office of Management & Budget). Fred just wanted to talk about Social Security.

8:38 PM: And you Paul? Washington didn't change me. I'd cut Education, Energy and Homeland Security.

8:39 PM: Huckabee, what would you cut? The IRS. Place goes wild. The audience is doing the wave. He goes on, mentions the Fair Tax. It's like a tent revival. People are dancing.

8:40 PM: An animated Uncle Sam asks McCain if he's for the Fair Tax. McCain, I am not. Goes after Paul for wanting to bring troops home. "I want to tell you that kind of isolationism is what caused World War II...we allowed Hitler to come to power." Kaboom. The Hitler reference is dropped (note, in American politics, its never been used by a successful candidate for at least 50 years. Think Rick Santorum two years ago, etc.)

8:41 PM: Ron Paul says the real question is, why does his campaign get the most money from active duty military officers? I'm not an isolationist. Claims McCain doesn't understand the term. Gives him a dictionary. Who would have thought McCain would elevate Paul like this...does someone hear footsteps in New Hampshire?

8:43 PM: Grover Norquist (uber-Tax Activist and former lobbyist for the Marxist government in the Seychelles) asks for a no-tax hike pledge. Tancredo, yes. Huckabee, yes. Romney, yes. Rudy, yes. Fred, I'm against taxes but I don't make pledges. McCain, same as Fred. Paul, yes. Hunter, I too don't take pledges.

8:45 PM: Ethanol tax subsides question, who will eliminate farm subsides? Romney pledges to continue farm welfare...American farmers can't compete internationally without our taxes. Rudy, agrees. Iowa voters are gleeful.

8:48PM: CNN has video commercials from each campaign, Tancredo's airs first. First mention of Hillary Clinton. It's a montage about immigration to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Bay Buchanan (Pat's sister) is ecstatic.

8:50PM: Lead-paint question to Tancredo (who is getting a lot of time tonight!). Says he's against lead-paint toys. Let China keep their toys. Hunter, China is a bunch of cheaters. Sees them arming to take us on. Says he read about it in a Tom Clancy novel. Calls for a boycott of China's Christmas toys.

8:51 PM: Fred Thompson video. It's a montage of attack clips: Romney saying he was pro-abortion; Huckabee calling for a tax-hike. Pow! Splat! The first GOP attack ad of the season comes from Fred Thompson and he levels his charges standing man-to-man, face-to-face. Old school-style guts! That is how the West was won.

8:53 PM: Anderson stops CNN from going to commercial break and asks "What's up with that?" Thompson deadpans, "I just wanted to give my friends more air time." Romney asks "Who was the handsome young man?" (The footage was from 1994). Says, I was wrong, what can I say. Huckabee doesn't answer just says if they're kicking me in the rear its cuz I'm still out front. Now to commercial break.

8:55 PM: Back from break, McCain's campaign video. Nearly identical to his New Hampshire ad on spending. It has another mention of Hillary Clinton.

8:56 PM: Video question by a bandoleer wearing gun-totting guy on gun rights. Duncan Hunter plays Eddie the Eagle (NRA Safety mascot) and lectures everyone on gun safety. Follow-up question to Rudy on flip-flopping on guns. He cites his crime stats. Defends background checks on gun owners, gets booed. Says its in the hands of the Supreme Court and calls for state's rights on the issue. Thompson jumps in, notes that Rudy loves gun control. Fred says its not a state's choice issue, it's in the U.S. Constitution. It's a guaranteed right. I think Fred is packing.

9:04 PM: Tell us what your gun collection is? Fred, I own a couple and I'm not telling you what or where they are. McCain, I don't own one now, but I know how to use them. Hunter, I have a shotgun. Rudy doesn't have a gun. Mitt's guns are owned by his son Josh. Maybe Iowa should be decided by a Quick Draw Competition.

9:06 PM: Video question on black-on-black violence. Mitt says the solution is the family. Wants more moms and dads, praises Bill Cosby. Is that a pudding cup on his podium?

9:07 PM: Rudy notes that Mitt has a mixed record on fighting crime. Unlike himself as the robo-cop of NYC, everyone's record is worse than Rudy.

9:08 PM: Question on abortion, if abortion were illegal, would you charge the woman or doctor? Ron Paul (a medical doctor), it's not a federal issue, it should be up to the states. We don't need a federal abortion police. Fred Thompson notes that first Roe v Wade needs to be overturned. Says the model used in partial-birth abortion laws is appropriate.

9:11 PM: Another video question, if Congress passed a federal ban on all abortions would you sign it? Rudy, no. I'd leave it to the states. Romney would welcome the bill; he'd throw a party and do a jig.

9:13 PM: Question to "Christian Conservatives" goes to Huckabee on the death penalty. Huckabee notes he had to pull the switch as governor. In so doing, he carefully read every page including the footnotes. He believes there is a place for a death penalty, as a civilized nation. Anderson Cooper redirects and asks "What would Jesus do?" Huckabee retorts, "Jesus was too smart to run for office."

9:15 PM: Question - do you believe every word of the "Holy Bible?" Rudy starts to answer, Huckabee injects, "Do I need to help you out." Sort of funny, sort of not. Rudy resumes, "its the greatest book ever written." Says he believes it but not every literal word of it. Romney, "I believe the Bible is the Word of God." Huckabee, sure I believe the Bible. Huck starts a sermon. He's a preaching and the congregation is rocking!

9:19 PM: Romney montage, basically his "take charge" TV ad.

9:20 PM: Commercial break - note only 2 references to Hillary Clinton thus far and both in canned videos.

9:22 PM: Rudy video brings us back. It's funny. Any political ad that has King Kong is a keeper. Another video mention of Hillary Clinton.

9:23 PM: What would you do to repair America's image abroad? Rudy, stay on offense. Drops a 9/11 reference. Is punching his fist in the air (maybe at Osama?). McCain, continue the surge and fight back the Democrat's effort to set a date for surrender. It's serious talk now. "There is a lot at stake here my friends."

9:27 PM: Question on waterboarding, since McCain is the only one with first hand knowledge, why do you disagree with him? Romney, I want his advice but I don't think as presidential candidate I can specifically answer questions like this. I don't want terrorists to have ACLU lawyers. McCain, "Governor I'm surprised that you don't know what water-boarding is." Romney, "I know what it is." McCain, compares waterboarding practices to Pol-Pot. Gets preachy, crowd responds. Romney, I appreciate your response but I won't specify what torture is as a candidate. McCain, then Romney you advocate that we withdraw from the Geneva Convention. I would hope we understand that life is not 24 and Jack Bauer.

9:32 PM: Question on long-term Iraqi strategy. Fred Thompson, we shouldn't be there any longer than necessary. Islamic terrorism has declared war on America and Western Civilization. Too many people in this country appear to be invested in a scenario of defeat. Ron Paul calls for giving Iraq back to Iraqis. We must take care of America first. Likens Iraq to Vietnam. Over to McCain, "Let me remind you congressman, we never lost a battle in Vietnam, American public opinion caused us to cave." Paul is booed when he says that terrorists follow us home because we occupy their home.

9:37 PM: Video question to Rudy, are you using 9/11 to propel yourself into the White House? Look at my whole record. I was the 3rd ranking official in the Reagan Justice Department. I was the U.S. Attorney in NYC. I was called the most conservative mayor....all before September 11. I reduced welfare, taxes, abortion and increased adoptions. I've been tested. And not because it was the Big Apple did the teacher give him an "A."

9:40 PM: An animated (old looking) Dick Cheney asks "Would you grant your vice president as much power as I have had?" Fred Thompson quips "I'm relieved, I thought that was going to be me." Says some legal training would be helpful (note, Fred himself is already a lawyer). Anderson Cooper asks McCain, "Did Bush give Cheney too much power?" McCain, Bush didn't have has much foreign policy experience as I do, so he had to rely upon his vice president.

9:42 PM: Going to break with a kitchen sink round-up of Duncan Hunter's virtues.

9:46 PM: Back from break with Huckabee's "I believe" ad that he is running in Iowa.

9:47 PM: Video question from a retired Army General, who says he's an openly gay man, and wants to know why they support the Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy. The General is in the audience and gets applause when introduced by Cooper. Hunter answers citing Colin Powell's support of DADT saying it'd be wrong to force service people into such a situation. Huckabee responds that it is conduct that threatens morale or unit cohesion. Anderson Cooper asks Romney, who once supported gays in the military, if he still does. He says now is not that time, we are at war. Cooper follow-ups and Romney's says he'll await his advisers input. McCain thanks the General for his service, claims that military leaders don't want a change in policy at this time so that's his position.

9:52 PM: Video question, would you accept the support of Log Cabin Republicans (gay GOPers)? Huckabee, "I need all the support I can get." Sure I would accept their support but I won't change my convictions.

9:53 PM: Question, what will you do on the national debt? Thompson, I'd protect young people from old people. We're spending the money of future generations. Again on Social Security. Fred is a Tennessean trying to split the Third Rail of politics. Romney says we have a ton of problems, lists them, calls for change and does a double whammy by mentioning both Hillary Clinton and Ronald Reagan in the same sentence. (First direct reference to HRC.)

9:56 PM: Is there a candidate who will promise to send an American to Mars by 2020? Huckabee is for expanding the space program; notes all of the spin-off benefits. Suggests that Hilary be sent to Mars (for those counting, that's only the second direct mention). Tancredo is against a federal Mars program, prefers Snickers.

9:58 PM: Video asks why don't African-Americans vote Republican, given their overwhelming support of GOP positions? Rudy says its because GOPers haven't done a good enough job communicating; notes his record of providing a safe community and getting people back to work and off welfare. Huckabee notes that 48% of African Americans supported him in his election because he asked for their vote and involved them in his Administration. Says the GOP must reach out to all people, suggests a group hug at the convention.

9:59 PM: The Confederate flag issue. Romney, I'm not going to get involved in that issue. I wouldn't put it up in my room. Mentions John Edwards and slams him for his "Two America's," saying he's a divider and he wants to throw a TV at him. Fred Thompson says that not everyone who puts up a Confederate Flag is racist, but to many it is an image of racism. He's glad its not used in public.

10:00 PM: Ron Paul montage. Moving music, cuts of his stump speech.

10:04 PM: In overtime. Video question on infrastructure, how are we going to pay for fixing bridges and roads? Rudy notes that he faced a similar problem in NYC and he had a capitol investment program. Talks about accounting and spreadsheets. Is Rudy or Mitt that has the MBA? Ron Paul notes that Americans are taxed to blow-up bridges overseas; then rebuild them. If we stop blowing things up elsewhere we can afford new roads. McCain says he'll veto every pork project and use the savings to pave new roads, slams Rudy for NYC pork. Rudy lectures on the unconstitutionality of the line-item veto.

10:07 PM: Video question to Paul - you're not going to get the GOP nomination, but will you run as an Independent? Paul says he has no intention. (Note he doesn't rule it out.) Goes into his campaign's successes. Claims he's apart of a revolution.

10:09 PM: Last question. Rudy as a life-long Yankees fan, how could you root for the Red Sox in the post-season? Says he's an American League fan that's what it is about. Says that while he was Mayor of NYC the Yankees won 4 World Series and that since he's left the Mayor's office, they've won none. Mitt says they've waited 87 years for it and he's happy and hates the Yankees.

And it's over.

It started rough. Back-and-forth. Bang. Ka-pow. Then tapered-off some. Tons of questions. Some specific answers, some dodges. The candidates, campaigns and pundits are spinning.

Who do you think won?