Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Republican Party presidential debates, 2012

2012 United States  Republican Party presidential debates are a series of political debates being held, prior to the 2012 Republican primaries, among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in the national election of 2012. The first debate occurred on May 5, 2011 in Greenville, South Carolina, and was hosted by Fox News.



Debates


May 5, 2011 – Greenville, South Carolina


The first Republican debate was at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina. It was broadcast live for 90 minutes on Fox News, FoxNews.com, and Fox News Radio. Most of the candidates who had announced their runs at that time participated in the debate, being Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum.Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls. Mitt Romney met the debate criteria, but rejected the invitation to appear in the debate. Newt Gingrich originally had planned to attend the debate, but did not meet additional criteria of forming an exploratory committee.
The debate was moderated by Fox News anchor Bret Baier of Special Report with Bret Baier and several other Fox News contributors, including Juan Williams, Shannon Bream, and Chris Wallace.
At the end of the debate, Fox News's online votes showed Ron Paul standing out from the other candidates, but businessman Herman Cain was the overwhelming choice of the Fox News focus group moderated by Frank Luntz. 






Complete Video from DakotaVoice






June 13, 2011 – Manchester, New Hampshire

The second Republican debate was held at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was broadcast live for 120 minutes on CNN, WMUR-TV, and CNN.com. Candidates participating in the debate included Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson, and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls. Several other then-potential candidates, including Jon Huntsman, Rudy Giuliani, and Sarah Palin declined to participate in the debate.
The debate was moderated by CNN anchor John King of John King, USA and featured several other CNN contributors.
Following the debate, attention was drawn to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who announced she had filed with the FEC to run for President of the United States during the debate.






August 11, 2011 – Ames, Iowa


The third Republican debate was held at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, sponsored by the Iowa Republican Party, Fox News, and the Washington Examiner. It was moderated by Bret Baier with questions from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and the Washington Examiner's Byron York and Susan Ferrechio. Baier and Wallace were praised for their moderation of the debate. It was broadcast live for two hours on Fox News and FoxNews.com. Candidates participating in the debate included Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney , Jon Huntsman Jr. and Rick Santorum. Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls.
The debate was noted for the sparring between Bachmann and Pawlenty; Pawlenty criticized Bachmann for what he said was a lack of leadership, while Bachmann fired back that Pawlenty's support for cap and trade legislation and the individual mandate while governor of Minnesota made his record look like Obama's. Gingrich criticized Wallace by saying he was asking "gotcha questions" instead of legitimate questions. Romney responded to criticisms that "Romneycare" was like "Obamacare" by using a states' rights argument. Santorum said same-sex marriage is not a state issue because the 10th Amendment "does not give states the right to trample over moral law." Romney agreed that it is a federal issue, reasoning that people move to different states and that marriage is a status, not an activity that takes place within the walls of a state. Huntsman and Paul reiterated their support for civil unions.
Fox News Transcript, reprinted in the Los Angeles Times
Complete video on RonPaul.com






September 7, 2011 – Simi Valley, California


The fourth Republican debate was held at Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, sponsored by NBC News and Politico (but broadcast by MSNBC). It was moderated by Brian Williams, and was notable for being the first to include Texas Governor  Rick Perry, who attracted attention for stating his belief that "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme"; he was applauded by the audience for his record of having executed 234 death row inmates.








September 12, 2011 – Tampa, Florida


The fifth Republican debate was held at Florida State Fair Grounds in Tampa, Florida, sponsored by CNN and Tea Party Express. It was moderated by Wolf Blitzer, and was notable for being the first Tea Party debate in history. Rick Perry was booed by the audience for defending his use of an executive order to mandate young girls have the HPV vaccine. The debate also engendered controversy when Blitzer asked Ron Paul a hypothetical question about a young man who could afford health insurance but refused to purchase any. When Blitzer asked Paul “Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?”, a few audience members shouted "Yeah!"






Complete video from CNN Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and DakotaVoice




September 22, 2011 - Orlando, Florida


The sixth Republican debate was held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, and was sponsored by Fox News Channel and Google. It was moderated by Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, and Megyn Kelly. The debate was only the second of the 2012 cycle to feature former governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico; he was also in the May 5, 2011 debate.
The debate engendered controversy when a pre-recorded question fielded by Army service member Stephen Hill from Iraq via YouTube, concerning whether any one of the candidates would reinstate the recently-retired "Don't ask, don't tell" policy excluding openly-gay soldiers like himself from the US military, elicited vocal booing from a few audence members; Santorum, whose turn it was to answer a question, stated that "I would say any type of sexual activity has no place in the military" after the booing had subsided, and was applauded by the audience for his response.
Gary Johnson, who lagged in polls and media attention, made headlines and became the most-searched-for phrase on Google for several hours for an Obama joke he made, saying, "My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this administration."




Complete video from Fox News Channel




October 11, 2011 - Hanover, New Hampshire


The seventh Republican debate was held at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and was sponsored by Bloomberg and The Washington Post. It was moderated by Charlie Rose with Julianna Goldman and Karen Tumulty. Former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson was excluded from the debate.

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