Tommy Thompson - Tammy Baldwin: Debate 1

Tonight was the first debate of the Wisconsin U.S. Senate race.

Observations:

One of the sponsors of the debate was AARP. Sam Wilson, Wisconsin State Director AARP, spoke on its behalf. He said, "AARP has a 25-year history of nonpartisan voter education and voter engagement." WHAT A LOAD!

Tammy Baldwin sounded incredibly rehearsed and stiff and almost robotic, whereas Tommy Thompson was more relaxed and conversational. It seemed like Baldwin was doing a poor job reading off a teleprompter. When she couldn't rely on her memorized lines for an answer, she really struggled. She's lucky she's got all that special interest money bombarding the airwaves, trashing Tommy Thompson.

Baldwin was terribly hypocritical when she complained about incivility, given the campaign ads that she's running.

Thompson pounded away at the fact that he has accomplished things, that he's a reformer. In comparison, Baldwin's accomplishments, other than being a reliable rubber stamp for the Democrats, are very skimpy.

Baldwin gave a terrible answer on ObamaCare. She said we shouldn't tear it up, that we should implement it. THAT is reason to not vote for Baldwin.

Thompson was smart to point out that ObamaCare is a massive tax. He was also smart to say that he wants the individual to be in charge of their health care decisions, not the government, like Baldwin wants. She believes ObamaCare didn't go far enough.

Baldwin said "sweetheart deal" SO many times. (If you want a drinking game, playback the debate and drink each time Baldwin says "sweetheart deal.")

Thompson was very concrete in his responses. He gave clear examples to illustrate his points.

I loved it when Thompson called Ahmadinejad "mentally impaired." He was firm about the Iranian nuclear threat.

Baldwin's response on Iran was a joke. She claimed to be tough, but that, of course, is ridiculous.

Baldwin played a hawk on sending troops to Afghanistan after 9/11. Naturally, she didn't mention her failure to vote to honor the victims of the attacks.

Thompson sounded surprisingly competent on a wide range of issues, foreign and domestic. Regarding ANWR, it was great when he said the caribou are smart enough to walk around the drilling, but he's not sure about the environmentalists.

Baldwin gave such a non-answer on ANWR. We need to be energy independent. OK.... anything else?

On abortion, Thompson reiterated his pro-life position.

Baldwin said she supports the decision of Roe v. Wade. She danced around the reality of what abortion is - ending a human life. She dodged her radicalism.

On same-sex marriage, Thompson said he supported the decision of the 71 of 72 Wisconsin counties that voted to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Baldwin used Obama's "evolution" on same-sex marriage to frame her response. The moderator cut her off before she finished. She went over time.

Asian Carp - Baldwin fumbled around. I don't think she rehearsed an answer for that issue. "Uh, uh, uh."

Thompson's response: He looked at Baldwin and said he was absolutely surprised, that it was the first time she didn't blame him or President Bush for the Asian Carp matter. He went on to say we need to deal with the problem and get the fence in place.

Baldwin said she will support the president in office, no matter which party wins. HUH? I don't think so.

Thompson gave a strong closing statement. Cut taxes, build the economy, get rid of ObamaCare, and shrink the government.

Baldwin focused on class warfare and the Buffett Rule for her closing statement. And of course, she talked about Thompson's "sweetheart deal." She distorted Thompson's position on Medicare. Weak. Baldwin's appearance came off like an NPR audition tape. Not good.

I was really impressed with Thompson.

Baldwin didn't help herself at all.

On TMJ4's pre- and post-debate coverage, they kept citing that skewed Marquette poll that showed Baldwin ahead by 9 points.

It's ridiculous to consider that poll to be accurate.

"Hey, let's keep talking about that poll that was crap!"

Lame.

Turned it off after 5 minutes.

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.