Thursday evening saw the last GOP debate before voters cast their ballots in the Iowa caucuses on January 3rd. The debate was sponsored by Fox News and the Republican Party of Iowa. It was held at the Sioux City Convention Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
Here is the entire debate via YouTube:
Original Air Time: Thursday, December 15 at 9pm ETon Fox News
Participants: Bachmann, Gingrich, Huntsman, Paul, Perry, Romney, Santorum
Report from Fox News:
If electability had been the question for primary candidates in 1980, Ronald Reagan would have never become president, Newt Gingrich said Thursday, answering challenges about whether he could be embraced by the electorate in the race to beat President Obama in 2012.
Clearly, Reagan ended up convincing primary voters that he had the right policies, and he went on to beat Jimmy Carter by a larger margin than Franklin Delano Roosevelt beat Herbert Hoover in 1932, Gingrich, a longtime history professor, said during the Fox News Republican presidential primary debate in Sioux City, Iowa.
As the candidates make their final pitch in a group forum before the first voters go to the polls in Iowa in less than three weeks, the GOP candidates have made their policy cases. Now, it’s a question of whether they can win, and if they do, whether they have the skills to be the leader of the free world.
Gingrich’s performance is being closely watched as he surges to the top of the pack in the field — and faces questions about whether he is conservative enough for the GOP base.
He says yes — and points to a 90 percent conservative voting record while a member of Congress, including four years as speaker of the House. But opponent Rick Santorum hit back, saying he faced a “conservative revolution” from within his own ranks while he was speaker.
Ron Paul certainly garnered more attention in this debate as did Newt Gingrich. There were many attacks levied on Gingrich and Romney as well throughout the course of the evening. I don’t know what will stick and what voters might already be taking into consideration, however, I think largely the night left the Iowa caucuses still up in the air with no clear leader right now.
