(Tea) Party People!! The CNN Dating Game Redux

CNN did it again! The Tea Party Express was apparently powerless to stop CNN from committing the horror of hosting The Dating Game II this evening as a thinly veiled attempt to gain viewership. I endure this pain for you, all twelve of my regular post readers!

The #CNNTeaparty hashtag on Twitter was, as usual, full of quotes, commentary, and wit. I am taking a few of my best and turning them into actual sentences ( mostly) here for a longer/shorter debate rehash.

Mitt Romney completely forgot he was addressing a Tea Party crowd for at least two-thirds of the debate. He did remember to invoke the Tenth Amendment to defend RomneyCare, however – that was impressive. Mitt was alternately suave and vicious in his attacks on Perry. The poker thing was a pretty bad idea. Mitt can neither count his aces, nor knows when to fold. He defended the Fed’s roll in currency control and somehow managed to say, out loud, that he would issue waivers for all 50 states for ObamaCare. Yep. Mitt totally forgot he was talking to the Tea Party here. He pretty much ignored everyone else on stage. Nice job, Mitt.

Governor Perry was well placed between Romney and Paul. HE didn’t forget he was courting the Tea Party audience, until he was forced to discuss the use of Executive Orders. To recap: Perry was the first to say he would use an EO to [illegally] legislate. But only to repeal ObamaCare. Because somehow, that makes it all okay. Perry clarified his stance on both Bernanke and Social Security. I was disappointed here. Adding to his previous statements just makes him look like he was playing to the media. Lastly, Perry spent a good 90 seconds saying that his vaccine mandate was not a mistake. Oh? You think he said that it was? No, no. What he said was that using the Executive Order was the mistake. Listen better. Politicians, sheesh.

Herman Cain was there. I saw him. I also heard 9-9-9. It was like a repeat of the last debate. He did have a great moment when Governor Perry handed him an “Amen!” on who the job creators are in this country. It was sweet. Ending with “America is uptight” might have been a bad idea. Maybe.

Congresswoman Bachmann got off to a bit of a stiff start, but she was definitely in her Tea Party element by the time Wolf got around to remembering that she was in the room. It didn’t hurt that Congressman Paul answered most of the questions for her, and she just had to take out all of that icky foreign policy stuff when replying. Tea Party people loved her. Way to go, Ron Paul-ette!

Rick Santorum surpised me tonight. He seemed more forceful in his replies and downright bitter when he got the chance to attack Perry. Which was during all four questions he was asked. His shining moment was the perfectly scripted slip during a question regarding illegal immigration where he accused Perry of courting the illegal…errr.. Latino vote. He did a pretty great hack job on Perry’s vax mandate, too; invoking parental rights and suggesting an Opt In. Nice to see you stoop a little there, Rick!

I tweeted that Newt Gingrich had a mini teleprompter. It was well stocked, too! Newt zinged em out all night long and got plenty of time to not answer anything. He did it eloquently and decisively. Man, that guy can speak! Newt’s moment in the spotlight for me? “Governments don’t create jobs” ( also, thanks for the lead in Governor Perry and Governor Huntsman!) WASSUP Tea Party People!?!?

Congressman Paul. You are right about so very much. When will you learn to save the foreign policy answers for the foreign policy questions?? Personal responsibility, de-regulation, help thy friends and neighbors, get out of the way of business: all so well received, so great. I even agree that we are spending WAY too much policing the world, but you need to hire someone to get that point across better. I am available.

Huntsman. Most re-tweeted thing about him? “Why is Huntsman there?”

Finally, I would like to welcome Wolf Blitzer to the race. His candidacy came as a surprise to me, but he sure gave one heck of a speech tonight. Look out, Obama! Wolf can say “tax break for the rich” far more convincingly than you!