Politics: Afternoon Edition: What we learned from the GOP debate

Friday, 6 May 2011 by IrwanKch
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Friday, May 6, 2011
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1) THE FIX: What we learned from the GOP debate
The first debate of the 2012 Republican presidential race is in the books and, while none of the best known GOP candidates showed up, the gathering did provide a few important lessons about the contest.
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2) EZRA KLEIN: Why isn't anyone talking about jobs?
The only people in Washington who seem to care about jobs anymore are those who can't do anything about them.
» Read full article

3) Economy adds 244K jobs, but unemployment rate ticks upward
Employers ramped up their hiring in April, the Labor Department said Friday, giving hope that recent signs of weakening growth have not undermined job creation. But the unemployment rate also rose, showing that American workers are still having a rough time finding jobs.
» Read full article

4) FACT CHECKER: A gusher of oil rhetoric
Thursday's fall in oil prices demonstrates how difficult it is to pinpoint the cause of commodity price movements. Yet Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) was very definitive about the impact of the petroleum reserve. How valid is his case?
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5) WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON: Donald Trump takes a nosedive
The events of the past week undercut the notion that Trump is a serious — or even a semi-serious — contender.
» Read full article
QUOTE OF THE DAY
GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, following the first GOP presidential debate:

"I hope they continue to call me a longshot until I'm taking the oath of office in the White House."
COMMENT OF THE DAY
jheath53, on Dana Milbank's "GOP debate: No grown-ups edition" article:

This debate was the political equivalent of the first NFL pre-season game, where the guys who probably won't make the team get their shot at impressing their coaches.

Q&A Discussion
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson was online at 1 p.m. ET to discuss his latest column, "Starving Wisconsin's unions":


Rick Santorum: I'm suprised that Santorum is getting almost no attention. During his time in the Senate he was every conservative's favorite conservative. Now he is an after thought. Is it simply due to the fact that he is viewed as a loser, in terms of he lost his last race.

Eugene Robinson:

I think so. He lost that 2006 Senate race badly -- 18 points or so. It's hard to pivot from such a big loss to a presidential race.

I do think though that if people are looking for a "pure" social conservative in the field, Santorum is probably their guy.



» View full Q&A session
MULTIMEDIA
Video: Cain: 'Longshot doesn't discourage me'
Video: Cain: 'Longshot doesn't discourage me'
Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain talks about his underdog status after the first Republican presidential debate Thursday night in South Carolina. A Fox News focus group concluded Cain came out on top against Tim Pawlenty, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.


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