Who Made the Most Outlandish Comment During Last Night's Republican Debate?

By Matthew Hendley Tue., Sep. 13 2011 at 8:30 AM

Last night was the CNN/Tea Party Express Republican debate, which we live-blogged from Tampa right here on the Pulp.

We knew we were in for some fun as soon as we saw the plane flying above the Florida State Fairgrounds before the debate with a banner reading, "Where's the real birth certificate?"

It was expected to be a battle between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- which it was -- but each of the candidates got plenty of time to put in his or her two cents.

Thankfully, several of those comments were a bit loony, so we'll let you select which one you believe is the most outlandish.

Here are your selections:

Michele Bachmann

Speaking on Rick Perry's executive order in Texas for HPV vaccines:

"I'm a mom. And I'm a mom of three children. And to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat-out wrong."

Rick Perry

After Bachmann accused him of taking money from the maker of the aforementioned vaccines:

"Yes, sir. The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them. I raise about $30 million. And if you're saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I'm offended."

The audience

Wolf Blitzer asked Ron Paul whether society should let a man die because he chose not to buy health insurance. Paul said no, but a few members of the audience yelled out:

"Yeah!"

Jon Hunstman

This is the only context we have for this one:

"You've got Gov. Romney, who called it a fraud in his book No Apology. I don't know if that was written by Kurt Cobain or not."

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Her analysis of the debate:

It was "more worship at the altar of the Tea Party."

Now we want to know, who had the most outlandish statement during last night's debate?

Cast your vote below:

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Tags:

CNN, GOP Debate, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Republican Debate, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Tea Party Express, Wolf Blitzer

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GuntherZorn

Is CNN so desperate for an audience that they will bed the Tea Party? How pathetic.

"But in data we have recently collected, the Tea Party ranks lower than any of the 23 other groups we asked about — lower than both Republicans and Democrats. It is even less popular than much maligned groups like “atheists” and “Muslims.” Interestingly, one group that approaches it in unpopularity is the Christian Right." -- NY Times, Aug. 16, 2011

SMDrPepper

Here is a better question. Why is it the repubs can only field right wing extremists for these elections?If I was a republican, and I cant since I am not a fat cat, I would demand a reshuffle of this deck.

Virgil Starkwell

I have an idea for a poll. How much would it cost to buy Rick Perry? Since he essentially admitted he could be bought, but not for a measely $5,000.00, let's guess how much it would cost to buy us a genuine Texas Hoowa.

1) $100,000;

2) $1,000,000.00;

3) $40,000.00 and a lifetime supply of barbeque;

4) $20,000.00, cowboy boots and botox.

I'm going with number 1.

Model Citizen

I'm sticking with the $5,000.

Chaz Stevens, Genius

At the previous debate at the Reagan Library, there was a spontaneous round of applause for executing people! And Perry shows no remorse, not even a tiny smidgen of reflection, especially when we know for certain that he signed the death warrant for an innocent man. Here’s why I find it impossible to be a Republican: any crowd that instantly cheers the execution of 234 individuals is a crowd I want to flee, not join.

Here in the U.S, we are very likely about to execute an innocent person in the State of Georgia. That Perry in particular likely enabled the execution of an innocent man — as well as numerous other highly disturbing killings, of the young and mentally infirm — makes the cheering all the more repellent. That the death penalty in America has long been plagued by a serious racial bias makes it worse still. That this death-cheering comes from a party that relentlessly touts itself as ”pro-life” and derides the other as The Party of Death — and loves to condemn Islam (in contrast to its war-loving self) as a death-glorifying cult — only adds a layer of dark irony.

During Perry’s tenure as governor, DNA evidence has exonerated at least 41 people convicted in Texas. According to the Innocence Project, “more people have been freed through DNA testing in Texas than in any other state in the country, and these exonerations have revealed deep flaws in the state’s criminal justice system.” Some 85 percent of wrongful convictions in Texas, or 35 of the 41 cases, are due to mistaken eyewitness identifications.

In the end, we’re learning quite a bit about how Rick Perry thinks. Scientists tell him, after rigorous, peer-reviewed, international research that global warming is real, and Perry responds, “I don’t care.” A deeply flawed judicial process puts potentially-innocent Americans on death row, and Perry responds, “Let’s get the killin’ started.”The governor balks when presented with evidence on evolution, abstinence education, and climate change, but embraces without question the notion that everyone he’s killed in Texas was 100 percent guilty. The scientific process, he apparently believes, is unreliable, while the state criminal justice system is infallible.Intellectually, morally, and politically, this isn’t just wrong; it’s scary. The fact that Republicans in the audience found this worthy of hearty applause points to a party that’s bankrupt in more ways than one.

But what do I know? I'm a card carrying Socialist.

Kristylyn33

Sounds like you are an educated person but I'm not sure where you get your "facts".

Global warming is crap, many states have exonerated the convicted through DNA testing, and not all Republicans cheer those who have lost their life to the death penalty.

I am pleased to hear that you have not been visited by evil, but for those of us that have, we know it must be eradicated and we have the courage to do so.

You might be onto something with this evolution stuff though, it appears it may have had played a part in your existence.