CNN/Tea Party Express Republican Debate: Live Blog
Categories: Election
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Eight candidates will take the stage for the debate -- moderated by CNN's Wolf Blitzer -- from 8 to 10 p.m., and the event will be streamed live online, which you can find here.
Questions will be taken in part from Tea Party members representing 31 states and Washington, D.C., from Tea Party people watching from debate parties in several U.S. cities, as well as comments posted to CNNPolitics.com, the CNN Politics Facebook page, and by using the #CNNTeaParty hashtag on Twitter.
The Pulp goes live after the jump:
10:53 p.m. That's all folks -- back to South Florida for the Pulp.
10:41 p.m. It looks like only Cain and Santorum are the only candidates showing up to the "spin room." Santorum says although he plans on sticking around for the race, "I feel like I'm on an episode of Survivor."
10:30 p.m. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal hasn't stopped talking about how great he thinks Perry is. Jindal says he has no intentions of becoming Perry's vice-presidential candidate.
10:27 p.m. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz says the debate was "more worship at the altar of the Tea Party."
9:52 p.m. Debate has ended; now on to the "spin room."
9:51 p.m. Herman Cain: "I would bring a sense humor to the White House, because America is too uptight."
9:49 p.m. TV reporters are already getting set up in the "spin room" for postdebate drama. It's probably safe to say Bill O'Reilly won't be there.
9:43 p.m. Paul gets booed for explaining the reasoning behind 9/11 attacks. The crowd did, however, cheer on Santorum's revisionist history of events.
9:32 p.m. Huntsman says Perry's comment on immigration being impossible to solve is bordering on "treasonous."
9:29 p.m. Santorum on how to attract Latino voters: Make English the country's official language. What?
9:19 p.m. Blitzer asks Paul, in a hypothetical question, if he would let an uninsured man die if he couldn't afford medical treatment. A handful of audience members shout "yeah!" (Paul said no.)
9:15 p.m. Romney is trying to explain to the audience how health care works. It's a lost cause.
9:12 p.m. Perry is getting flak from Bachmann and Santorum about fighting cancer. Only at a Tea Party debate, folks.
9:11 p.m. Perry says he's offended that Bachmann thinks he can be bought for $5,000. How much does he really cost?
9:03 p.m. Wolf Blitzer looks incredibly uncomfortable asking some of these softball questions.
8:45 p.m. Paul says as a Texan, his taxes have gone up with Perry as governor. He says he doesn't want to offend Perry because he might raise his taxes again.
8:42 p.m. Cain on how he'd pass his "9-9-9" plan: "People say, 'You don't know how Washington works.' Yes, I do -- it doesn't."
8:39 p.m. Perry says he can make America "take off like a rocket ship."
8:31 p.m. Ron Paul, as usual, says he wants to end the wars overseas. The rest of the candidates, as usual, look at him like he's crazy.
8:24 p.m. Gingrich accuses Obama of scaring seniors. Why is everyone trying to scare old people?
8:20 p.m. Paul wants young people to be able to opt out of Social Security.
8:19 p.m. Romney takes over for Wolf Blitzer, starts asking Perry about Social Security. Perry responds by saying Romney is "scaring seniors."
8:17 p.m. The term "Ponzi scheme" has been brought up by both Perry and Romney; neither attacked nor defended it. Yawn.
8:13 p.m. The debate begins; first question goes to Bachmann. She says Obama "stole" $500 billion to fund "Oh-bah-mah-Care."
8:04 p.m. Candidates are taking the stage.
7:58 p.m. The Tea Partiers are practicing clapping. This is adorable.
7:47 p.m. Press room is now looking at a live feed of the debate hall. Average age of the crowd is somewhere between 60 and very, very old.
7:40 p.m. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson says it "really sucks" that he wasn't invited to participate in the event. He'll be pretending he's part of the debate through his Twitter account.
7:12 p.m. Mitt Romney's team sent out a news release about Rick Perry's recent revelation about Social Security being a Scott Rothstein-type of gig. We'll see how the Tea Party crowd reacts when Mitt goes on the attack during the debate.
6:50 p.m. With Newt Gingrich's arrival, the almost-relevant candidates are all here.
6:43 p.m. Rick Perry rolls up to the debate with an entourage in three black SUVs. Ron Paul came a few minutes before in a minivan, and Mitt Romney came with his newly found date, Tim Pawlenty.
6:35 p.m. Dinner for media members: An anti-abortion pledge coupled with tears of the unemployed. Just kidding: turkey sandwich and chips.
6:12 p.m. According to CNN, more than 100 local Tea Party groups will be in attendance tonight. Strangely, only the Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity gets its own parking lot.
5:54 p.m. The Pulp has arrived. First thing spotted: A plane banner flying outside the Florida State Fairgrounds reading, "Where's the real birth certificate?"
1:09 p.m. We're officially taking the Pulp train (a mid-'90s Honda) to Tampa.
Follow The Pulp on Facebook and on Twitter: @ThePulpBPB. Follow Matthew Hendley on Facebook and on Twitter: @MatthewHendley.
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