Those debate rating doo-hickey thingy things
Here are two screenshots from Frank Luntz’s focus group, which used those debate rating doo-hickey thingy things. That’s my technical term for those live reaction ratings. 
Anyway, Luntz was rather excited over two moments when Mitt Romney sent the rating doo-hickey thing things through the roof. The yellow line represents the self-identified conservative voters in the group. The blue line represents self-identified moderates in the group. The first shot is reaction when Romney gave his “Washington is broken” remarks:
The second shot is reaction when Romney blasted McCain’s support of amnesty:
Make of it what you will.
I’d like to see what happens to the doo-hickey ratings whenever one of the candidates–GOP or Dem–says “Change.”
***
Allah’s got the vid clip of Luntz’s focus group reax.
Scott Johnson scores this bout for Romney. Check his scorecard at Power Line.
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Meet your Republican nominee ladies and gentlemen…Mitt Romney owned this debate!
I got no beef w/Mitt…
But they call it Super Tuesday for a reason.
We shall see…
Love his technology. Frank Luntz has taken “focus groups” to a higher plateau (so to speak)!
I think Mitt was at his best. McCain and Huckabee should get a room after their lovefest.
In closing I would like to say change change change change change change change change
These things use Wii-like devices to measure reaction.
When Mitt came on, most everyone started spontaneously stroking their hair and they forgot to set down their nunchuks.
(Mitt did fine, too.)
Being a recent Huckabee recoverer (endorsed him for awhile but have come to my senses), Romney is looking pretty good to me. He seems to be the most all around conservative candidate out there. We’ll have to see.
Jacob Hammond
With all due respect to Aretha Franklin:
Change, Change, Change, Change, Change, Change,
Change, Change, Change, Change these fools.
Cripes, why don’t we just forget about voting and leave picking a president to the fershlugginer focus groups?
That way, we can have a nice Osama Obama or a nice Mitt-meister, both unprincipled creations of the mainstream political hacks.
The only qualified candidates — Hunter and Tancredo — have already been broomed by the MainStreamBloggers in favor of those who are “electable.”
Four more years of disaster, crookedness and shameless pandering, coming up….
What are y’all going to do if Ron Paul wins, eh?
I just checked with Hugh Hewitt and he agreed that Mitt won and if you don’t agree you have no business commenting on debates.
When it comes to debate comments I’ll take MM over HH any day of the week and twice on Sunday …
Anytime McCain, Guiliani, or Huckabee speak, I feel like throwing up, and tonight, McCain was absolutely revolting. Aren’t they all members of the Council on Foreign Relations who thinks we should give up our sovereignty leading to a one world government? Can they actually belong to a group like that, yet answer questions as though they aren’t? McCain states he was endorsed by four previous secretaries of state—everyone of them is a CFR member, or worse, a Bilderberg group, Trilateral Commission member. I would never vote for him.
Are they hooked to lie detectors?
Desert lover I have to agree that MM is better then HH in debate comments.
I was a Fredhead but I also have no problem with Mitt.
I’d be curious to see what a real “business guy” could do with the government. Not this “George Bush: I ran a baseball team” kind of business guy.
I think they all did fine. I think Huckabee actually looks the strongest. If he gets more than 15% in NH, I think you can discount the ‘evangelical’ factor.
On another note, somebody tell Hannity that he is so far in the tank for Rudy that he’s unwatchable. He’s got KP on for the eye candy ratings, but he’s more for Rudy than she ever was for Hillary and that’s saying something.
Hannity just praised Rudy over and over and over and tried to disparage the crap out of McCain. I just don’t get why people think Rudy is a decent R at all. I could support any of the candidates other than Rudy. I actually like Forbes (his campaign manager) for president 1000x more than Rudy. Tell Hannity to drop it already.
Wondering ….
McCain stated he had led troops in combat. Weren’t we out of VN when he was released? Wasn’t he a state-side ExO, rather than a theater ExO? Somehow I recall that the flight group he commanded was not involved in VN (didn’t GWB fly the same plane?).
Not that any of this really matters, but thought there might be an AF person here who would know/recall ….
I’d have liked to see the rating doo-hickey thingy thing for Thompson’s immigration statements…
I listen to the laundry list that most want to accomplish and I think ‘well maybe…if you had 10 terms or so but with this congress ..good luck son.
Fred keeps to a few important things and covers them well.
Even the mod tonight said he concentrated on Huck, Mitt and big Mac.
Unfair to Rudy and Fred
Gull
JOHN S. McCAIN II
Lieutenant Commander – United States Navy
Shot Down: October 26, 1967
Released: March 15, 1973
He was a P.O.W. for 5 1/2 years in North Viet Nam …
I dislike Romney so much that if he is the nominee…..I will not vote.
GO FRED!!!!
Dittoes!
I have to wonder about these Luntz groups. They say they are undecided, but that doesn’t mean unbiased. I don’t remember where in the debate anything about Huck’s religion was mentioned, yet all the focus group people said he was too religious. It was clear they were going off Huck’s win in Iowa rather than anything he said in the debate. The clincher was the guy who said Mitt was more believable in his stance on being pro-life than Gov. Huckabee. The flip-flopper more believable than the guy who’s been 100% pro-life his entire life? Come on. Their minds were made up before they ever entered that room with Luntz. pitiful
“The second shot is reaction when Romney blasted McCain’s support of amnesty:
Make of it what you will.”
I make of it that the illegal “immigration” issue is the one issue the candidates and party should emphasize over others. It resonates across the board, including with the average non-PC Democrats. As we know, it’s the Democrat candidate’s weakest point. Started Hillary’s downward spiral for sure; and that was just about drivers licenses.
Protecting the borders and enforcing the law isn’t just a winning issue, it’s the right thing. A candidate who gets it right is more likely to get other important issues right, e.g Iraq and the fight againt the terrorists.
postaldog
As for that focus group … I commented on the other thread about the person that was griping about Fred’s stance on health care … ???? … WTF ??? … there were no questions on health care … so what debate was she watching????
Sorry Mitt Romney wants to be all things to all people. First off it is impossible. It will take more then lines on a graph to convince me otherwise. I can dial in for my favorite on American Idol, it doesn’t make the “Idol” the best choice just the most popular, in the moment. Mitt Romney, nice hair though.
My husband and I were watching and discussing this. I mentioned Michelle’s McCain poll last week, and he said, yes I would hold my nose and vote for McCain.
I still prefer Duncan Hunter, The MSM just doesn’t have any use for him.
I don’t think it’s possible to find anyone who’s a “blank slate”, dog.
Unless you had someone who had been alone on a desert island for 50 years and was then ushered under heavy guard, totally unexposed to the world, into a focus group.
You can’t get away from “bias” and “prejudice” (in the purest, good sense of those words). The question is if the person is in sync with the larger group’s conclusions.
purplepeep –
My only complaint here is how this guy Luntz is waving his arms around and talking about how all these undecided voters were moved by the debate to vote for Romney. When by their own statements, they demonstrate that they had preconceived notions about the candidates and most likely were leaning towards Mitt anyway.
It’s disingenous and that bothers me.
And for the record, as I’m sure you are aware that I support Huck from previous posts, I think he did poorly in this debate. pity
No, dog, didn’t know – it’s hard to remember who’s supporting who. They’s a lotta folks in these parts.
I don’t know that Huckabee has much staying power, I tend to think Iowa was his big hurrah. But who knows? Just 6 weeks or so ago many folks here were saying since Hillary was the inevitable Dem candidate that we must support Giuliani because he was the only candidate liberal enough to beat her.
As Bobby Allen Zimmerman once sang “don’t speak too soon for the wheel’s still in spin”.
“Protect the borders.
Kill the terrororists.
Punch the hippies.”
Works for me.
It’ll will a ‘Bama landslide and full Demo takeover Congress in November, folks.
I find the prospect curiously liberating.
Think of it. The Republicans are mostly RINOs, Dinos, or Whin-os, anyway, so I’d rather the Dems take the full rap for America’s coming fall into bankrupting nannystatism, and EU-UNociding dhimmitude.
You really want to be associated with the castration of the military, the loss of our sovereignty, the vanishing of God and our national and cultural identity, and the pillaging of your children’s future just because the RINOs are wearing(down) our tag?
You can only gag at, excuse and defend the RINOs’ sh.. and shenanigans for so long.
The Reps need a spell in the desert to dry out and have a recovery epiphany. Let’s just hope there’s a Promised Land left to come back to after their wanderings.
St. Obama will satisfy America’s nagging hunger to usher in a black (or female) President so it can finally unself-consciously throw the “racist/sexist” trope taunts back at the envious world before whom for now it unaccountably cringes. Sling those nasty bits back at the Europeans, especially, who of course will be at such a pitch of pissing ecstasy at the enthronement of a “black Kennedy”, that they’ll indubitably hail the warrior vigor of his proposed preemptive strike at Pakistan, because, by Gawd, it’s gonna be a ‘Bama Bomb-a”, and so it isn’t the Bush Doctrine revivified, no, not at all! It all depends on the color of your goggles, man!
The Africans will love his Kenyan half-ness, the Muslims his middle Hussein-ness, the SE Asians his Indonesian childhooded-ness, the South Asians his madrassa schooling-ness, and the aging ‘Boomers his lazily cool, pot-smoking Hawaiian teenhooded-ness.
Not to forget his booming Southern- cadencing, Gospel-singing campaigning-ness. And his Harvard Law-hoodedness. And that wife, those kids … well, ‘bye, bye, Jackie, Caroline and John-john!
What a package! Can’t fight it with RINOs, man! This is the dream reel political deal! Hollywood couldn’t have written this script better, no sir!
I for once look forward to travelling the world again soon while it beams benignly at me, now soon-to-be one of those “enlightened Americans”, because apres-les-donkeys, le deluge!
Plants in Luntz’s focus group?
Me, too. Anyone catch his “Life Experience” preparedness to be President included the “time he was deprived of” living in America??????????
Didn’t someone pin him down a few years ago??? And didn’t they stop introducing him as a “TORTURED” EX-POW, after that, when he had to admit he wasn’t tortured, I think, but that after crying about the pain he was in for the first three days in camp – granted for BROKEN BONES, yes – but in order to get MEDICAL ATTENTION for the injuries he sustained BEFORE THE CAMP – NOT TO GET THE TORTURE STOPPED – he gave over EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about his carrier he could think of, names of shipmates included – even though his own father was the commander of the field in Vietnam?
Sorry about his painful experiences over there, folks, but lots of fall-out in Congress over the North Viet Cong leadership, issues of MIA’s and POW’s in the 90’s was NOT to his credit, just adds to the facts: WHO wants such a person as COMMANDER IN CHIEF of the troops?
Not saying I’d do better, or that a lot of folks would have done better – but many folks do a lot better, and many of them are serving their nation AS WE SPEAK.
And they deserve better than the man who helped create the scandal about Abu Ghraib, and joined the DIMS in demanding that Gitmo be closed, wrote and sponsored the slap in the face to our boys called an ANTI-TORTURE bill that OUR SOLDIERS NOT BE ALLOWED TO TORTURE islamofascist terrorists, with such awful “atrocities” as waterboarding, or having Americans touch their korans, or put panties on their heads. Passed by DIMS, primarily.
And Fred says McCain will make an EXCELLENT President.
I won’t vote for either of them in the general election – not Huckabee or Rudi, either, for that matter.
Duncan Hunter, with the blessing of Chuck Yeager – where is he? the casualty of “PERCEIVED “ELECTABILITY” “ – the sort that gave California Dah Ahnold Man!
WOW!
Anyway, nobody will be able to challenge McCain as he continually drags up his years as POW in Vietnam – his defence of Hanoi John against SWIFT BOATING, with the aid of his and Thompson’s bill “McCain/Feingold/Thompson” will help insulate him from accountability, as well.
No wonder, as McCain’s former Presidential Campaign MAnager, that Thompson isn’t ashamed of his part in THAT!
ROTFLTHH!!! LOL!
I just love it!
WHAT A NAIL of the GOP!
It would work for ME, TOO, if there were anything GENUINE in it.
But coming from Howard Baker’s protege
Principal in WRITING and SPONSORING and VOTING and PUSHING THROUGH McCain/Feingold/(Thompson) which originally did have his name on it, too
former prosecutor from Watergate
who said that Bill Clinton’s PERJURY in a personal injury lawsuit was a “TRIVIAL MATTER”
“NOT RISING TO THE LEVEL OF IMPEACHMENT”
(what did you say about “punching hippies”???
IN THE EYES OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS???
“The vote of your opponents is the most honorable mark by which the soundness of your conduct could be stamped. I claim the same honorable testimonial. There was but a single act of my whole administration of which [the opposing] party approved… And when I found they approved of it, I confess I began strongly to apprehend I had done wrong, and to exclaim with the Psalmist, ‘Lord, what have I done that the wicked should praise me?’” –Thomas Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, 1812. ME 13:162
EVEN THOUGH HE WAS ONLY ONE OF FOUR GOP SENATORS TO SO VOTE and he voted WITH ALL BUT TWO DIM SENATORS
Which decision later gave Clinton opportunity to pardon 16 terrorists
And which ALL SUPREME COURT JUSTICES THEN UNANIMOUSLY BOYCOTTED CLINTON’S FOLLOWING STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH
(that is how good a sound Judicial decision that vote was!)
He said 3 times I know of in 2007, THAT VOTE WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO HE STILL THINKS, TODAY!
CHANGED THE COURSE OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE WHICH HE CHAIRED, CHARGED WITH INVESTIGATING CHINESE DONATIONS TO CLINTON CAMPAIGN FUNDS into nothing more than a TIT FOR TAT comparison with GOP MISDEMEANORS – and did NOTHING about the TREASONOUS FELONIES of those CHINESE DONATIONS, for which several MINOR PLAYERS got felony time in jail, and dozens went to CHINA to hide from subpoenas
Who helped defeat TORTE REFORM
TRIED to defeat Megan’s Law
Managed McCain’s 2000 Presidential Campaign
AT THE SAME TIME as the ARIZONA GOP was UNANIMOUSLY CENSURING McCain for so dissing his home party that the DIMS decided he was THEIR favorite pick and the DIMS voted him into his last Senate re-election OVER THEIR OWN DIM CANDIDATE
Said several times AFTER SHAMNESTY that McCain would still make a very very fine President of the USA
HIMSELF NEVER STOOOD AGAINST SHAMNESTY and his words weasel on the issue, today.
No. Fred doesn’t even remind me of what one would find on the SAME PLANET with what I am looking for.
I am looking for a man who is worthy of having his name engraved on the brass plate on the trophy of this high calling, NEXT TO SUCH MEN AS ALREADY OCCUPY THAT COVETED AND HIGHLY HONORED PLACE, beside George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan – whose worth is highly prized and whose company is well worth the effort of joining, to stand shoulder to shoulder to defend the structures that make this nation possible.
Fred don’t even remind me of what I am looking for.
I ain’t looking for one of those boys down at the club who glad-hands and slaps the backs approvingly of the slobs who are fellow club members when they brag about (date)raping/”seducing” stranded women who are temporarily without the protection of their male relatives.
That is all I see of Fred after his handling of Senate responsibilities towards being confrnted AS A FORMER PROSECUTOR with the MISCONDUCT IN OFFICE of Bill Clinton on NOT ONE but MANY occassions – and turning a BLIND EYE to the consequences of winking at it.
No, he isn’t the man I will pick to be in charge of selecting appointees to our Court benches!
There is NOTHING that could compel me to vote for his kind!
Not even three days of lack of medical treatment for broken bones.
Probably the wrong thread to say this – but I’m just a bit puzzled by some of the candidates insistence that the number of countries traveled to is an indication of foreign policy experience. By that measure, I bet Paris Hilton is more qualified since I’d venture a guess that she’s vacationed out of the country than those guys have traveled out of the country.
Once again, the media disses Duncan Hunter, by assuming he has not chance just because he didn’t show in Iowa or NH. Like those 2 states are magical or something. What’s worse is that I can understand ABC not inviting him to a debate, but finding out that FOX didn’t invite him really chaps my cheeks. (not the ones on my face either)
Huckabee wasn’t a speck on the radar 6 weeks ago either, now look at him. People need to give Hunter his chance.
The race is still wide open.
MrVIBEMAN said:
Once again I say the only way this will ever get fixed is a National Primary Election Day so that ALL CANDIDATES are still on ALL BALLOTS …
Romney has all the right ideas, the right credentials, the right experience. So why does he keep being beat out? All I can think is that people find him too appealing, too smart, too longsuffering – especially with the Christian candidate Huckabee making things up about himself and negative things about Romney! The troop surge? I remember Romney supporting it because I remember thinking “This is a risk. If the surge does not work, these comments will be a liability for Romney.”
In any case, I think there might be some ‘rich guy hate’ going on.
#38…Romney isn’t close to a conservative. Romney in fact signed into law a bill requiring health insurance. What kind of knuckleheaded bill is that. If I’m “rich” and choose to self insure – who is he to say I can’t? Telling an employer that they have to insure an employee is simply not recognizing the competitive issues around the world. Whether he understands this or not (it appears he doesn’t), the money comes from somewhere. The employer looks at total costs associated with hiring someone.
Now that I’ve ripped what Romney did – what I would have done is tell the hospitals that they don’t have to treat those who don’t pay. No gov’t intervention needed. No big bureaucracy required actually not providing care but rather pushing paper. People would get insurance all on their own. Some might not – but is that my fault they choose not to?
Romney had to deal with a legislature that is abuot 85% liberal Democrat. They could have overridden any veto they wanted.
Universal Health Insurance was happening in Massachussets, just like gay marriage and tax increases were going to happen.
Mitt fought to make the health plan as palatable as he could. He’s admitted that it is not all that he wanted it to be, but he could only get the Dems to give so much. He played ball to mitigate the damage.
Even if overridden – he still didn’t have to sign it. By signing the bills, he indicated his approval of them. If he hadn’t signed them, and they were overridden, he could say honestly that he didn’t support them and his actions showed such. Just do what is right and you don’t have to cover your tracks.
He’s a liberal in liberals clothing. (By the way, I live in CT so am close enough that I hear what offense/defense Romney put up – didn’t sound to me like he fought too hard get what was right done.)
Romney sometimes seems just a little too slick for my taste, and the fact that he’s having to justify his actions as the governor of a very liberal state is an issue, too.. Yeah, the Dem legislature in MA could have overriden his veto of something he didn’t like. But why didn’t he stand on conviction and veto it anyway? Health care needs fixing, but mandating universal coverage isn’t the way to do it. I like the idea of making the nation one giant market for health insurance. And trial lawyers have caused costs to go up by suing pharmaceutical companies and doctors. I recall news stories a while back about states with high malpractice awards in court causing an exodus of doctors, especially doctors who deal with “high-risk” issues, causing the supply of qualified doctors to shrink, and in some locals, to levels that put lives of the public in danger when an emergency happens. Fixing health care isn’t going to be easy. Government control or forcing everyone to have insurance isn’t the answer.
There is a difference between Universal Healthcare and Government Healthcare. Obviously, the most ideal solution is to get government out of healthcare, schools, etc.
But so long as we have REPUBLICANS looking at a “government is supposed to work” candidate like Mike Huckabee, we have no place demanding less government.
So you’d rather he just veto a very liberal bill that will get passed anyways than work with the legislature to pass a slightly less liberal version that he promises to sign?
Sounds like we got the best we could out of a bad (liberal) situation.
I’m from MA, so Romney’s years as governor had a direct impact on me.
ArtbyRuth-whatever your opinion of the Replublican nominee(whoever it is),don’t sit out.The most important thing really is to stop Hillary,Edwards,or Obama.
Folks, just how do we know those people were truly “undecided?” I signed up to be a member of a focus group and I’m a dyed in the wool Fred Head.
How can they PROVE one is undecided?
I think those focus groups are a bunch of hooey.