Three myths about the detention bill

FRIDAY, DEC 16, 2011 6:56 AM EASTERN STANDARD TIME

BY GLENN GREENWALD

President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Credit: AP)

(updated below)

Condemnation of President Obama is intense, and growing, as a result of his announced intent to sign into law the indefinite detention bill embedded in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). These denunciations come not only from the nation’s leading civil liberties and human rights groups, but also from the pro-Obama New York Times Editorial Page, which today has a scathing Editorial describing Obama’s stance as “a complete political cave-in, one that reinforces the impression of a fumbling presidency” and lamenting that “the bill has so many other objectionable aspects that we can’t go into them all,” as well as from vocal Obama supporters such as Andrew Sullivan, who wrote yesterday that this episode is “another sign that his campaign pledge to be vigilant about civil liberties in the war on terror was a lie.” In damage control mode,White-House-allied groups are now trying to ride to the rescue with attacks on the ACLU and dismissive belittling of the bill’s dangers.

For that reason, it is very worthwhile to briefly examine — and debunk — the three principal myths being spread by supporters of this bill, and to do so very simply: by citing the relevant provisions of the bill, as well as the relevant passages of the original 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF), so that everyone can judge for themselves what this bill actually includes (this is all above and beyond the evidence I assembled in writing about this bill yesterday):

Myth # 1: This bill does not codify indefinite detention

Section 1021 of the NDAA governs, as its title says, “Authority of the Armed Forces to Detain Covered Persons Pursuant to the AUMF.”  The first provision — section (a) — explicitly “affirms that the authority of the President” under the AUMF  ”includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons.” The next section, (b), defines “covered persons” — i.e., those who can be detained by the U.S. military — as “a person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.” With regard to those “covered individuals,” this is the power vested in the President by the next section, (c):

It simply cannot be any clearer within the confines of the English language that this bill codifies the power of indefinite detention. It expressly empowers the President — with regard to anyoneaccused of the acts in section (b) – to detain them “without trial until the end of the hostilities.” That is the very definition of “indefinite detention,” and the statute could not be clearer that it vests this power. Anyone claiming this bill does not codify indefinite detention should be forced to explain how they can claim that in light of this crystal clear provision.

It is true, as I’ve pointed out repeatedly, that both the Bush and Obama administrations have argued that the 2001 AUMFimplicitly (i.e., silently) already vests the power of indefinite detention in the President, and post-9/11 deferential courts have largely accepted that view (just as the Bush DOJ argued that the 2001 AUMF implicitly (i.e., silently) allowed them to eavesdrop on Americans without the warrants required by law). That’s why the NDAA can state that nothing is intended to expand the 2001 AUMF while achieving exactly that: because the Executive and judicial interpretation being given to the 20o1 AUMF is already so much broader than its language provides.

But this is the first time this power of indefinite detention is being expressly codified by statute (there’s not a word about detention powers in the 2001 AUMF). Indeed, as the ACLU and HRW both pointed out, it’s the first time such powers are being codified in a statute since the McCarthy era Internal Security Act of 1950, about which I wrote yesterday.

Myth #2: The bill does not expand the scope of the War on Terror as defined by the 2001 AUMF

This myth is very easily dispensed with. The scope of the war as defined by the original 2001 AUMF was, at least relative to this new bill, quite specific and narrow. Here’s the full extent of the power the original AUMF granted:

(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determinesplanned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

Under the clear language of the 2001 AUMF, the President’s authorization to use force was explicitly confined to those who (a) helped perpetrate the 9/11 attack or (b) harbored the perpetrators. That’s it. Now look at how much broader the NDAA is with regard to who can be targeted:

Section (1) is basically a re-statement of the 2001 AUMF. But Section (2) is a brand new addition. It allows the President to target not only those who helped perpetrate the 9/11 attacks or those who harbored them, but also: anyone who “substantially supports” such groups and/or “associated forces.” Those are extremely vague terms subject to wild and obvious levels of abuse (see what Law Professor Jonathan Hafetz told me in an interview last week about the dangers of those terms). This is a substantial statutory escalation of the War on Terror and the President’s powers under it, and it occurs more than ten years after 9/11, with Osama bin Laden dead, and with the U.S. Government boasting that virtually all Al Qaeda leaders have been eliminated and the original organization (the one accused of perpetrating 9/11 attack) rendered inoperable.

It is true that both the Bush and Obama administration have long been arguing that the original AUMF should be broadly “interpreted” so as to authorize force against this much larger scope of individuals, despite the complete absence of such language in that original AUMF. That’s how the Obama administration justifies its ongoing bombing of Yemen and Somalia and its killing of people based on the claim that they support groups that did not even exist at the time of 9/11 – i.e., they argue: these new post-9/11 groups we’re targeting are “associated forces” of Al Qaeda and the individuals we’re killing “substantially support” those groups. But this is the first time that Congress has codified that wildly expanded definition of the Enemy in the War on Terror. And all anyone has to do to see that is compare the old AUMF with the new one in the NDAA.

Myth #3: U.S. citizens are exempted from this new bill

This is simply false, at least when expressed so definitively and without caveats. The bill is purposely muddled on this issue which is what is enabling the falsehood.

There are two separate indefinite military detention provisions in this bill. The first, Section 1021, authorizes indefinite detention for the broad definition of “covered persons” discussed above in the prior point. And that section does provide that “Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect existing law or authorities relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States, or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.” So that section contains a disclaimer regarding an intention to expand detention powers for U.S. citizens, but does so only for the powers vested by that specific section. More important, the exclusion appears to extend only to U.S. citizens “captured or arrested in the United States” — meaning that the powers of indefinite detention vested by that section apply to U.S. citizens captured anywhere abroad (there is somegrammatical vagueness on this point, but at the very least, there is a viable argument that the detention power in this section applies to U.S. citizens captured abroad).

But the next section, Section 1022, is a different story. That section specifically deals with a smaller category of people than the broad group covered by 1021: namely, anyone whom the President determines is “a member of, or part of, al-Qaeda or an associated force” and “participated in the course of planning or carrying out an attack or attempted attack against the United States or its coalition partners.” For those persons, section (a) not only authorizes, but requires (absent a Presidential waiver), that they be held “in military custody pending disposition under the law of war.” The section title is “Military Custody for Foreign Al Qaeda Terrorists,” but the definition of who it covers does not exclude U.S. citizens or include any requirement of foreignness.

That section — 1022 — does not contain the broad disclaimer regarding U.S. citizens that 1021 contains. Instead, it simply says that the requirement of military detention does not apply to U.S. citizens, but it does not exclude U.S. citizens from the authority, the option, to hold them in military custody. Here is what it says:

The only provision from which U.S. citizens are exempted here is the “requirement” of military detention. For foreign nationals accused of being members of Al Qaeda, military detention is mandatory; for U.S. citizens, it is optional. This section does not exempt U.S citizens from the presidential power of military detention: only from the requirement of military detention.

The most important point on this issue is the same as underscored in the prior two points: the “compromise” reached by  Congress includes language preserving the status quo. That’s because the Obama administration already argues that the original 2001 AUMF authorizes them to act against U.S. citizens (obviously, if they believe they have the power to target U.S. citizens for assassination, then they believe they have the power to detain U.S. citizens as enemy combatants). The proof that this bill does not expressly exempt U.S. citizens or those captured on U.S. soil is that amendments offered by Sen. Feinstein providing expressly for those exemptions were rejected. The “compromise” was to preserve the status quo by including the provision that the bill is not intended to alter it with regard to American citizens, but that’s because proponents of broad detention powers are confident that the status quo already permits such detention.

In sum, there is simply no question that this bill codifies indefinite detention without trial (Myth 1). There is no question that it significantly expands the statutory definitions of the War on Terror and those who can be targeted as part of it (Myth 2). The issue of application to U.S. citizens (Myth 3) is purposely muddled — that’s why Feinstein’s amendments were rejected — and there is consequently no doubt this bill can and will be used by the U.S. Government (under this President or a future one)  to bolster its argument that it is empowered to indefinitely detain even U.S. citizens without a trial (NYT Editorial: “The legislation could also give future presidents the authority to throw American citizens into prison for life without charges or a trial”; Sen. Bernie Sanders: “This bill also contains misguided provisions that in the name of fighting terrorism essentially authorize the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens without charges”).

Even if it were true that this bill changes nothing when compared to how the Executive Branch has been interpreting and exercising the powers of the old AUMF, there are serious dangers and harms from having Congress — with bipartisan sponsors, a Democratic Senate and a GOP House — put its institutional, statutory weight behind powers previously claimed and seized by the President alone. That codification entrenches these powers. As the New York Times Editorial today put it: the bill contains “terrible new measures that will make indefinite detention and military trials a permanent part of American law.”

What’s particularly ironic (and revealing) about all of this is that former White House counsel Greg Craig assured The New Yorker‘s Jane Mayer back in February, 2009 that it’s “hard to imagine Barack Obama as the first President of the United States to introduce a preventive-detention law.” Four months later, President Obama proposed exactly such a law — one that The New York Times described as “a departure from the way this country sees itself, as a place where people in the grip of the government either face criminal charges or walk free” — and now he will sign such a scheme into law.

Republican Party presidential debates, 2012

This is an excellent coverage of the Republican Debates.   All links work so that you can listen and watch all of the debates so far.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  (Redirected from Republican Party (United States) presidential debates, 2012)

	This article is part of a series on the 2012 US presidential election	2012 US presidential election
Democratic candidates · 3rd-party / Ind. candidates
Republican primaries · candidates · debates national polling · statewide · straw
Timeline · General election debates Additional races:  House · Senate · gubernatorial

"Republican debates" redirects here. For Republican debates from previous elections, see Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries.

The 2012 United States Republican Party presidential debates are a series of political debates being held, prior to the 2012 Republican primaries, among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in the national election of 2012. The first debate occurred on May 5, 2011 in Greenville, South Carolina, and was hosted by Fox News.

Contents  [hide]  1 Debates 2 Additional events 3 Cancelled Ion Television/ Newsmax debate 4 Complaints of bias 5 References 6 External links

 Debates

The following table includes more prominent venues involving several Republican presidential candidates. (Note: Clicking link at enumeration redirects to summary of debate below.)

Debates among candidates for the 2012 Republican Party U.S. presidential nomination
N°.	Date	Place	Sponsor	Participants*
P  Participant.     N  Non-invitee.†     A  Absent invitee.     O  Out of race (exploring or withdrawn).				Bachmann	Cain	Gingrich	Huntsman	Johnson	Paul	Pawlenty	Perry	Romney	Santorum
1	May 5, 2011	Greenville, SC	Fox News / South Carolina Republican Party	O	P	O	O	P	P	P	O	O	P
2	June 13, 2011	Manchester, NH	CNN / WMUR-TV / Union Leader	P	P	P	N	N	P	P	O	P	P
3	August 11, 2011	Ames, IA	Fox News / Washington Examiner / Iowa Republican Party	P	P	P	P	N	P	P	O	P	P
4	September 7, 2011	Simi Valley, CA	MSNBC / Politico / Reagan Library	P	P	P	P	N	P	O	P	P	P
5	September 12, 2011	Tampa, FL	CNN /  Tea Party Express	P	P	P	P	N	P	O	P	P	P
6	September 22, 2011	Orlando, FL	Fox News / Google /  Florida Republican Party	P	P	P	P	P	P	O	P	P	P
7	October 11, 2011	Hanover, NH	Bloomberg / WBIN-TV / Washington Post	P	P	P	P	N	P	O	P	P	P
8	October 18, 2011	Las Vegas, NV	CNN /  Western Republican Leadership Conf.	P	P	P	A	N	P	O	P	P	P
9	November 9, 2011	Rochester, MI	CNBC / Michigan Republican Party	P	P	P	P	N	P	O	P	P	P
10	November 12, 2011	Spartanburg, SC	CBS / National Journal /  South Carolina Republican Party	P	P	P	P	N	P	O	P	P	P
11	November 22, 2011	Washington, DC	CNN / Heritage Foundation / American Enterprise Institute	P	P	P	P	N	P	O	P	P	P
12	December 10, 2011	Des Moines, IA	ABC News / WOI-DT / Des Moines Register / Iowa Republican Party	P	O	P	A	N	P	O	P	P	P
13	December 15, 2011 Iowa Caucus: Jan. 3	Sioux City, IA	FOX News / Iowa Republican Party	P	O	P	P	N	P	O	P	P	P
•	January 7, 2012	Manchester, NH	ABC News / WMUR-TV		O					O
•	January 8, 2012 NH Primary: Jan. 10	Concord, NH	NBC News / Facebook		O					O
•	January 16, 2012	Myrtle Beach, SC	Fox News / South Carolina Republican Party		O					O
•	January 19, 2012 SC Primary: Jan. 21	Charleston, SC	CNN /  Southern Republican Leadership Conf.		O					O
•	January 23, 2012	Tampa, FL	MSNBC / NBC News / National Journal / St. Petersburg Times / Florida Council of 100		O					O
•	January 26, 2012 FL Primary: Jan. 31	Jacksonville, FL	CNN / Republican Party of Florida		O					O
•	NV ME CO MN Cauc.: Feb. 4–11 February 22, 2012[1]	Mesa, AZ	CNN / Arizona Republican Party		O					O
•	AZ MI Primaries: Feb. 28 March 1, 2012	TBD, GA	CNN / Georgia Republican Party		O					O
•	WA Caucus: Mar. 3 March 5, 2012	Simi Valley, CA	Reagan Library		O					O
•	Super Tuesday: Mar. 6 March 19, 2012	Portland, OR	OPB / Washington Times / Oregon Republican Party		O					O
*^ Participating in at least one debate listed above:   Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota  • Businessman and talk radio host Herman Cain of Georgia  • Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia  • Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah  • Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico  • Rep. Ron Paul of Texas  • Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota  • Gov. Rick Perry of Texas  • Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts  • Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
†^ Not invited to any debate listed above:   Jack Fellure • Buddy Roemer • Fred Karger • Andy Martin • Thaddeus McCotter • Jimmy McMillan • Jonathon Sharkey

 Summaries

Candidates at a 2012 Republican presidential debate in August 2011.

 May 5, 2011 – Greenville, South Carolina

The first Republican debate was at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina. It was broadcast live for 90 minutes on Fox News, FoxNews.com, and Fox News Radio. Most of the candidates who had announced their runs at that time participated in the debate, being Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum.^[2] Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls. Mitt Romney met the debate criteria, but rejected the invitation to appear in the debate. Newt Gingrich originally had planned to attend the debate, but did not meet additional criteria of forming an exploratory committee.^[2]
The debate was moderated by Fox News anchor Bret Baier of Special Report with Bret Baier and several other Fox News contributors, including Juan Williams, Shannon Bream, and Chris Wallace.^[3]
At the end of the debate, Fox News's online votes showed Ron Paul standing out from the other candidates,^[4] but businessman Herman Cain was the overwhelming choice of the Fox News focus group moderated by Frank Luntz.^[5]

• BNet Transcript via FindArticles.com
• Complete Video from DakotaVoice

 June 13, 2011 – Manchester, New Hampshire

The second Republican debate was held at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was broadcast live for 120 minutes on CNN, WMUR-TV, and CNN.com. Candidates participating in the debate included Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.^[6] Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson, and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls.^[6] Several other then-potential candidates, including Jon Huntsman, Rudy Giuliani, and Sarah Palin declined to participate in the debate.^[6]
The debate was moderated by CNN anchor John King of John King, USA and featured several other CNN contributors.^[7]
Following the debate, attention was drawn to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who announced she had filed with the FEC to run for President of the United States during the debate.^[8]

• CNN Transcript
• Complete video from CNN and DakotaVoice
• Washington Post Fact Check

 August 11, 2011 – Ames, Iowa

The third Republican debate was held at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa, Fox News Channel, and The Washington Examiner. It was moderated by Bret Baier with questions from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and the Washington Examiner's Byron York and Susan Ferrechio. Baier and Wallace were praised for their moderation of the debate.^[9] It was broadcast live for two hours on Fox News and FoxNews.com. Candidates participating in the debate included Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney , Jon Huntsman Jr. and Rick Santorum. Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls.
The debate was noted for the sparring between Bachmann and Pawlenty; Pawlenty criticized Bachmann for what he said was a lack of leadership, while Bachmann fired back that Pawlenty's support for cap and trade legislation and the individual mandate while governor of Minnesota made his record look like Obama's.^[10] Gingrich criticized Wallace by saying he was asking "gotcha questions" instead of legitimate questions.^[10] Romney responded to criticisms that "Romneycare" (Massachusetts health care reform) was like "Obamacare" (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) by using a states' rights argument.^[10] Santorum said same-sex marriage is not a state issue because the 10th Amendment "does not give states the right to trample over moral law."^[11] Romney agreed that it is a federal issue, reasoning that people move to different states and that marriage is a status, not an activity that takes place within the walls of a state.^[11] Huntsman and Paul reiterated their support for civil unions.^[11]

• Fox News Transcript, reprinted in the Los Angeles Times
• Complete video on RonPaul.com
• Washington Post Fact Check

 September 7, 2011 – Simi Valley, California

The fourth Republican debate was held at Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, sponsored by NBC News and Politico (but broadcast by MSNBC). It was moderated by Brian Williams, and was notable for being the first to include Texas Governor Rick Perry, who attracted attention for stating his belief that "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme"; he was applauded by the audience for his record of having executed 234 death row inmates.

• Roll Call Transcript in the New York Times, apparently missing about 500 words^[12]
• Pajamas Media Transcript
• Complete video from MSNBC via 2012PresidentialElectionNews.com, Vote4Paul2012, and PostingsPlus
• Washington Post Fact Check

 September 12, 2011 – Tampa, Florida

The fifth Republican debate was held at Florida State Fair Grounds in Tampa, Florida, sponsored by CNN and Tea Party Express. It was moderated by Wolf Blitzer, and was notable for being the first Tea Party debate in history.^[13] Rick Perry was booed by the audience for defending his use of an executive order to mandate young girls have the HPV vaccine. The debate also engendered controversy when Blitzer asked Ron Paul a hypothetical question about a young man who could afford health insurance but refused to purchase any and went into a coma. When Blitzer asked Paul “Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?”, a few audience members shouted "Yeah!"^[14][15]

• CNN Transcript
• Complete video from CNN Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and DakotaVoice
• Washington Post Fact Check

 September 22, 2011 – Orlando, Florida

The sixth Republican debate was held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, and was sponsored by Fox News Channel and Google. It was moderated by Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, and Megyn Kelly. The debate was only the second of the 2012 cycle to feature former governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico; he was also in the May 5, 2011 debate.
The debate engendered controversy when a pre-recorded question fielded by Army service member Stephen Hill from Iraq via YouTube, concerning whether any one of the candidates would reinstate the recently-retired "Don't ask, don't tell" policy excluding openly-gay soldiers like himself from the US military, elicited vocal booing from a few audience members; Santorum, whose turn it was to answer a question, stated that "I would say any type of sexual activity has no place in the military" after the booing had subsided, and was applauded by the audience for his response. Rick Perry drew criticism from the other candidates over the Texas DREAM Act, which provides discounts for tuition prices for the children of illegal immigrants. Perry's response, that the other candidates didn't "have a heart" was poorly received by conservatives.^[16][17] Perry's overall performance was criticised. His speech was so garbled that Mark Hemingway of the Weekly Standard asked if he had suffered a stroke,^[18] and Brit Hume of Fox News stated that Perry, "at a time when he needed to raise his game, I mean, he did worse, it seems to me, than he had done in previous debates."
Gary Johnson, who lagged in polls and media attention, made headlines and became the most-searched-for candidate on Google for several hours for an Obama joke he made, saying, "My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this administration."^[19]

• Fox News transcript and Politisite transcript
• Complete video from Fox News Channel
• New York Times Fact Check
• Washington Post Fact Check

 October 11, 2011 – Hanover, New Hampshire

The seventh Republican debate was held at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and was sponsored by Bloomberg and The Washington Post. It was moderated by Charlie Rose with Julianna Goldman and Karen Tumulty. As Rose described it: "This debate is different and distinctive. It is only about the economy. So we debate this evening about spending and taxes, deficit and debt, about the present and the future, about rich and poor, and about the role of government." Former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, was excluded from the debate.

• Washington Post transcript, New York Times transcript, Chicago Sun-Times transcript and Time transcript
• Complete video from the Washington Post
• New York Times Fact Check
• Washington Post Fact Check

 October 18, 2011 – Las Vegas, Nevada

The eighth Republican debate was held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada and was sponsored by CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference. It was moderated by Anderson Cooper. Jon Huntsman boycotted the debate, citing a scheduling spat between the Nevada Republican Party and the New Hampshire Republican Party over whose primaries would be held first.^[20] Gary Johnson was excluded from the debate because he did not meet CNN's eligibility requirements.
The debate was described as the most contentious thus far.^[21] The debate started with all the candidates criticising Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax reform plan.^[22] Mitt Romney squared off separately with Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. Santorum attacked Romney over his health care reform initiative in Massachusetts, saying, "You just don't have credibility... your consultants helped Obama craft Obamacare." Romney replied "the Massachusetts plan... was something crafted for a state... if I'm president of the United States, I will repeal [Obamacare] for the American people".^[22] Perry, whose performance was seen as an improvement over past debates, attacked Romney because he hired a lawn service using illegal immigrants; Perry said, "The idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is on its face the height of hypocrisy." Romney replied that after they found out the company used illegal immigrants, they let them go, criticising Perry's tuition credit for the children of illegal immigrants, adding that "If there's someone who has a record as governor with regards to illegal immigration that doesn't stand up to muster, it's you, not me."^[22]

• CNN transcript and NYT transcript
• Complete video from 2012 Election Central, DakotaVoice and Vote4Paul2012
• New York Times Fact Check
• Washington Post Fact Check

 November 9, 2011 – Rochester, Michigan

The ninth Republican debate was held at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and was sponsored by CNBC and the Michigan Republican Party. It was moderated by Maria Bartiromo and John Harwood. It focused on the economy and was attended by Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
The defining moment of the debate came when Rick Perry said that he would abolish three government departments. He named the departments of Commerce and Education, but could not remember the Department of Energy. After struggling to remember the name of the last department, Mitt Romney offered "EPA?", to which Perry agreed, before backing down when asked by moderator John Harwood if the EPA really was the department he was thinking of. When pressed as to what the third department was, Perry admitted that he couldn't remember, adding: "Sorry. Oops."^[23] The gaffe came to be known as the "Oops moment"^[24] and was called the "worst gaffe in US debate history",^[25] the "end of his campaign"^[26] and was widely mocked in the media.^[27][28]

• CNBC Transcript and NYT Transcript
• Complete video from CNBC (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3), 2012 Election Central, and Dakota Voice
• Bloomberg Businessweek Fact Check
• New York Times Fact Check
• Washington Post Fact Check

 November 12, 2011 – Spartanburg, South Carolina

The tenth Republican debate was held at Wofford College^[29] in Spartanburg, South Carolina, sponsored by CBS News, the National Journal, and the South Carolina Republican Party.^[30]

• CBS News/National Journal Debate at CBSNews.com with transcript, full video (79:39) and fact checks
• NJ/CBS Debate: America's Security at the National Journal
• Complete video from 2012 Election Central
• Washington Post Fact Check

 November 22, 2011 – Washington, D.C.

The eleventh Republican debate, focusing on national security, was held at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., sponsored by CNN, the Heritage Foundation, and the American Enterprise Institute, and aired nationally on CNN, CNN en Español, and worldwide on CNN International, CNN Radio and CNN.com.^[31] It was moderated by Wolf Blitzer and was attended by Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman were given more opportunities to speak than in previous debates, with Paul clashing with Herman Cain and Rick Santorum over Iran and with Newt Gingrich over the PATRIOT Act.^[32] Mitt Romney and Rick Perry united over their opposition to $1 trillion of defence cuts but Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman said nothing should be taken off the table.^[33] Herman Cain was widely regarded to be a "loser",^[34] with "nothing of interest or insight to add on national security, and it showed".^[35] The debate itself was also criticised for there being no questions on the Eurozone and for China only being mentioned in passing.^[36]

• Transcript from CNN (part 1, part 2), and Time magazine
• Complete video from MRCTV (92:11)
• Republican Presidential Debate at American Enterprise Institute
• Presidential Debate homepage at The Heritage Foundation
• Debate Prep from CNN's Security Clearance blog

 December 10, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa

The twelfth Republican debate was held in Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and was sponsored by ABC News, WOI-DT, The Des Moines Register and the Iowa Republican Party. It was moderated by Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos. Candidates in attendance were Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Jon Huntsman, Jr. was not invited as he did not meet the criteria.^[37]
Newt Gingrich was attacked by all the other candidates, squaring off in particular with Mitt Romney. Romney mocked Gingrich's plan to build a lunar colony to mine minerals from the moon, saying that the real difference between the two of them was their backgrounds, saying "I spent my life in the private sector. I know how the economy works." Gingrich replied, "Let's be candid. The only reason you didn't become a career politician is you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994", which drew boos and laughter from the audience.^[38] Romney replied "If I'd have beaten Ted Kennedy I could have been a career politician, that's probably true. If I would've been able to get in the NFL liked I hope when I was a kid, I would have been a football star all my life too", which drew cheers and applause.
Perhaps the most notable moment of the debate was a "rare error" from Romney when discussing Massachusetts health care reform with Rick Perry.^[39] After Perry repeated his assertion that Romney had deleted a line about individual mandates being a model for the nation from reprints of his book, Romney offered Perry a $10,000 bet that he had done no such thing, which Perry declined. Romney's offer was derided as being "out of touch"^[40] and "elitist".^[41] Other commentators came to his defence, however, calling it a "non-story",^[42] remarking that "you have to say a large amount, because the point is that you know you're not going to lose it"^[43] and "I am willing to bet $10,000 that ordinary viewers barely even noticed Romney's bet until the punditocracy decided to make it the defining moment of the debate."^[44]

• Transcript from ABC News and Chicago Sun-Times
• 2012 Election Central video
• Factchecking from ABC News and USA Today

 December 15, 2011 – Sioux City, Iowa

The thirteenth Republican debate was hosted by Fox News and held in Sioux City, Iowa. It was moderated by Bret Baier. Candidates in attendance were Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
After facing criticism for a "rare error" in the previous debate, Mitt Romney was considered to be back "at his very best".^[45] Once again, Newt Gingrich came in for criticism from all the other candidates, particularly from Michele Bachmann, with special focus given to his opinion of Government-sponsored enterprise and the $1.6 million he received from Freddie Mac.^[46] Ron Paul again clashed with Bachmann and Rick Santorum over foreign policy and Rick Perry expressed a desire to be "the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses".^[47] Bachmann claimed that after the previous debate, PolitiFact.com "came out and said that everything that I said was true",^[48] which prompted the fact-checking website to label her claim as "pants on fire", saying "that’s simply not the case".^[49]

• Complete video from 2012 Election Central
• Factchecking from CBS News, CNN,Fox News, Minnesota Public Radio, New York Times, USA Today

 Additional events

A list of less prominent multi-candidate events follows, including self-described candidate forums, two two-candidate "Lincoln–Douglas" style debate, a Twitter 'debate,' and a canceled debate.

Twitter debate

Held via Twitter on July 20, 2011 and was sponsored by TheTeaParty.net. It included six Presidential candidates, to wit: Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich.

• The First Presidential Debate on Twitter transcript

Palmetto Freedom Forum

American Principles Project, sponsor. Held September 5, 2011 at Palmetto Freedom Forum in Columbia, South Carolina, hosted by Senator Jim DeMint, Representative Steve King and Robert P. George, the founder of the American Principles Project. Five candidates spoke at the forum including Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich. Rick Perry was also invited but missed the Forum due to wildfires in his home state of Texas.

• CNN transcript
• 2012 Election Central video
• American Principles Project press release on forum

Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition Fall Presidential Forum

Held October 22, 2011, in Des Moines at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, with Republican candidates Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Paul, Perry, and Santorum in attendance.^[50]

• C-SPAN transcript and video

College Board Education Forum

Sponsored by College Board and News Corporation and held October 27, 2011, in New York City with candidates Cain, Gingrich and Santorum in attendance.^[51]

• College Board transcriptand video

Republican Presidential Forum On Manufacturing

Sponsored by Iowa Public Television and held in Pella, Iowa on November 1, 2011, with candidates Santorum, Paul, Bachmann, Gingrich and Perry participating.^[52]

• Video

Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC Forum

Sponsored by the Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC and held November 5, 2011, in The Woodlands, Texas with candidates Cain and Gingrich as participants in a "Lincoln–Douglas" style debate.^[53] At the time of event, Cain ranked first in many opinion polls of likely Republican primary voters; Gingrich, third.^[54]

• C-SPAN Video, Investors Business Daily video
• Texas GOP Vote transcript

Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC Forum

Sponsored by Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC and held November 10, 2011 in Hampton, New Hampshire with candidates Gingrich, Santorum, Johnson and Roemer as participants.^[55]

• USSTREAM videos (Gingrich–Santorum / Johnson–Roemer)

Thanksgiving Family Forum

Sponsored by The Family Leader and held November 19, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa with candidates Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Paul, Perry and Santorum as participants.^[56]

• 2012 Election Central video

Republican Presidential Forum

Governor Mike Huckabee hosted "A Huckabee Special: Republican Presidential Forum" on Fox News channel, December 3, 2011 in New York City with candidates Bachmann, Gingrich, Paul, Perry, Romney and Santorum. The questioners were prominent state attorneys general Pam Bondi of Florida, Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia, and Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma. The questions focused on health care, EPA regulation, labor, education, immigration and social issues.^[57]

• 2012 Election Central video

Gingrich-Huntsman Conversation

Saint Anselm College hosted a 90-minute Lincoln-Douglas style debate between presidential candidates Gingrich and Huntsman on December 12, 2011 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The debate was sponsored by the Saint Anselm College Republicans, and hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library.^[58] The debate focused mainly on foreign policy and was described as "a debate that even the participants more or less admitted was boring enough to induce narcolepsy in a chronic insomniac" and "less a debate than a think-tank-style discussion of the issues and so dry that reporters fell asleep. But somehow Newt still emerged victorious."^[59][60]

• C-SPAN video

Wepolls 2012 GOP Presidential Forum

Wepolls is hosting an alternative debate among the three candidates most often excluded from most of the other debates: Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson and Fred Karger. It will be held on December 15, 2011, at 11 pm EST.

• Wepolls debate

 Cancelled Ion Television/ Newsmax debate

Real estate developer and media personality Donald Trump was announced as moderator for a debate sponsored by Newsmax Media and broadcast on Ion Television, scheduled for December 27, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa. The role of Trump, who very publicly considered running for president in the spring of 2011, as moderator attracted controversy as candidates and observers questioned the seriousness of Trump and whether he was doing it as a publicity stunt. Gingrich and Santorum were the only candidates to accep the invitation to participate. The campaigns of Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul both released statements declining the invitation. Ron Paul's campaign wrote, "Mr. Trump's participation will contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere," while Jon Huntsman's campaign said in a statement, "We have declined to participate in the 'Presidential Apprentice' Debate with The Donald," alluding to the Celebrity Apprentice reality show for which Trump is host. Trump responded, "Few people take Ron Paul seriously and many of his views and presentation make him a clown-like candidate. I am glad he and Jon Huntsman, who has inconsequential poll numbers or a chance of winning, will not be attending the debate and wasting the time of the viewers who are trying very hard to make a very important decision."^[61] Mitt Romney announced on December 6 that he also would not be attending the debate.^[62] On December 8, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann announced they would not be attending either.^[63] Furthermore, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus said that a debate moderated by Trump would be problematic.^[64] Speaking about the host, Santorum said, "I’m not defending Newsmax’s decision to put Donald Trump in there. If you look at the [CNBC] debate where Jim Cramer is screaming at people – maybe Donald will surprise us both.”^[65] Gingrich said, "I can’t imagine what it will be like, which is part of why–– This is very serious business, picking the president of the United States. We all have to be very serious but, every once and a while on the campaign trail, to have something that just breaks out, is good. I believe that having Donald Trump in that kind of environment will absolutely be amazing."^[66] On December 13, Trump withdrew as moderator and the debate was canceled.^[67]

 Complaints of bias

Throughout the early debates, there have been a wide range of complaints about the various criteria hosting organizations have used to determine which candidates are allowed in the debates.^[68]
The "Gary Johnson Rule" (originally called the "Anti-Gary Johnson Rule"^[69][70]) refers to the deliberate construction of rules by 2012 presidential debate organizers to include eight specific, pre-determined candidates while excluding others. The phrase refers specifically to the various rules created to outline who will be allowed to participate in the 2012 GOP presidential debates. The rules covered by this phrase appear to have been created based on the progress of Governor Gary Johnson's 2012 presidential campaign. Variations of these rules have been used to exclude Johnson from all but two debates during the 2012 presidential cycle and to completely exclude other candidates.^[71]
On November 15th, Gary Johnson's campaign filed an official complaint with the FEC and FCC over exclusion from the November 12th CBS Debate, claiming that his exclusion shows media favoritism. According to the complaint, free publicity provided by a media outlet on public airwaves may be considered a political donation if not equally-distributed between candidates running for office.^[72]
After the CBS/National Journal debate in Spartanburg South Carolina, both the Bachmann & Paul campaigns issued statements alleging bias from the debate.^[73][74][75]

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