by James BuchananRon Paul started out the New Hampshire Republican debate emphasizing the fact that he is the anti-(Iraq) war candidate to thunderous applause from the crowd. (Gee, I thought Republican voters were supposed to be obedient little Kool Aid drinkers sipping up their daily dose of pro-war Kool Aid from Hannity and Rush.)The neocons in charge of the debate were very condescending and dismissive of Dr. Paul throughout –at some points laughing at Paul (reminiscent of Al Gore’s arrogant smirking during the 2000 presidential debates). Almost every single question put to Ron Paul was prefaced by a neocon lie. In one case, the neocon questioner asked Ron Paul how we could leave Iraq knowing there will be a blood bath if we do. Ron Paul pointed out that neocons have been wrong about everything in the past and they’re wrong about what will happen if we pull out. Big applause. Ron Paul called for a total pull out and stated there was no need for US troops in the Mid East. Big applause again.Paul said that there should be a new foreign policy: to mind our own business. Thunderous applause.Angered by the supportive reaction of the crowd to Ron Paul, the neocon interrogator asked “So should we take our marching orders from al Qaeda?”Paul responded: “We should take our marching orders from the Constitution.” More Applause.During the debate, the moderator asked Giuliani why he won’t take a pledge not to raise taxes. Giuliani replied that he should only take one pledge (if he gets sworn in). I bet his ex-wives are having a laugh about that.Ron Paul was clearly the crowd’s favorite in the New Hampshire debate, Giuliani conspicuously avoided getting into another back-and-forth argument with Paul over the Iraq War, but Mike Huckabee decided to give it a shot. Once again, Paul wouldn’t budge an inch. Huckabee tried to claim that staying in Iraq was a matter of “Honor.” Of course Huckabee himself has no plans to join the fighting troops on the ground or to send any of his kids into that meatgrinder so I wonder how much the words of a hypocrite hold up when it comes to matters of “Honor.”Ron Paul responded that it’s pointless to squander more lives in an attempt to “save face” in Iraq and that the total of US military and civilians killed so far is over 5,000.The neocons openly laughed at Ron Paul when listing all the government agencies that he would like to abolish. Paul reaffirmed his commitment to smaller government and lower taxes and pointed out that we had a warning about the 911 attack, which George Bush chose to ignore. Creating a Homeland Security Department does not make up for bad judgment at the top level.Ron Paul easily won the “text-messaging” phone poll after the debate, gaining 33 percent of the vote. It was worth sitting through all the neocon garbage, just to see the miserable look on Sean Hannity’s face as Ron Paul was announced the winner. The second place went to a dim-witted neocon who could only muster 18 percent of the vote.