But Republicans must learn to push back against these liberal reporters. How about "I get a little suspicious when reporters ask questions like that when the question has no relavence to the subject at hand. It indicates to me that the reporter is more interested in carrying the liberal agenda than giving the public a balance view of the problems we face. What is YOUR point?"

I think instead of having a bunch of 2:1 Liberal/Journolist-rigged debates, the presidential candidates should be forced to play the nationwide bar trivia game Showdown on Buzztime at 7 pm Central on Tuesday nights.

Would be impossible for the commys to game that, and their knee-jerk candidates would fall so flat even the Obamaphone Lady wouldn´t vote for them.

Rubio set himself up for this by giving an interview to GQ rag to begin with.Palin figured out these ambush goons a long time ago.Even though Rubio made the correct statement that the age of the earth has nothing to do with the basket case conditions in this county,that part was completely ignored.

Even though he will never be President, Newt provided an excellent example of how to kick in the teeth of these supercilious scum. When David Gregory started the session with a question about Sandra Fluke and free abortions, Newt gave him a swift sleeve across the windpipe, frankly saying he ought be ashamed of himself to bring this out as the top issue when the nation is in jeopardy. Republican candidates should just study and remember Gregory´s face for the rest of that session.

Get coaching from Bill Whittle.

Republicans who call out these stupid questions for the attacks they are will be the future of the party.

Rubio´s answer was perfect. Even we Christians have differing opinions about the age of the earth. Our opinions on this matter are irrelevant to running the country properly.

#5´ excellent advice! Bill Whittle understands the media in the same way that Andrew Breitbart did. Personally though, I wish the Republicans would stop jockeying for position of top dog already and that more than includes Jeb Bush. Give it a rest. Enough.

You have to wonder why the Left goes after the RINOS.

Rubio´s answer was utter nonsense. Age of earth is not a subject for theology. There is a field of study called geology, that deals with it. Even though he is not a scientist, he should at least know that the age of the earth is a scientific, not theological, subject. How can USA stay competitive and create STEM jobs with this attitude? As it is the PhDs in hard sciences go a lot to foreign born students who come to USA after learning science in their home countries.

The day after the rigged 2012 election was over -- the 2016 race started....

I refuse to participate. I really don´t care....

Merry Christmas!!

LZK

Republicna candidates" please memorize these three sentences:

"By using the radiometric dating system on the Diablo Canyon meteorite, geologists can say the Earth is 4.54 billion years old. That means that if the United States went $3000 further in debt each year since the beginning of the world, we´d be LESS in debt than we are right now, at $16 trillion dollars. Why don´t you guys start asking us about something relevant, like the national debt?"

Republicans have to recognize that "journalists" are on the other side, and say so, clearly and emphatically, in answer to every gotcha question.

Any question about rape -- any at all -- should be answered like this... "The political party that you shill for nominated Al Gore for president in 2000, and he said that rape was merely a mistake in Clinton´s personal life that was subsequently balanced by what Gore considered to be good works. Have you asked him to explain that? Why not? Did you ask Bill Clinton or Barack Obama whether they agreed with that assessment? Why not?"

Bottom line -- you can´t win on defense. You have to go on offense.

Background...
"Uh, I think that, uh, I think that whatever mistakes he made in his personal life are in the minds of most Americans balanced against what he has done in his personal life as President." Al Gore responding to a question about Juanita Broaddrick´s credible charge of rape.

The problem isn´t just the nature of the questions, it´s also the source of the question. Republicans seem to be irresistibly attracted to liberal entertainment media (the View, Oprah, GQ, Rolling Stone, etc.) like moths to a flame. And with the same result. They seem to feel that they can appeal to the Honey BooBoos by the force of their personality. Instead, they end up ridiculed and typecast. It´s a fatally flawed strategy.

I´m with #12-I don´t give a crap who the next president is right now. I´m trying to get the taste of the last election out of my mouth! There isn´t one single candidate that turns my head.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Rubio´s answer. The media is manufacturing this.

Krugman had his fun, feeling superior to Rubio, but I noted that he didn´t attempt to answer the question, ´what caused the big bang?´ Archbishop Ussher may have been wrong in dating the world´s beginning at 4004 B.C. but in his day there were other answers (´a chance collocation of atoms´) to the world´s beginning that were properly being ridiculed. Krugman should pack it in. With every column he writes he looks like a larger and larger horse´s patoot.

It´s fun to think about how terrified the left is of Sen. Rubio. If he is the 2016 GOP nominee, that means Latinos by the millions will vote for him. The fastest growing ethnic group in the USA will be in the GOP´s camp.
Who will be the minority party then?
IOW, they are already trying to smear him. Sen. Rubio needs to think very carefully about God, abortion, race relations, etc. and have answers prepared.
The left wants to Akin him.

If Michael Ramirez reads this site, I have a great idea.

Split screen Rubio press conference

Press: "How old is the earth?",
"What is x=2(y+x)X(z-a)?"
Who is Putin´s first cousin on his mother´s side?"

Split screen Obama Press Conference

Press: "What is Michelle´s favorite color?"
"What is your favorite dish at Thanksgiving?"
"How many states in the USA?"

Trust me, the same liberals would keep their atheism to themselves in the presence of muslims. Liberals are craven cowards who prey on christians because christians are soft targets.

Leftist ideological zealotry murdered more people in the last century that muslims in their entire history. They are craven, but like any sociopathic bully, they can be brutal when they can get away with it.

Having said that, anyone who uses force rather than gentle persuasion loses the moral high ground.

Pravda: "Barack Obama elected by an illiterate America"

London Times: "America Has Sunk To New Electoral Lows"

Asia Times: "The New Ignorant Control American Elections"

So, tell me ... how is Rubio going to make headway against what even our external counterparts recognize as a national disaster?

Love it #13 & #14! Somebody send it to Rubio and others!

I don´t know why they don´t use advice from Newt. He produced a republican House after 40 years in the wilderness.

Our candidates HAVE to engage in the liberal world. That´s where the 0bama dummies live, and they vote and breed! Our candidates need to be smart about dealing with them.

We have to accept the coarsening of the culture that 0bama has produced. The days of non-confrontational dialogue are over. 0bama has pointed fingers from before his selection, and we are idiots not to point back.

Its really quite simple.

Marco: "I don´t know? I´m not a geologist. Why on earth would you even ask a question like that? Next question."

Let´s not sugar-coat things.

Marco "Azucar" Rubio is the hand-puppet of the Big Sugar Lobby - - so - - if he enthusiastically supports sugar supports - - then how can he ever vote against stealing taxpayer money to pay off the other Big Lobbies?

The guy´s a standard, big-spending, big-lobby, big influence-peddling pol - - and it´s delusional to believe anything else.

He, frankly, is getting what he deserves. While we were all still reeling from Romney´s loss, Rubio was going to Iowa and raising funds for 2016. I have been really put-off by Rubio since then so no sympathy here.

Oops, meant to add: the only republican I am interested in today is Allen West...at least he stayed and put up a fight, and not one republican in congress lifted a finger to help West -- including Rubio and it´s his home state.

Time to start smearing the press.

#19 - "free" stuff will trump "freedom" with most liberal voters. Latins´s are not going to just gravitate to a man of Cuban descent.

I am with # 27, and still amazed that Rubio is still being pushed for POTUS when he is not NBC. I really believe that W was our last real American president. Makes me cry every time I see or hear Rubio, Jindal, whoever, as now that the Halfrican got away with it twice, why stop anyone else now? I am so depressed by this issue.

"Older than dirt" was the first answer that came to my mind.

The correct answer would have been:

"Why don´t you ask your GOD this question, he´s the only one you will believe...his name is Obama."

This is EXACTLY how the birth control issue came up. At one Republican debate, the moderator asked about opinion on contraceptives and away it went. Rubio did good with that answer, IMHO.

Ask Helen Thomas how old the earth is! She was there.

This is what I predicted would´ve happened, had Rubio been nominated VP by Romney.

The MSM were ready for an all-out assault on Rubio. Very likely they could have successfully Dan-Quayled him.

So good, now Rubio has a couple of years to learn how to deal with gotcha questions. And perhaps put on a bit of gravitas.

Sorry. They knew they had to fight fire with fire and wilted. Romney clobbered his opponents in the primaries and went soft against BO, expecially in the second debate and thereafter.

The way to combat the press is by doing some things as suggested here. But I think it should be more direct and more in your face so the gnat size brain voters could get a grasp of it too.

Such as ´you ask me that question but then you ask the opponent about his favorite flavored cake. Come back when you can be fair and balanced.´ The answeres must be very direct. Call them out on their tricks. Whatever, just don´t give answers about rape and abortion and gay anything. These are trap questions.

We need to win the next election on FLUFF. We need to get in and then address the issues. Offer fluff to the fluff people, Offer free reaganphones. I mean it.

If you think you can win the next election on the up and up, then be prepared to loose the next few elections until we get into a revolution or something like that.

Promise women all the damn free BC they want. Promise food stamps, promise the soft stuff for christsakes, then get in and address the issues.

The dems is indeed the party of mendacity and obsfuscation. Does the end justify the means. It depends on how badly you want this nation to survive. It´s time to fight fire with fire. Marco Rubio has options. Allow them to define him, or come out fighting and get in their face. He may have ideas how to get the latino vote. Support him.

There was an op-ed in the local paper yesterday that mimicked the theme of this article with the exception that the author went after Rubio for sitting on the science committee without "knowing" that the earth was 4.54 billion years old give or take 50 million years. Conservatives/Republicans have got to learn to respond "no comment" to these stupid questions.

Senator Rubio should have just answered
that he could not remember that far back.
Kindly ask about something a little more
recent, like the National Debt, or anything
that he was actually involved with. Mr Rubio
has to get TOUGH and stop playing with these
jerks. if you are asked a stupid question, just tell the reporter he prefers not to
answer until he researches it further.

Yours is the only winning plan, #36. If any of them even care anymore.

People like Breitbart and the O´Keefe people know how to zero in on the double standard but then nothing is done about it. Meanwhile back at the Stupid Ranch... the Republicans pine about how impt it is to be liked by the media. Would the day EVER come when Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter or Michelle Malkin could be the mediators in a debate or even interview the Obamas or the Clintons? So why don´t the conservatives EVER learn?? Yikes, I could throw up.

Rubio is a RINO. We don´t need anymore of them.