5.05.2011

Debate thoughts

On tonight's first Republican Presidential debate.

Herman Cain: Too cagey to take a position on anything. Talked process and competence. Kind of a Mitt Romney without the RomneyCare baggage.

Ron Paul: I'm biased, but I liked what he said. Especially getting out of the 10-year Afghanistan quagmire, slashing government departments, abolishing the Dirty Fed, and returning to the Constitution. Negative was that he was against waterboarding and Gitmo. From my perspective, there's a bright line between the rights of American citizens and those of foreign terrorists captured on the battlefield. Waterboard away on the latter, not the former.

Tim Pawlenty: Bullshit artist. Folksy personal stories lead into every answer.

Gary Johnson: Had the typical libertarian awkwardness. Good positions except for open borders. Open borders are fine if you don't have a welfare state. Unfortunately, we do have a welfare state. Great to call out the U.S. as bankrupt.

Rick Santorum: Don't even get me started. I've been vehemently opposed to Senator Man-on-Dog and Miracle Lights since he was a real player, not just a has-been. I couldn't even listen to what that d-bag was saying.

7 comments:

Sic Ibid said...

I accidentally saw about 5 minutes of this debate. Hopefully what I saw was a bad sample and not representative of the content and questioning found in the rest of the debate, because all I heard was the same old GOP obsession with social issues like Abortion, Stem Cell Research, and Gay Marriage.

If the GOP does not learn to take a step back from those issues and focus instead on the more immediate and more important problems, like our dire fiscal situation, then the GOP will continue to lose respect, will continue to be increasingly out of touch with certain generations of voters, and will be ceding too many electoral victories to the present-day, fully-radicalized Democratic Party, who will continue to act as our Central Planners in charge.

I didn't have the stomach to sit through what I feared might not be a Tea Party friendly debate. I really hope I am wrong, and that the rest of the debate effectively addressed those more important concerns.

SarahB said...

2012 is going to be even worse than I thought.

Shane Atwell said...

Denninger points out that Herman Cain is a former Fed Reserve bank chair and has yet to show any contrition over the manipulation of our money. That's pretty damning.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=2539876

SarahB said...

my ron paul peeps have been giving me quite the intel on Cain the last 24 hours and it ain't pretty. I REALLY don't like our options right now. I think the 'viable' candidates sitting out out 2012 for 2016 are pussies. So back to my I-hate-all-dirty-politicians stance

Anonymous said...

still a Ron Paul fan (even though he is really, really old) but I fear the country is just too stupid to elect him.

The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

-Winston Churchill

I am sitting in a St. Louis Bread Co. using their free wi-fi and at a table a few feet from me, there are two 50-60 ish gents nursing coffee and talking politics and the economy. I hate to eavesdrop (not really) but I pick up some snippets of the conversation here and there... the general flow and direction just makes me think "Oh my dear God please watch over us 'cause these geniuses can go out and vote."

Your pal,
Smug Bastard

Anonymous said...

Yeah Ron Paul is a bit old.

But if he ran with Gary Johnson or Rand Paul as VP, the country would be in good hands even if he kicked it.

I have a feeling the Republicans are going to put up some establishment jackass again though. So I'll be voting third party. Again.

Mutnodjmet said...

Horemheb was underwhelmed as well, and is really concerned about who he is going to select during the primary. I wish John Bolton would have been there -- hearing him on foreign policy this week would have been a treat. (I did not watch the debate myself for fear of walking away depressed.)

Happy Super Tuesday!