Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Report on Republican YouTube Debate

Since I'm (tentatively) planning to vote in Tennessee's Republican primary this year, I figured I should watch the debate and see who I might like to vote for. [I've recently discovered that if I register as an independent voter, I will be able to choose to vote in whichever of the primaries I like. And since all voting in the Democratic primaries has ever gotten me is the chance to vote for some pretty boy nobody ends up liking (ex. Gary Hart), I might as well try something new.] And I've never seen a field of Republicans without a clear front runner. My dad and I agree that whichever candidate wins, it'll be somebody weird.

I watched the debate, and was surprised at my opinions.

Going from left to right (the tv viewer's left):
Tancredo: Too Republican.
Huckabee: Likeable. Seemed sincere. His 30-minute spot WAY too Christian. I agree with him when he says Americans are looking not for someone they agree with on every issue but for someone who sticks by what he believes. (Except I suppose that'd describe GWB so in that case, no.) But how can a SALES tax replacing the income tax be a fair tax? That sounds a little nutty.
Romney: Hated him. Seemed insincere. He reminds me of the Democrats every four years who feel uncomfortable saying what they really believe. That's not where you want to be. I also thought he came across as something of a black and white thinker. My read on this is that it is a defensive reaction against being branded a flip-flopper. Was Anderson Cooper harder on him than he was on the other candidates, or was that my imagination?
Giuliani: Likeable. Didn't mention 9-11 for at least the first half of the debate (though it seemed calculated.) Sharp. Gave specific answers. Not afraid to say no. There didn't seem to be a disconnect between what he said and what he really thought. But far too war-like!
Thompson: Likeable. Funny. Poised. Seemed very sincere. Gave smart answers. Too war-like!
McCain: Liked him well enough. Liked how he lit into Romney about the Geneva Convention. But he said "my friends" a little too often.
Paul: Mentioning the Trilateral Commission in a national debate always a mistake, especially as your first comment. He may as well have segued right into why Building 7 fell just to get that out on the table. By the way, why did Building 7 fall? I liked a lot of what he had to say, though.
Hunter: Never heard of him. Have now watched entire debate and still not heard of him. ZZZZ

I liked the African-American man whose question was "Why don't we vote for you?" Ha!

Several of these men, if not all but Ron Paul, feel threatened by Islamic terrorists. Do you?

2 comments:

badbadbrain said...

While watching this debate I couldn't help but think that the guy that I dislike the most will most likely get the nomination and go on to win the election....my prediction------------------------------------ROMNEY '08!!!-----------

Giovanni Stevens said...

Lordy, if Romney wins, America is doomed....

I missed the debate and so figured I couldn't really comment on this post, but then just saw some snippets of the debate on the Today show.

All those guys seem so practiced in politics, so slippery and, I don't know, MEAN. I feel like they're all the guy that you would meet at a party who would be one-upping you at every turn and starting every sentence with "Well, actually,...", and who would just be making me feel bad about myself. I don't really like any of them much.

Fred Thompson does have that avuncular thing going, though. That's for sure. Maybe it's just because that was the role he always played on "Law and Order". Or, for that matter, the role that he played in every acting gig he ever did, pretty much. As an actor, he is sort of a white Morgan Freeman. Only I'd wager Morgan Freeman is a democrat. And Morgan Freeman, unlike Fred Thompson, had the good sense to pass over the script for "Curly Sue".

I feel threatened by islamic terrorists, but only because guys like these guys-- Republican reactionaries who think their moral purview extends to foreign countries and women's bodies and homosexuals and athiests-- got us in an idiotic war that has now given islamic terrorists the justification they needed to want to bomb us.

I really like Dennis Kucinich, but he has about as much chance of winning as Drew Peterson does. But if ultimately it is true that "it'll be somebody weird", maybe Kucinich could fit the bill. The truth is out there.