I was only able to watch the republican debates last night, but I was glad I did. I thought Rudy, McCain, Huckabee and Dr. Paul all did a good job, and that Thompson and Mitt performed less well. In my humble opinion, I respect Mitt Romney, but his campaigning skills need help, and his opponents weren’t letting him slip up at all.
Everyone (the candidates and the media) seemed to smirk at Ron Paul, except the audience and the voters. Dr. Paul was smart to align himself with Barack Obama I thought, as it sets himself apart from the new Republican establishment which can’t seem to figure out a cohesive front.
The bickering about who supported the troop surge and who didn’t was hilariously reminiscent of the Family Guy episode where Peter is set to the task of convincing Washington to go to war. Again, it was Dr. Paul who was clearly the outsider - the only one who voted against going into Iraq in the first place, and is for pulling out troops out as soon as possible.
I also thought it was funny when the moderator was mentioning the candidates shifting positions on the issues and acknowledged that Dr. Paul hasn’t changed much in his convictions and voting record. He’s probably the most consistent politician I’ve ever encountered.
As you can probably guess, I’m leaning towards endorsing Ron Paul. I definitely like McCain, Rudy, and Mitt, but I’m not sure what good it will do to give any of them my support. On the democrat side (which I have historically leaned towards), I like Barack the best by far. Edwards is OK, and I don’t know much about Richardson, but I’m not a fan of Hilary. I have nothing against the idea of a woman as president, but I don’t think a former first lady is right for the task. There are term limits for a reason, and electing the spouse of a former president is too close for comfort.
I guess what I don’t understand about a lot of what’s going on is why the candidates smirk when Dr. Paul talks about the issue of inflation, national debt, and running a war we can’t afford when our own country has lots of serious infrastructure issues (border control, New Orleans, health care, etc.). In fact, it really disappointed me when Fred Thompson made what I considered a really dumb joke about Dr. Paul’s statements about inflation - something along the lines of “so if we stop printing money… we can pull out of Iraq?”
Although I’m not a fan of Facebook, I was glad to see their polls about issues, and how more people wanted to hear about the economy. I agree, I think a lot of our nation’s issues can be traced back to economic policies, from health care to even foreign policy.
My favorite comments from Mitt and Thompson were regarding oil and pharmaceuticals and free market trade. I agree with them that profit is not a bad thing, and in a free market economy, when profits are too high, the market naturally corrects itself through competition. That is a well understood principal of economics. On the flip side, if we were going to spend a trillion dollars, I would prefer we spent it on developing new energy resources instead of invading other nations.
Speaking of foreign policy, this is an area I am a full supporter of Ron Paul. I don’t think that our country should go around policing the world and invading countries. As my father-in-law put it, we should focus on ending wars, not starting them. We’ve done that successfully in the past with WWI and WWII, and unsuccessfully invaded countries without declaring wars in Korea, Vietnam, and others.
When attacked, we should retaliate. And we should remember that the 9/11 attackers didn’t fly war planes or arrive on war ships, then entered our country at the border undetected. I was glad that several candidates said they see border control as an issue of national security. Frankly, I found it really silly how McCain and Mitt Romney bickered for so long about amnesty. In my humble opinion, McCain definitely came out on top. McCain is a smart fighter, obviously, and Mitt picked a fight with him in his attack ads, and lost. Rudy has a realistic approach, I think, but frankly I don’t know too much about the issue, other than I don’t want to have to pay for the care and education of people who are here illegally, and I don’t want people who want to hurt us to be able to waltz right in and roam around as they please.
Dr. Paul made a significant slip-up by saying that terrorists weren’t attacking other countries - the attack in Bali was terrible, along with the ones in Spain, England, and all over the world. But Rudy corrected him on that without making too big of a deal about it.
Huckabee took a quick, stinging jab at Mitt Romney too. If you watched the debate, you know which one I’m talking about - that must have hurt. I just read that Huckabee is supporting the Fair Tax, which I think is a decent idea. The tax code is overly complex in my opinion, and a burden upon itself. The fact that there are 35,000 lobbyists in Washington trying to tinker with the tax code is a little bit nauseating.
I’ve been reading your blog for some time now by the way. I too am leaning towards Obama right now. I don’t quite agree with you on the Hilary remark. I don’t think that being a first lady should have anything to do with whether or not you believe she should be elected. Actually, I think if anything it should sway you more. At least she knows what she is getting herself into.
And don’t you find it a bit pompous that Giuliani decided he doesn’t need to attend Iowa and New Hampshire? You should check out this DVD “Giuliani Time”. It’ll tell you a lot about what Giuliani really is like.
You can get it here: http://www.cinemalibrestore.com
I am an African American female, not that it matters with what I’m about to say. Jargon is not going to win the White House. From Obama all I see is superficial burbs. 99% of his message IS what Clinton has previously said at one point or another. However, he doesn’t have the depth or knowledge that is necessary to address the issues he has been talking about, because the issues are not his own. It sounds good, but against any republician he will not win the presidency. Now, Hillary Clinton has indept knowledge of the issues. When push comes to shove and Obama is pressed to outline his plans in a meeting with a savvy audience and a media that will eat him alive if he goes toe to toe with any republican, he will be found to lack real knowledge of what America needs. Only Hillary Clinton can provide the leadership America needs. she is the only person that is able to stand up against any republician and win the presidency. Like it or not, in this presidential election, it will not be won based on the best speeches, but who is perceived to be able to lead this nation to a strong dollar, out of Iraq, and towards affordable health care, and simultaneously not drown this nation in high interest rates or have astronomical tax increases on the middle class. Hillary Clinton is able to do these things, not just talk the talk, she can walk the walk and win against a republicans. My question is, WHEN DID HAVING EXPERIENCE BECOME A BAD WORD??? If we look at Obama’s track record of experience, there isn’t much to use as justification for presidency. Some say it can’t get any worse than this administration, but I’d rather not take the risk and see. Just because he is new to Washington, doesn’t mean he’s good for Washington or the nation. National experience is a good thing. Although I am African American, I don’t want this nation to choose a man just because he speaks well, even if he black, but has no substance. I don’t want this nation to choose a woman, just because we feel its time. I want this nation to choose a president because he or she, black man or white woman is best for this country. Therefore, because of my love of this country I have decided to not be quiet and let Obama’s charade continue. Lets get back to what is right for this country…Hillary Clinton is the ONLY candidate capable of leading this country back to prosperity.
THANKS FOR READING BY BLOG,
VP.
I do not agree with the Hilary remark either. I think there are far more reasons that she should not be elected other than that she was a former first lady. I have been researching her ‘healthcare’ proposal and its a joke. What most people don’t see is the absolute mess it would leave the healthcare industry in. I am involved in the nursing field and universal health care is a great idea and we need to work towards it but only when we can secure the quality of healthcare given will not be changed. Obama may not have the experience, but he has a human side to him that is not paralleled by many other politicians. I love John McCain because of his dedication to human rights. He used to be a prisoner of war and actually helped get a law passed in Congress to help consider those held in Guantanoma Bay right now Prisoners of War so they could not be tortured. Bottom line - if Hilary is elected, I’m moving to Candada!
Hi Vicky, Lindsey, and Curtis! Thanks so much for commenting. I’m glad to learn that people are reading this blog!
I understand I upset some people with my position about Hillary as a former first lady, so without trying to feed any arguments, I’ll elaborate briefly on my opinion. I agree that having been first lady gives Mrs. Clinton some valuable experience, but I also am buying into the idea that change is needed in Washington. Maybe someone new to the role will bring a fresh perspective?
Lindsey - I’m not sure if its pompous that Rudy skipped out on Iowa. Its probably part of his campaign strategy, and he did have the flu recently. In other instances though, he definitely strikes me as the “high and mighty” type of guy. It helps him sometimes, but other times it really backfires - like when he answered his cell phone while speaking to a room full of NRA members.
Vicki - I wouldn’t go so far as to say that experience is a bad word, and I agree with you that inexperience is a risk, but its a risk I’m willing to take if it can lead to a better tomorrow.
Curtis - What do you think of Romney’s health care ideas? I live in Massachusetts and even before the new health care laws, everyone could pretty much get free health insurance here - called Mass Health, and surprisingly its often better than private health insurance. My wife is an OBGYN in Boston has told me about uninsured people who would walk into the emergency room to get a pregnancy test so that they wouldn’t have to pay $40 at CVS for a home pregnancy test! In a nutshell, my interpretation of the new laws are that if you don’t have health insurance, you have to pay a fine and are denied a tax deduction off your state taxes (I’m sure there is more to it than that). Its still cheaper to not have insurance and still get coverage, but the fact that 300,000 new people here have signed up for health insurance is an improvement.