Random Musings on the Latest Debate
- This idea that Perry starts off strong and then weakens throughout the debate is just not true. He started off weak last night (from the very first question, and just got worse from there)- "I don't try to define who's rich and who isn't; I want everyone to be rich" - fantastic answer from Mitt Romney to a gotcha question from Brett Bair- Does Michelle Bachmann genuinely not understand how incoherent and/or contradictory her answer was regarding what percentage of one's income they had a right to keep? In saying "all of it", and then saying "obviously one has to give money back to run the government", she shows either cowardice (which I doubt) or incompetence (which I suspect). The coherent alternatives are either to make the income tax voluntary (I dare you to say that, Congresswoman), or- Newt Gingrich wins every single one of these debates by a long shot. I mean, it isn't even close. His ideas, articulation, and demeanor are just fantastic to listen to in each debate. He doesn't just beat all these candidates in the debates; he probably has a higher IQ than all of them put together. I am well aware of his moral failings and some of the inexplicably stupid things he has said on occassion over the years. But I want him to stay in the race until the very last second, because he is just such a treat to watch in these debates.- It is disheartening to me to see Mitt Romney attacking Perry for his intelligent and competent stance on the folly of the social security system. I can't understand for the life of me why Mitt has to give a passionate DEFENSE of social security each time the issue comes up. Romney's people do not understand how at risk their candidate is for mass voter revolt/boredom if he continues with that kind of Dole/McCain nonsense. This is noit about an "appeal to independents"; it sounds more and more to me like a simple of coherent political philosophy.- If Obama loses, I don't care who the winning candidate is, they need to have Herman Cain involved. VP? Sure. Cabinet? Sure. Chief-of-Staff? You bet. I don't think Cain has what it takes to bona fide Presidential candidate, but he deserves a significant role in fixing what is wrong with American government.- I am encouraged by how many candidates hammered at the Department of Education- Huntsman is just so, so, so creepy. Seriously. Is it just me?- I am sooooooo bored by this HPV/vaccine conversation, I don't know what to say.- If you TIVO'd the debate, you need to listen to the Perry answer on "Romney as flip-flopper" again. It was the height of incoherence, and I just can't believe a politician as gifted as Perry could take the easiest softball he will ever get (establishing that Mitt Romney is a compulsive flip-flopper should be easier to do than proving that my daughter likes ice cream), and completely botch it.- By the time Perry got to answer the question of who his VP would be, he was literally talking like the guy at the bar talks at 1:45 am, when he got there at 3:00 pm ... But, the idea of a Newt/Cain hybrid is a great idea.- If Huntsman's people don't tell him to quit telling jokes, then I will know that his own people HATE him, and want to seriously damage his reputation.