The only thing to take from last nights Republican debate is this: Watching Mitt Romney and Rick Perry insult each other was A LOT of fun!!! Mitt challenged Rick's record in Texas, his comments about the Social Security "Ponzi Scheme" and a host of other things. Rick attacked Mitt on 'RomneyCare", the quality of his business experience, and the lack of substance during his time as Massachusetts Governor. A funny moment: When Rick was touting that he had created 1 million jobs in Texas as Governor, Mitt reminded him that he had advantages like a state with no income tax and large oil and natural gas reserves. Mitt said crediting Rick with all of that would be similar to saying Al Gore 'invented' the internet.
The debate was clearly a lovefest for Mitt and Rick, and the rest of the candidates spent much of their time attacking both of them, when they weren't attacking Obama.
Rep. Michele Bachmann continued to assail President Obama's policies, focusing on Health Care Reform, saying that it stifles job creation. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman kept focusing on jobs and the economy, with a specific emphasis on financial reforms. Gingrich and Romney indicated that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would not be part of their administrations if they were elected President.
Former Senator Rick Santorum pulled out some greatest hits - touting his work on welfare reform and offering a new new specifics on how to continue to improve the system, suggesting that it go "...from a dependency system to a transitional system." Former CEO Herman Cain and Rep. Ron Paul both continued their calls for a complete overhaul of the tax code, with Cain seemingly idnicating a desire to eliminate income taxes, or at least drastically reduce them.
Rick Perry surprised me with his praise of President Obama's handling of Osama bin Laden. It was one of the few moments where one of the Republican candidates had something positive to say about Obama's policies. Other than that, all of the candidates criticized the President on a multitude of issues: from the economy, to Iran, to Libya, to Health Care, to jobs, to everything. And, like the last two debates, each of the candidates was very light on specifics as far as what they would do differently.
There will be several more debates before the Iowa Caucuses next year, and hopefully as we get closer, we will learn more specifics about these candidates' views on the issues. As far as who won this debate - I'm going to go with Romney. He managed to stay above the fray "for the most part" and kept his Obama-bashing down to a minimum. I think he successfully highlighted the differences between himself and Gov. Perry, as well as continued to emphasize his experience in the private sector. I believe if Romney continues to do that, and continues to focus on Rick Perry inheriting a state that was already doing pretty well - he will have a good chance of clinching the nomination.
My personal view of Rick Perry: I feel he could win a lot of primaries, and maybe get the nomination. I think the same about Michele Bachmann. However, like Michele, I do not believe he is appealing enough for a general election. He isn't quite as extreme as Bachmann - however his extremism is emphasized in different ways. How does one win over seniors when you say their benefits are a 'Ponzi Scheme' that will bankrupt America? How do you appeal to Patriots and Veterans when you once advocated your state's secession from the United States? How do you win over moderates who don't want to hear about your version of "family values?" I don't know if Gov. Perry can overcome these things in a general election, and that's why I don't see him being the nominee.
However, a Romney/Perry ticket...
No comments:
Post a Comment