Unlike most of the normal people in the country, I actually watched all of the Republican presidential debate. Well except when I was in the kitchen making dinner for about 10 minutes. Regardless here are my initial observations.
Before I give my winners and losers can we please stop talking about Ronald Reagan. Reagan was great for his time but new times call for new leadership. I want the next President to be his own person. It seemed like every time somebody would answer a question they would drop Reagan's name. It was annoying. I doubt anybody decided to vote for Duncan Hunter because he reminded them of Reagan.
The winner was Mitt Romney. I thought he came across very well. He has the look of a president and even though his answers were safe and scripted, I thought he sounded comfortable. McCain tried mightily to be passionate but it came across as phony to me. I think he truly wants to recapture the magic of the 2000 campaign but it's not happening. Giuliani did okay except for the abortion issue. He is trying to cut it both ways without changing his position. As much as I disagree with him, he would be better off just admitting he's pro choice and go after those voters. Let the rest of the field divvy up the pro lifers.
The second tier candidates were a little muddled. I thought Tommy Thompson gave the best answers of the entire field but he has kind of a scowl and doesn't come across that well. Huckabee was more folksy but a little light on substance. Gilmore was decent but kind of got lost in the shuffle. If things hold steady any of them could be the VP selection.
The losers were the bottom tier candidates. Ron Paul was wacky. I am not even sure why he was invited. Tom Tancredo was a disaster last night. He had a hard time putting two sentences together. Brownback was uninspiring and I have a hard time remembering anything Duncan Hunter said.
The format of the debate was hideous. First of all it wasn't a debate. Second it was dominated by Chris Matthews who I actually like but I wanted to hear more from the candidates and less from him. Third, the questions were ridiculous; What don't you like about America? Would you pardon Scooter Libby? Would you hire Karl Rove? Do you want Bill Clinton in the whitehouse? These are not serious issues and just wasted every one's time.
What I would like to see in the future is a serious round table discussion on particular topics. Have Tim Russert moderate it. The first could be on the war. Allow the candidate to talk to one another and give them more 30 seconds to answer. The next round tables could be on health care reform, education, social issues, the environment, taxes or whatever. I think that type of format would actually help inform voters as opposed to what we watched last night.
To sum up, the big three did okay but probably didn't gain or lose any ground. Although Romney might see a little spike. I doubt that anybody from the lower tier moved up to the point of competing with Romney, McCain or Giuliani. Somewhere Fred Thompson is smiling.
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2 comments:
I missed the Democratic debate last week, but did watch last night...go figure.
I agree the format, especially the email questions, was HORRIBLE. But, when you have 10 people playing, "Who's the Most Conservative!" I'm not sure what any format would've worked with such a huge field and a short time.
I only watched a few minutes of it & I recognized Romney, Giuliani, Thompson & Gilmore (only because I lived in Virginia when he was governor)... It would have been nice if they would have put their names on the screen when they were talking so you knew who they were.
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