The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Grading the Debate
Just a few impressions as the Debate goes on.
Segment 1:
Segment 1:
- Most of the candidates came out pretty strong with the exception of Huckabee, who was mostly on the defensive.
- My impression is that the Fox analysts are ignoring Thompson and Paul in favor of the others. Fred did speak up forcefully in defense of Reaganism and got a nice reaction. B+
- Rudy's looking strong tonight. Very strong especially in this segment. A
- Paul is quite good when he sticks to economics. Alas, this is only half the battle. And he did not sound convincing when denying his past statements on the 9/11 truthers. But give him an A in economics
- Romney had a couple of good answers, but neither he or McCain stood out with their answers so far. McCain especially was trying to sound like Reagan, but seemed to be less enthusiastic about tax cuts than the others. B and C respectively.
- Good line from Fred about helping the Iranians to meet the 17 virgins. But he had more time and didn't use it. B+
- Paul sounds ridiculous comparing Iranian speedboats to the Gulf of Tonkin, and is buying into the Iranian version of "the voice". Conspiracy Theory II. F
- Romney: Paul should not be reading Ahmadinejad's press releases--nice uppercut. His follow up answer on Iran was good too. A
- McCain: Can the Dems win when they continue to deny the facts on the ground about the War? Superb question countering the question put to him by Wendell Goler. And McCain knows how to use all his time. But now he throws Rumsfeld under the bus again (I'm sick of his scapegoating). But he does close strong with Petraeus Man of the Year. B+
- Giuliani on Palestinians: Good answer but nothing new here. Rudy points out McCain not the only one supporting the surge. (good point). A-
- Paul again! (Still not Fred...). More let's get out of there BS. Just background noise. Why is he even on the stage? Let's just trade and talk with everyone... Yada yada yada. F
- McCain: I am not interested in trading with Al Qaeda (nice line). Nice arguments against deadlines, but casualties should not the measure either--it's achieving the objective John. C+
- Thompson: How you know the news is good in Iraq; you read so little about it in NYT. (Nice). Fred interjects on Pakistan: Who/what are you going to get instead of Musharraf? Whose controls the nukes is the overriding question. GREAT answer. A+
- Romney: Foreign policy like 3-D chess? (Too much Star Trek there, Mitt). But also wants to keep working with Musharraf (check). But move the Islamic world toward "modernity"? It all sounds well and good; but how?? Has he not read Londonistan or America Alone? C+ because of the notion that he can "move a religion" (especially fundamentalist zealots) in any direction at all.
- Huckabee on Pakistan: He's more worried about where our money went than the question asked. But also supports stability with Musharraf. Pandering to the left. D
- I'm not even going to comment on Paul anymore. He's a loon. F
- Giuliani: Israel as stepchild is totally absurd. Good. strong. The defense of Israel is of critical importance to USA. Strong. More pressure on Musharraf to catch Bin Laden, possibly lets help him. Sounds good but probably unrealistic to introduce US troops into this situation, except with air power--and even that is a big risk. B+
- Thompson: Corrects Huckabee--the whole POINT is for our money to go to Pakistani military. Hello, McFly? Great point. A+
- Romney on Change vs. Experience: Introduces immigration into the discussion, Earmarks. Promises vs. the result. If you send same people back to DC in different chairs, nothing will happen. Uses for springboard into his "turnarounds". Good answers all. A+
- McCain: Are you part of the solution or the problem? Lame platitude. McCain pitches his support of the Surge. Check. Saved 6 billion on Air Force tanker. (WTF?) Ask Abramoff if he's honest (tactical error to interject him here). Not a great answer. C-
- Huckabee on his tax increases and increasing government: Get the job done and balance your budget. Signed a pledge not to raise taxes. Our courts made me do it. Terrible. Quotes Truckers Magazine. No bridges fell in Arkansas???? D-
- Thompson: Points out flip flop of Huck on tax pledge. (He shoots, he scores!). Brings up his own record. Balanced budgets, voting record. Conservative values. Market ecomomy. B+
- Huckabee retort: up to governors to make Welfare Reform work. Terrible! C-
- Giuliani on McCain's 9/11 comment: Kind of change Dems want is to take the change out of your pocket, pulling out of Iraq precipitously, Socialized medicine. (Pow! Bam! Biff!) Change does not connote good or bad, must be right kind of change. Touts foreign policy experience, illegal immigration. Refused Saudi prince's offer of money. Executive vs. Legistator: you have to make the decisions. A
- McCain: I've been involved in every national security challenge in last 20 years. Nice contrast and not negative. A
- Huckabee: "A wife is too submit". Pass the plates (out of place here). My wife would never let me do whatever I want (oh really? does that apply to Presidential decisons too?). Not ashamed of beliefs. I will practice them unashamedly. Not a matter of superiority. It has nothing to do with the Presidency. Decent answer to a bad question. Marriage teaches us how to love. B
- Paul: Are you electable? (My wife turns to me and asks: why is he still around?) Good guestion. Borrow from China to give to Musharraf and go to war. No sir: what you are saying does not appeal to Republicans. F
- McCain: what about your plan for immigration? A: People didn't want amnesty bill did not have confidence that we would do our job (True--and they still haven't built the fence). I know how to secure a border? Oh really??? Where did you do that, exactly? Explaining away his amnesty policy. D-
- Romney: Everyone says secure the border and verify employment. The difference is what to do with the others here. No special privalege for people breaking the law. (Exactly). Get in line with everyone else. A-
- Thompson: How would you find the 12 million. High fences and wide gates. Enforce border, crack down on employers, put an end to sanctuary cities (HUGE), enforcement by attrition. What about the other 12 million waiting to come in. Points out Huck and McCain's shortcomings. Closest to my own views. A+
- Paul: Enforce the law. But think about in economic terms. We encourage more illegality by providing free medical care and education. Illegals undermine tax system. He was doing great until he talked about Border Guards are all fighting in Iraq. C
- Huckabee: How can you convince Hispanics that Republicans don't want them all deported? (He might as well have called them rascists...) Many Hispanics insist we enforce the law. (True, but a minor point.) Don't have to round everyone up. "They can get themselves to back of line". How, exactly, Mike? Dumb. Hispanics shouldn't be afraid of a Police car. We should make the ssumption that everyone is legal. He fell on his sword with that one. Completely inane. F
- Giuliani: allowed illegals to report crimes w/o deportation Allow children of illegals to go to school. Two decent points but stinks of amnesty. Reported all criminals to INS. INS asked NYC to stop. Advocates tamper proof ID. Need very big changes. C
