Last night was certainly a fun night to watch CNN. With my favorite anchor - Anderson Cooper - moderating the "GOP West Coast Debate" and doing so in a very professional manner, I could only watch the debate in hopes of understanding why the seven candidates should be the next Commander-In-Chief. Luckily, I understood their positions, the hypocritical remarks, and concluded that none of them should be the next President (the only candidate who could be is Jon Huntsman and he boycotted the Nevada debate - which was a smart move on his part...I hope it pays off). I don't want to digress too much, but out of all of the GOP candidates, I do like Jon Huntsman (former Utah Governor & former U.S. Ambassador to China). He is fairly moderate and fairly level-headed. I personally believe he is running in the wrong party; but, he seems to think he is in the right party to run to become the next POTUS.
Back to the debate and to discuss those that were there. I like how Mitt Romney went after Herman Cain and his "999" Plan. Clearly, he hates being second best. I also like the fact that Romney was acting like a child when Perry kept talking over him to get a point across ("It's my turn to talk"...."don't talk over me"...."I talk and then you talk....that is the debate rules....ANDERSON!") I think one of the things that will be the downfall for Romney is his version of "ObamaCare" - at least according to Republicans. I further believe that Perry's plan to dig up all of the flaws of Romney from the last presidential election cycle will hurt the former governor of Massachusetts (illegal immigrants working at his residences, ties to wall street, etc). I have many more things to say about Romney but I'll stop for now. The next candidate to discuss: Bachmann!
One of the things I like about Michele Bachmann is that she never ceases to amazing me with her lack of knowledge. The first thing that rings in my mind is that Bachmann proclaimed that the President has "put troops in Libya and he has put troops in Africa" without thinking about it. I guess she forgot the memo that Libya is in Africa. I am sure they did a quick camera glance at Herman Cain and I believe he was thinking, "I know I have a map of Africa I can sell you for $9.99" and he might even throw in a free pizza. I also like that Bachmann had the ability to know government officials. I'd like to thank her for confirming that Kathleen Sebelius is in fact the Secretary of Health & Human Services. I really think she will drop out of the Presidential race sometime after the January 3rd Iowas Caucus. I know she won the Iowa Straw poll, but she'll loose the Iowa Caucus. The next candidate to discuss: Herman Cain!
I am glad that Herman Cain understands his "999" Plan; because no one else does. I think Perry's point of states that have no sales tax will not like a new 9% sales tax. I know this election will be about the economy and jobs, but Cain needs to start developing positions on the social issues. The only thing I really know about him is that his personal views will not necessarily dictate his laws as president. That is to say, if he is against abortion, he will respect those that disagree with him. I find it funny that he does not like Ron Paul and considers him a threat. I'm sorry that I can't really say anything more relating to Herman Cain. I just don't see him as a viable candidate...yet.
Perry really needed to make up for his lack of debate skills in the previous ones. I think every time he challenges Romney, and presses him on issues from years ago, helps him. Some consider the West Coast Debate to be a "make it or break it" for Perry. I think the New Hampshire primary will be his "make it or break it" moment. At one point in the debate he said he was tough against illegal immigration. In the last debate, the other Republicans hammered on his signing of a Texas-version of the "Dream Act" which hurt him with standing republicans. All I am going to say is....Bush was from Texas and look what happened; do we really need another Texan in office? Oh yeah, Houston has the best hospital in the nation apparently. I guess Rick Perry has never been to Washington, DC, New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Durham, Spartanburg, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Denver, or Syracuse.
I like the fact that I can always count on Rick Santorum making an idiot of himself by acting like a child. Granted I never went to kindergarten, I can only image that he must have been the loud, obnoxious one in class (and throughout school no doubt). Santorum has to always bring up family values because that is his base...according to him. I am glad that he is a Catholic, but it is either "a Catholic teaching," or "Catholocism teaches," and not "Catholic teaches" as he stated in the debate last night. Maybe the Republicans SHOULD NOT eliminate the Department of Education because it will help their candidates lack of knowledge (Santorum with the English Language & Bachmann with basic geography...and civics for that matter).
I just want to add that I won't discuss Ron Paul or Newt Gingrich because I don't see them as viable candidates and they will drop out after the Iowa Caucus. The real race will be between: Romney, Cain, and Huntsman (A bold claim but I like the guy haha).
I'll attempt another blog post after I re-watch the debate. For the current moment, I'll just watch the Senate and hope they pass a portion of the President's Jobs Bill.
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