A Stream of Consciousness on the Debate

Last night was the Republican Presidential Debate from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. Each candidate still has a critical flaw that keeps them back. For McCain, it is the war, for Giuliani it is abortion, for Romney it is his flip-floppiness.

Primaries are a pain. This is when the party’s eat their young. Truth is, we will support any one of these people over Hillary Clinton or an independent.

Mike Huckabee is so well spoken on his feet, and passionate. It is commendable. Ron Paul is the only person who is willing to scream about the constitution in the face of neo-conservatism. Sometimes he is on the money, sometimes he is antiquated. How many more debates are going to go by until some of the first round of cliché’s begin to leave us…like “make the Iraqi’s vote (Thompson), Rudy McRomney (Gilmore) and “a case of the slows” (Hunter)”. I like Hunter for the next Secretary of Defense. If we had an Immigration Secretary, I want Tancredo.

McCain was ganged up on when it came to immigration and let himself be defined by the others too much. What he should have said was “Congress and the people up here think that inaction is better than action. If we do nothing, then it will be another two years before this issue gets resolved. I have plotted a direction, a course of action that the people of this country have demanded. It is always far easier to tear down ideas than to come up with your own…and while every other candidate is just talking…I am actually doing something about the problem. Sure it is not an ideal…what in government is….compromise and bipartisanship are not four letter words….our whole way of live is based on coming together on what we can agree on, and not drawing lines in the sand. I am for action on this issue, and I am afraid my counterparts up here are simply supporting inaction.” McCain’s opposition on this issue is in the manner of typical logical fallacies….no substance, all fluff.

It is coincidence that lightning strikes the auditorium the moment Giuliani beings his contortions on abortion? I appriciate Giuliani's shots at Wolf Blitzer for CNN not reporting the whole story from Iraq, and that should our efforts be sucessful, I am sure most Americans will never hear about it.

Anyone notice that in Romney’s answer on Mormonism, he eluded to Kennedy not being a Catholic running for president, but an American…and he said “and I am a Mormon”. Romney would not go as far as saying “I am not a Mormon running for president, but an American running for president”. Ever notice how some of Romney’s flip flops on seminal issues sound a lot like Joseph Smith’s revelations…an almost mysticism as to how he arrived at a pro-life stance? He was elected under one pretense, to represent people and their view, and then, flip-flopped while in office. Who is to say he will not do the same again? The issue is not over changing your mind, but changing your mind when you ran for office to represent a certain platform, then jettison it when it is either politically convenient or when you have a “revelation”. Unfortunately, some of these issues require a deeper conviction, and just cannot change on a whim.

McCain’s discussion on Hispanics, by the way, was amazing. When it comes down to it, the issue of illegal immigration does border on discrimination. And McCain’s town hall answer on the benefits of the Hispanic community hit home…and make Tancredo sound like a racist.

I was uncomfortable with the gays in the military answer. It makes the whole party intolerant. We are hemorrhaging votes with a vocal community.

To the sister of the soldier who gave his life for this country, this should have been said. “We have to see this mission through to not just protect our country and make the world safe from terror, but to make certain that your brother’s sacrifice was not all for naught. We have to earn the freedom that he provided us, and the Iraqi people. To do otherwise is dishonorable”

The question regarding the “moral issues” was missed by Giuliani, and nailed on the head by Huckabee. I would also contend that we no longer balance our freedoms with a responsibility to those freedoms. We want for everything but have little motivation to earn it, to keep it. We have a vote, but we are not responsible with it by staying informed, or even exercising it for that matter.

All of the answers as to why the party has lost the trust of the people are correct. When we go astray from our principles, as Brownback says, we lose. When we raise the debt and spending, we lose. And when Bush was called a liberal by Tancredo in this regard, he hit the nail on the head. Only Gilmore remains an apologist for Bush, a bad move.

McCain is not the prettiest or most famous candidate, but he is the only one either making strides towards solutions or making some common sense. For the moment, he retains my support. Fred Thompson’s entry into the race will force the other candidates to straighten up, or be called out for their flaws.