Sept. 7th Republican Debate Review

Last night the Republicans held a debate at the Reagan Library which was televised by MSNBC. I had a hard time finding MSNBC, as I suspect a lot of Republicans did. My first thought upon seeing the candidates is that MSNBC showed their typical left-wing bias by  placing Mitt Romney and Rick Perry in the middle so that they appeared to be the most important two candidates and the rest looked like hangers on. My suspicion was confirmed as the moderators spent more time on those two than on any other candidate. Here’s how I believe the candidates fared.

All eyes were on Rick Perry. He’s suddenly the front runner, having done nothing more than announce his candidacy. He needed to have a stellar night to keep the momentum. He had his moments but overall I thought he looked unsure of himself. He had a hard time answering questions about climate change, despite the fact that he’s right on the subject. He was ruthlessly attacked for his executive order forcing parents to have their daughters vaccinated with the HPV vaccine. He didn’t have a good response. He was solid on taxes and Obamacare and he did lob a few attacks at Romney. Overall though, he just looked like one of the crowd. I’ll bet he loses a little momentum after last night.

Which brings up Mitt Romney, the man MSNBC wanted Perry to debate with exclusively. This guy is steady eddie, the same attacks were lobbed at him as always, Romneycare, liberal Massachusetts policies and so on. Jon Huntsman even attacked Romney for creating less jobs than Michael Dukakis. None of the attacks matter, Romney is a teflon candidate. He smiles, ignores the attacks and talks about whatever he wants to talk about. Romney didn’t do anything to kill his candidacy and he helped it along by attacking Perry and slowing his momentum.

Herman Cain had perhaps the best debate of the campaign so far. He was solid, knowledgeably and he was the only one who provided a specific plan. Cain’s 999 plan, which would reduce income taxes to 9%, corporate rates to 9% and create a national sales tax of 9% in the very least shows that Cain has some ideas that are conservative and different from the other candidates. He had perhaps the best line of the night “God only commands 10%, the government can live on 9%.” Conservatives will love this line, the lefties at MSNBC I’m sure found it outrageous. Very solid night for Cain though, it will be interesting to see if the polls reflect his great performance.

Michele Bachmann was a poor man’s Herman Cain last night. She looked out of it, she wasn’t feisty like she usually is. She was basically ignored by the MSNBC moderators, I suspect intentionally. Her solid points are Obamacare and jobs. She had a great line about how she will, as President, lead the fight to repeal Obamacare. That was great, but after the first half hour she was either ignored or didn’t have anything interesting to say. Mrs. Bachmann probably peaked to early. I wouldn’t count her out as a VP selection. 

Newt Gingrich is masterful on stage. He doesn’t put up with gotcha questions from the piranha moderators. His answers are coherent and they’re usually right on. He displays a fundamental understanding of how the political process in Washington works and how it can be played. I don’t think he has a shot at the nomination because he has to much baggage. But most Republicans will have loved his performance last night. He adds a lot to these debates.

Rick Santorum was largely forgotten last night. He said a few good things but he was mostly forgettable. It’s time for him to leave like Tim Pawlenty. He doesn’t have a chance and at this point he’s just taking votes away from other conservative candidates.

Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman are polar opposites. They are each running for President in the wrong party. Paul should be running as a Libertarian, Huntsman as a Democrat. Paul was once again all over the place last night. Even when he had the better argument, he’s borderline incoherent. If you don’t understand libertarian thought, you can’t make the connection between what he’s saying and what he means. As for Huntsman, he didn’t do or say anything last night that will earn him any votes. He’s really a non factor in the race.

Something must be said about MSNBC’s racist actions last night. They dragged out some hispanic reporter from Telemundo to ask questions about illegal immigration. The reporter only asked questions about this subject. Does MSNBC really think that the only issues Hispanics are interested in is immigration? The notion that an entire ethnic group can be defined by a single issue is absurd and racist. Of course, if Fox News had pulled this stunt the lefties at MSNBC would be howling racism. When the left-wing network does it, it’s sticking it to Republicans. The double standard is disgusting.

Win: Romney because he was steady and Perry faltered. These two are at the top of the polls, Romney got the better of Perry.

Place: Herman Cain did a terrific job last night and may be the leader amongst conservatives at this point as Bachmann fell back a bit.

Show: Newt. His masterful performance cannot be discounted.