Another Debate

OK, so this morning I finally had the time to watch the Republican CNN/Youtube debate that aired last Wednesday night. I'm sure it's a big shock to everyone that I have quite a bit to say about it.

First, it struck me that Governor Huckabee explained the difference between the issues of abortion and the Death Penalty, which, if you'll recall, was the subject of my last post. His answer on that was quite well put. Of course, he botched another simple answer, but I'll visit that later.

There is no question that CNN's liberal bias showed through, not only failing to properly check out the questioners, but also deliberately choosing some questions which were asked in such a way that it was glaringly obvious that the questioner was a democrat. The most remarkable, and possibly that most famous now, was the gay General (who it turns out wasn't actually a General, but a retired Colonel with the honorary rank of General from the State of California, with no rights to use the title in an official US Army capacity) who is part of the Hillary Clinton campaign, and who CNN knew quite well, being that he had been on the network as a John Kerry supporter during the Presidential race four years ago. Then there was the person with the question about the "Log Cabin Republicans" which was asked by someone who Michelle Malkin was able to very quickly identify as an avowed Obama supporter. And there were a couple of others who's questions were legit, but they shouldn't have been chosen because of the questioners known ties to Democratic candidates. In the General election it would be fine for any American to ask questions of any candidate, but during the Primary contests it needs to be respected that each party is trying to decide on the person that they will nominate, and not try to interfere with that process.

Fred Thompson said the right things most of the time, and had a strong performance, and looked very much like a President. I do think that the questions people have been asking about the level of energy he has been showing in the race so far are fully legitimate, but I still think he seems to have it together, and gave a solid performance. And despite some of the issues that some people seemed to have with his campaign ad, I thought it was great, and it's good that someone is shaking things up and calling the other candidates out on their positions and their records.

Rudy Giuliani showed that he truly is a liberal at heart, but still managed to put sufficient political spin on his answers to hide that fact from some people, primarily those who are looking for any reason to support him... though I can't figure out why.

I have to admit, while I still don't really trust Mitt Romney, he did give a very good performance, and I do feel better about him after the debate than I did before.

Mike Huckabee showed his true colors, and unfortunately, they were clearly political. He talks a good game, but when you break it down and look at his record, it all comes apart. And as for the botched answer, he talked in circles when he was asked what he thought about the Bible. It was the perfect opportunity to say that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, but he didn't do that. Being a Baptist minister, and always being sure to tell people that, and even calling himself a Theologian, we have the right to expect him to take those stands, and he didn't do it. He sacrificed principle for political expediency. I wouldn't have expected a good answer from Giuliani, and didn't get one, but I did expect something more from Huckabee. The sad fact is though that Romney gave a much better answer to that question.

McCain actually gave a pretty good performance, but his problem is that his support is pretty much set in stone, people already either love him or hate him, and not too many people are likely to change their minds.

Ron Paul came on strong, and did a great job answering a variety of questions. I still don't see him as a viable contender, but he did a great job shaking things up, and showed what I have always known, that he is probably smarter than the entire rest of the field put together. I still don't see where he could win, but he did gain some respect from me at the very least.

I still think that Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter would both be great candidates, but they can't seem to come up with the money, or the media coverage that most of the others are up to their necks in. They both, also, gave very good answers to all the questions that they were included in.

I had hoped that one clear choice would emerge from this debate, but I'm nearly as confused now as I was before I started. In short, I still don't know who I'll vote for come the end of January, but I will pick one by the time we get there, it's just going to take a little more time, and a lot of Prayer.

And if you missed the debate, the intro video of a guy singing a song about the candidates, you really should go to www.youtube.com and search for GOP Debate Song and give it a look, it's really worth the time.