Thoughts on the October 18th Republican Presidential Debate

Dear Readers,

Rick Perry

Stick a fork in Rick Perry. He’s done. He’s had too many bad debate performances. I know I predicted that Rick Perry would be the President, but… well… um… gee… um… I was wrong. Rick Perry awkwardly pauses too much. He doesn’t speak in nice complete sentences. He’s not dumb, but when it comes to extemporaneous speaking, sometimes he sounds dumb. I know that nobody speaks in nice complete sentences all the time, but some are more eloquent than others. Mitt Romney is more eloquent than Rick Perry, for example.

In a perfect world, it shouldn’t matter that Perry is a lousy debater. Content is more important than form. Substance is more important than image. I would rather have a experienced and honest leader with limited speaking ability, like Moses, than an inexperience and deceitful leader who has mastered the art of rhetoric.

But we don’t live in a perfect world, and these days, politicians need to be able to debate well. And the Republicans need to nominate a masterful debater. Can you imagine Rick Perry going up against Barack Obama in a debate? Obama would beat him. Obama can blow people away in debates. He’s got the look, the demeanor, the voice, the inflection, the gestures… I’ll admit, sometimes when I watch President speak for a while, I get a tingly, hypnotized feeling! But then I remember what’s Obama’s actually saying, and I remind myself that he’s wrong and/or lying most of the time.

Also, part of a President’s job is giving good speeches. Obama’s great at speeches. Really great. Maybe that’s why he does them so much. Too bad they don’t seem to accomplish very much. The highlight of Obama’s Presidency so far, I think, was when he spoke at the funeral in Tucson. It’s a beautiful speech, beautifully delivered.

One thing that bugs me about Rick Perry is that half his answers started with something like, “We need to start having a serious conversation about ___________ (fill in the issue here.) “It’s time to seriously revive a national debate about ____________” This is a minor complaint, but still, it was something I noticed.

The best thing I can say about Rick Perry’s performance last night is that he suggested that we should stop funding the United Nations. I completely agree, and I was happy to hear someone besides Ron Paul and his John Birch Society pals say that we should get out of the U.N. It’s time for us to withdraw from that corrupt organization. Oh, I suppose if our membership in the U.N. prevents war somehow, we can stay in it. What do I know? But really, the best way to prevent war, like Mitt Romney says, is a strong America. Peace through strength. Generally speaking, Americans are still the good guys. Even if we stay in the U.N., let’s give it less money, and less of our participation.

Jon Huntsman

Man, they asked Huntsman so few questions, and he gave so few answers, it’s almost like he wasn’t even there.

Ha ha ha. If you saw the debate, you know that was a joke. Huntsman actually wasn’t there. I don’t know why. Probably because Huntsman isn’t doing well enough in the polls to warrant him a spot in the debates. That’s the same reason Gary Johnson was absent.

I know a lot of conservatives don’t like Jon Huntsman, but I thought he did pretty well in the past debates. He certainly sounded smart and made a lot of interesting and witty comments. On the other hand, I’m glad he wasn’t there. His absence gave more time to the more electable candidates.

Newt Gingrich

I think he won the debate. Cain got hammered on his 9 9 9 plan, Mitt Romney got hammered on RomneyCare, Perry hammered himself with his own slow tongue, but Gingrich neither hammered nor received hammering. He was gentlemanly. The more I hear Newt Gingrich, the more I like him. And he is so spot-on with his critiques of the provocative, TV-friendly debate format. The debates are looking more and more like episodes of Jerry Springer these days.

Newt challenged Obama to a Stephen Douglas – Abraham Lincoln style of debates. I think that’s a great idea. I think the Republican nominee should do that, unless the nominee is Bachmann or Perry. They seem to be the most limited when it comes to debating. Oh, and probably not Ron Paul, either. But Romney, Cain, Santorum, and Gingrich would all mop the floor with Obama in a series of old-fashioned debates.

Ron Paul

Ron Paul managed to not say anything kooky for another debate. But, in my opinion, Ron Paul seems grumpy. And he seems to relish his outsider status. There’s a problem when outsiders become leaders. They can’t lead because they’re stuck in the outsider role. In fact, I think that’s what happened to Obama. Obama was the cool outsider guy, the rebel against the system, but now he’s become the System. Does that make sense?

Ron Paul’s budget proposal is good…. I guess… he wants to eliminate a dozen federal departments and agencies and slash a trillion dollars in spending. Hey, I’m all for drastic cuts, but come on, let’s face it, if Ron Paul were the President, his budget proposal would instantly fail. It’s too drastic. It’s too revolutionary. And if you think Cain’s 9 9 9 plan would be hard to pass, Paul’s budget proposal would be impossible. Does Paul seriously think he could get a budget that cut 1 trillion dollars form this year’s budget? There’s no way. Even if a hundred new tea-party type of people got elected to Congress next year, there’s still no way. I’m not being pessimistic. I’m being realistic.

Michelle Bachmaan

I think Bachmaan had a pretty good night. I don’t think she said anything too embarrassing. I thought she was a little over-the-top emotional when she spoke directly to the Moms and kids of America who are facing foreclosure. She didn’t say what she would actually do about the foreclosure problem, but I guess it’s good every once in a while for Presidential candidates to try to reach out emotionally to voters. One good moment for her was when she said that everyone should pay some federal taxes. With the way the federal tax code is now, about half of Americans don’t pay anything.

I can always hear her laugh. And she has these great big smiles. Almost too big.

Hmmm... I was about to comment on her outfit, but that would be sexist and shallow of me. I didn’t think about saying anything about any of the other candidate’s outfits. Women probably have a harder time than men getting dressed up. Men just wear a gray or black suit. It’s a given. But women have to pick out colors and accessories and makeup and hairstyles and etc. etc. etc.

That being said… did you see Bachmaan’s buttons last night?! And those mountainous shoulder pads?! Oh My Wow! Is she trying to trick us into thinking that she’s a man? Which sailor did she steal those clothes from? I mean seriously, with the way she was costumed, I thought at any time she was going to start baton-twirling!

And the woman really does have a beautiful head of hair. Why would she pass up a chance to flaunt it?

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum is great. I don’t know why he’s doing so badly in the polls. Maybe he doesn't look Presidential? He seems to be a rock-solid conservative. He opposed TARP, and I love the way he keeps bringing up family values. He keeps stressing that stronger families make stronger economies. And when he criticizes other candidates, he has substantive things to say. Rick Perry hit below the belt when he accused Romney of hiring illegal immigrants to work on his lawn. Michelle Bachmann said, "Watch out for the 9 9 9 plan! Turn it upside down!" (By the way, I think Bachmaan stole that from me. Shhh… actually the truth is that I kind of maybe stole that funny idea from someone else on the Internet.) Rick Santorum, on the other hand, had legitimate complaints about RomneyCare. I also like the way he seems to answer the questions asked of him. He doesn’t change the subject or dodge things as much as the others do. He had a good night.

Mitt Romney

Mitt delivered yet another stellar performance. He consistently comes off as sharp, fair-minded, and handsome. His weakest part of the night was when he was being criticized on RomneyCare, and in fact RomneyCare is probably the weakest part of Romney's whole life. Another bad moment was when he was bickering back and forth with Perry. Mitt Romney 2012!

Herman Cain

I wished Herman Cain would have defended his 9 9 9 plan a little better than he did. He seemed to keep saying, "Go to my website. Experts analyzed the 9 9 9 plan. Go to my website. Experts analyzed the 9 9 9 plan. Go to my website." The 9 9 9 plan really is a great plan, in my opinion. I just wish Cain could communicate its greatness a little better.

Blah blah blah.

I have plenty more to say, but it's getting late, and my ADD is kicking in, and yours probably is too, so let's just call it a night, shall we?

Thanks for reading, I'll see you later, and Mitt Romney (or Herman Cain) 2012!

Actually, lately I've been thinking it would be cool to have a bumpersticker that said, "Mitt Romney or Herman Cain 2012". I like them both a lot.

OK, see you later

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa