The debate in New Hampshire between the now seven declared candidates for president was decidedly civil and informative despite the hosts attempt to churl the former on a number of occasions. I thought all of the seven came across quite well with opinions and proposals in response to questions asked from the floor and from two remote locations in the state where local people posed issues that were important to them. These included, the debt ceiling, job creation, Afghanistan, and the stimulus which all agreed had failed.
Caine was provoked by the host for no particular reason other than effect when he persisted about a comment Caine has made in an interview involving how comfortable he would be in hiring muslims. I thought Cain gave a reasonable explanation although the host seemed not to be as accepting. This was the only time one of the candidates appeared to become angry. Again the host pushed Governor Pawlenty about a comment he made about obamacare and the Massachusetts Health Care, when he referred to it as obamney Care. Pawlenty refused to drawn into an argument with Romney who responded with a gentlemanly answer.
Michelle Bachmann , looking beautiful drew applause by her announcement of her candidacy and prediction that obama would be a one-term president. She explained her position regarding her negative vote to raise the debt ceiling and was joined by the other candidates who all agreed that without significant cuts in spending, there would be no point in raising the debt ceiling. All of the candidates agreed, except for Ron Paul that the troop withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan should be based upon advise from the generals in command in the area.
All agreed that obamacare was too costly too restricting and unconstitutional, and should be repealed. When the issue of whether a president should interfere in State’s positions of gay marriage, all essentially agreed that a constitutional amendment would be the preferred way to go.
Santorum pressed Romney on his flipped position on ProLife, but without real argument Romeny indicated this is his position and will stick to it. All of the other candidates took a positive position on ProLife. All of the candidates agreed that states should have the right to be Right To Work without union or NRLB interference.
The main agreement among everyone was that obama had failed miserably with regard to his economic, energy and foreign policies. Despite recent setbacks, Newt Gingrich came across as a man with a plan and with great grasp of the needs and concerns of the American people. Rand Paul rambled on and on with regard to an answer to a question to a point where the question was all but forgotten. Caine did well despite never having held public office. His years in business served him well when responding to questions concerning the economy.
I don’t believe there were any real winners although I believe that Ron Paul is not electable. Herman Caine seems to be a man on a mission but his lack of experience in government will be a drawback for him. Santorum at times had difficult explaining his position on various topics. Pawlenty was not as “vanilla” as described by Bill O’Reilly and more than likely will remain viable. Michelle Bachmann was knowledgeable and responded patiently to all questions posed to her. If the American woman voter can see her not as a reincarnation of Sarah Palin, she should hang in for a long while. If that occurs, she might be electable. I mean in no way to be disrespectful to Sarah Palin, but both the media effect and the fact that too many woman would not vote for her in 2008 contributed somewhat to the GOP loss. Romney looks like a president and remains in the lead in various polls. I think that the electorate including the democratic partisans who took the time to watch the debate last night would get an understanding that good people interested in the future of this country participated.
Lastly, the silly moments occurred with the host playing a game called THIS amd THAT. Example would be asking Herman Caine his preference for pizza regular or deep dish. Each candidate had to respond to similar nonsense. This debate needed no ice breaker.
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