The Occasional Observer

7 comments:

SheaHeyKid said...

I'm watching the CNN Republican debate from the Reagan presidential library. It's about one hour through. Is it just me, or is Romney coming across hands down the most competent of the group? He has a clear, intelligent, and well-communicated position on each issue, which is not something I can say for the other candidates. Not to mention, he has the right position on the issues.

But I guess picking our president based on someone I feel I could sit down and have a beer with makes a lot more sense.

1/30/2008 8:56 PM

SheaHeyKid said...

I have to say, although they're giving him almost no time, I appreciate Ron Paul being on stage. The guy's as loopy as they come, but it's good to hear a libertarian view from time to time to reign in the excesses of the Republican party under the last 8 years.

Lower taxes, less spending, smaller government, stick to Constitution. These are all good points by Paul.

1/30/2008 9:15 PM

Fredo said...

It could just be me, but I think Mitt is absolutely waxing McCain in this debate. I sure hope John brings a little more to the table against Hill.

1/30/2008 9:26 PM

SheaHeyKid said...

OK, debate is over. Sadly, McCain was hands down the worst of all 4 candidates. By far. I say sadly because if he is our nominee, I am now concerned about how he will hold up in debates with Hill/Obama.

Romney smoked McCain. Smoked him. I have to say that Paul and Huckabee also did quite well, especially since they were given almost no time to advance their positions. But when they did speak, they defended their points well.

But for me, Mitt was the guy.

1/30/2008 9:36 PM

Fredo said...

Huckabee's final answer re: Reagan's endorsement was phenomenal. Mitt was typical Mitt "Yeah he'd endorse me."

Mitt did have a great debate. But Huck has, as the Waterboy's mom said, "the people skills."

1/30/2008 9:46 PM

SheaHeyKid said...

I thought Huckabee probably had the best night, given the limited amount of time they gave him. He was the most succinct and solid in his responses, and I agree his answer to the final question was the best.

I felt that McCain was fumbling around a lot, stringing together a bunch of non sequitur phrases that didn't really assemble in any way to yield a coherent answer. I also felt he reverted back to stock soundbites too often, rather than really answering the question. Also, rather than answer the question about why he would be a better leader than Mitt on the economy, he bypassed that direct question and went instead to why he would be an effective leader of the troops. Great point, but not the question.

I felt Mitt was more direct in his answers and was willing to talk about any question head on. I also thought his point about four "strategies" in the world today (Russia, China, Al Qaeda, and US) was a good one, and showed a higher level of thought as to the interdependencies and complexities of foreign policy.

Finally, I have to say again that I thought it was good to have Paul up there banging home the concepts of lower taxes, less spending, less regulation, less foreign intervention / nation building, and getting government out of the way so the people of this country can do their jobs.

1/31/2008 7:48 AM

ManBeast said...

I also watched the debate. I agree McCain didn't bring his A-game, but I've seen him do better. I disagree that Romney did that well. He like McCain sounded very rehearsed on many answers. Huckabee I thought did very well in the little time he had and of course, as usual, I like to hear Ron Paul bring a libertarian voice. Assuming McCain gets the nod, he'll need to do better in debates against the Dem nominee.

1/31/2008 9:02 AM