What I Saw in the Debate

 

My opinion is just my opinion, no better or worse than anybody else’s.  Facts are different; they can’t (shouldn’t) be denied—though Leftists do it all the time—but opinions are just that.  The following is my opinion of what I saw in the Republican debate this past Wednesday night.  It was the first time I really had a chance to hear some of the candidates.  Here are some observations (my opinions only) about each. 

First, any of those people would be better than Joe Biden or any Democrat.  Any of them. 

Now to the candidates in no particular order.

1. Vivek Ramaswamy.  He was the most often attacked, mainly because he was most on the offensive and was the most decisive in his answers.  Politicians hate absolutes.  No squirming room.  Vivek is “too young and inexperienced.”  No, he’s not, except he doesn’t always use wisdom.  His “I’m the only person here not bought and paid for” comment was just dumb.  It may be accurate, but it shouldn’t have been said.  He had a good performance. 

2.  Asa Hutchinson.  His J6 “insurrection” comment lost him any chance of winning the nomination, not that he had any to begin with.  His record as governor seems primarily good, and he made that point.  He was actually fairly impressive, but he won’t win.

3.  Doug Burgum.  No significant errors that I could see, but he is too unknown to have much chance.  All his answers seemed solid.  He has a long way to go to get anywhere, though.

4.  Ron DeSantis.  His answers weren’t always with “yes” or “no” clarity, and he often sounded like a politician.  But then, he is one.  The Fox interrupter accused him (I didn’t get his name, he was a jerk) a couple of times of not answering the question asked when I clearly heard an answer.  I still don’t know, for sure, what he will do with Ukraine other than protect America’s southern border.  But maybe he doesn’t know yet, either.  Will he authorize more money for Ukraine? I’m not sure.  But his performance was solid, and he didn’t get into any of the screaming matches the others did.  I thought overall, he did a good job and was steady and solid.

5.  Mike Pence.  I admire his faith, but he’s just not a very likable man to me.  Sometimes he didn’t know when to shut up.  He had some excellent ideas, as did all of them, but appeared a bit uppity and arrogant.  He did what he thought his job was on January 6, 2021, and even if you disagree with his actions, you can’t fault a man for doing what he thinks is right.  We all do that.  He’s weak, though, and he isn’t going to win the nomination.

6.  Nikki Haley.  I thought she was way too excitable, especially on the Ukraine issue.  Her stance there wholly turned me off.  Yes, Putin is a thug and a murderer.  But so is Zelensky, and nobody has ever explained, to my satisfaction, why we should be supporting one thug over another in a war that has been going on, off and on, for generations.  I get so tired of the “we can do both” argument, i.e., protect our border and be the “leader” of the free world by, in effect, getting involved in other people’s wars and wasting our money whenever politicians want to.  Yes, we can do that, but sticking our noses into other people’s business usually isn’t a good idea, either personally or as a nation.  I’ve also never bought the “if we allow Putin to take Ukraine, that will give China a green light to attack Taiwan” argument.  No, it won’t if we make it very clear to China that we won’t tolerate it.  I think Vivek was the best here.  We are driving Russia into the hands of China rather than trying to build a friendship with them.  Sometimes we must make friends with monsters; it’s called “realpolitik.”  Vivek, more than once, indicated that China is our biggest threat, and he is absolutely right on the money with that one.  And yet, he is the one who is “inexperienced” in foreign affairs.  Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean he is totally stupid.  He is also the only one I heard who said “Climate change is a hoax.”  Haley said it wasn’t, she is wrong, and I think she lost any chance she had at the nomination with that, her Ukraine policy, and being way too flighty at times.

7.  Tim Scott.  He didn’t talk as much, but what he said was good.  He didn’t stand out above the others, so he still has little chance to be the nominee.  He probably didn’t gain, or lose, much support with this debate.  His agreement, a few weeks ago, with Kamala Harris about DeSantis and slavery hasn’t been forgotten (by me) and he might come back to bite him on the tailbone someday.  Tim seems to be a nice guy but not a President.

8.  Chris Christie.  I thought he was actually pretty likable and, from what he said, had a decent record as governor of New Jersey (I’m no expert on that, maybe some of you New Jersey folks know better).  But he absolutely hates Donald Trump, and that appears to be the focal point of his campaign.  You don’t hate the (current) most popular Republican and get very far with the masses who are going to choose the nominee.  He would be better than Biden.  But dying in your sleep at night is better than dying of a long, protracted, painful battle with cancer.

So that’s what I saw.  I’m sure some of you saw some completely different things.  We have nine candidates (at the moment).  Let’s see if this debate helped or hurt any of them significantly.  There is still a long road ahead.