I have to agree with David Gergen's analysis that the debaters, sadly, ignored the issues of the day. None of the candidates articulated a plan or vision for the future.... other than itching to bomb Iran. They mainly quibbled over unsolvable "social (sexual) issues" and rehashed the past (Teri Schiavo, Scooter Libby, etc.).
Here's my take on the particpants in that debate, moderated by MSNBC's Chris Matthews .
(See my Profile of MSNBC's Chris Matthews at About.com Liberal Politics.)
Sen. John McCain - Angry and creepy, while waving his arms , scrunching his face and squinting his eyes. He looked disoriented. Maybe nerves?
Gov. Mitt Romney - Slick slick slick. Clever and smart. And more slick. This man could sell ice cubes to snow-bound Eskimos, and then convince them that they're still warm.
Gov. Rudy Guiliani - A New York Republican, whatever that might be... The only Republican on-stage who could siphon votes from Democratic candidates.
Sen. Sam Brownback - Perfect candidate for a church search committee for a conservative evangelical pastor. A straight-shooter and a nice man with a good, albeit, conservative heart. Not presidential material for these times.
Rep. Tom Tancredo - Xenophobia in an expensive suit.
Rep. Duncan Hunter - A San Diego hypocrite on immigration reform (support employers; pursue and punish undocumented workers). Otherwise, a respectable, bona fide conservative. Has presidential charisma.
Gov. Tommy Thompson - Said that companies should be allowed to fire employees for being gay. I believe he also said that a few thousand U.S. soldiers have been injured in Iraq. (Answer: Over 25,000 U.S. soldiers have been very seriously wounded.)
What's left to say about someone so out of touch with constitutional rights and the most urgent issue of our day?
The Others - Who the heck are they???
(Also read Liberal Politics at About.com)
1 comments:
I really enjoy reading your blog, it always has great insight. But I am very frustrated with the media’s lack of questions to the presidential candidates about global warming. Now that it is down to just a few candidates I would think that this would be a bigger issue.
Live Earth just picked up this topic and put out an article ( http://www.liveearth.org/news.php ) asking why the presidential candidates are not being solicited for their stance on the issue of the climate change. I just saw an article describing each candidate’s stance on global warming and climate change on earthlab.com http://www.earthlab.com/articles/PresidentialCandidates.aspx . So obviously they care about it. Is it the Medias fault for not asking the right questions or is it the candidates’ fault for not highlighting the right platforms? Does anyone know of other websites or articles that touch on this subject and candidates’ views? This is the biggest problem of the century and for generations to come…you would think the next president of the United States would be more vocal about it.
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