Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Republican US Presidential debate.

Tonight I watched the Republican Presidential hopeful debate and what an interesting program it was. It seems that most of the candidates would like to take off from where President Ronald Reagan finished and his name was mentioned at least 7 times throughout the night.

There were 10 candidates and they consisted of:

Gov. Mike Huckabee
Rep. Ron Paul
Gov. Tommy Thompson
Sen. Sam Brownback
Rep. Tom Tancredo
Rep. Duncan Hunter
Gov. Mitt Romney
Gov. Jim Gilmore
Sen. John McCain
Mayor Rudy Giuliani

I was particularly impressed with Gov. Mike Huckabee. He had a particularly good answer to a question Wolf Blitzer asked him about if he believes that God created life as we know it or if he believed in the big bang theory. Having been a previous Baptist Minister he obviously believes that God created man..... But if you or I would like to think that we were descendants of primates then we are welcome to believe it. His delivery of this curve ball question was magnificent. He seemed to have a firm control of his message throughout the evening and he was clear and precise. He seems to know what he is talking about. Would he make a good President? I think so. He'd make a great negotiator and certainly a good nomination for Secretary of State.

Sen. Tom Tancredo from Colorado seemed a little extreme. He has a point of difference on many ideas but I think that he would possibly be a bit much for the White House. He should get behind one of the front runners and offer his support. Maybe he'd be good in a Republican cabinet as he sticks to the book. He is not a fan of G.W Bush.

Rep Ron Paul from also seemed to me like he would not be a suitable candidate for the White House, but he did have a few good points and was not concerned about differing his opinion from his fellow on stage. Another potential for a cabinet, but as with Tom above, he should get behind one of the serious contenders and get out of the race.

Gov. Thompson had a few good one liners, but as with Hillary 2 days ago, we don't really need a comedian as President. While he had some good points, the main concern during the telecast amongst the people watching was weather he was wearing a hair piece. I can't answer that question for you, but I'd certainly accept him as President if his opponent was Dennis Kucinich.

Sen Brownback had a nasally voice somewhat like H. Clinton and had a resemblance of Beavis. I am not sure if the world community would be able to take him seriously.

Rep. Duncan Hunter is one of only a few people who work in Washington D.C that have a offspring in the military deployed overseas. So you have to give it to him that he'd have the troops best interest at heart which is important to me, but there is only going to be one President elected next year and I am not expecting it to be him. He'd be great in Veteran affairs and I hope he gets the opportunity to make sure that our troops are looked after both abroad and when they return.

Gov Jim Gilmore in the first quarter of 2007 raised a mediocre $174,790, the lowest of any of the major-party candidates besides Democrat Mike Gravel. Gilmore hosted only one fundraiser. He is obviously not making a serious run for the White House and although he has a few ideas that seemed reasonable I'd be inclined to think that he is enjoying the limelight and crossing his fingers that someone would like him to be V.P or in the next Republican cabinet. Power to him for trying, but unless he is going to have Mitt Romney open up his check book and spend some of his $500,000,000 on him, which is not going to happen, then he should back out.

Gov Mitt Romney has the look of a President. He has been hugely successful in business and seems to have high morals and trust ability. I am not concerned with the fact he is a Mormon. I have Mormon friends and they are great people. What I am concerned about is that he didn't have a clear message and of all his talking other than his pro-choice leaning at this stage, nothing was clear. He did come across a little bit like a well groomed car salesperson. He may make a reasonable V.P (maybe) but he needs to work rapidly on his message delivery if he wants to get close to the main contenders.

Sen John McCain seemed to me to have the most knowledge, respect and planning to make an excellent President of the USA. He is diplomatic, can work across the party lines and is by no means a freshman. A few of the questions asked were directly against his immigration bill and he got some flack for it from his friends on stage with him, but he managed to brush the water of his back and come back with flying colors. He was clear and precise. Good job.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani certainly has the ability to get the crowd going. He didn't seem as sincere as John McCain though. He got some laughs when lightening hit the roof when he was talking about abortion which was classic but I think that he doesn't have the experience of John McCain and could easily get overpowered by Washington. Not to say he wouldn't make a great President.

This leads to my choise for the President and V.P if I was to vote for the group above. There is always the chance the Frank Thompson may enter the race, and I will assess his potential when I see him in front of a crowd, but for now......

President John McCain
V.P Mike Huckabee

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rob,

I agree in respects of McCain but think age will count against him.

Don't get me wrong, McCain is a man of unquestionable honour but really his big chance must have been in 2000 when he lost to Bush.

A shame. My gutfeel is Guiliani will win and maybe Romney as VP candidate. I may be way off the mark, you probably know much better seeing as you're in the states.

PS - Die Hard 4.0 not far away!!