Lining Up the Midgets

Thursday night, after the Cowboys put the finishing touches on the Packers, the wife and I are hanging out drinking rusty nails and she's flipping channels. She finally lands on CNN for the second half of the Republican YouTube "debate". I put debate in quotes because no one really debates in these things. Rather, they just wind their way through questions until they can spew their talking points. Regardless, here are my thoughts on what we saw:

1) Those who were thinking that Fred Thompson was the second coming of Reagan must be REALLY disappointed. This dude's an unenthusiastic turd. I loved how he espoused his love for states' rights when it came to abortion. I'm sure this was at the top of his agenda when he was a senator.

2) Romney is a waffler. Forget about him changing his mind about homosexuals and abortion. He can't even decide if he's in favor of torture (water boarding) until he talks to others (or a salamander) about it.

3) Ron Paul may be a little nuttier than I thought. His conspiracy theory about some NAFTA highway that will kill American jobs seems a bit over the top. For a libertarian, he's awfully protectionist.

4) No one gives a shit about Tancredo's or Hunter's candidacies. They can't even get the other guys to pick on them.

5) McCain made a passionate appeal about letting the "surge" work. He claims that it's working and with enough time will lead us to victory in Iraq. I have one question: Senator McCain, what is victory in Iraq? A democratic government as recognized in Western Europe or North America (ain't happening)? Absence of violence in the streets (may exist until we leave or when all cities are ethnically cleansed)? Peaceful rule by theocrats (we did all this to create another Iran)? Fewer Americans dying each month (success!)?

6) Giuliani is playing prevent defense. He looks like a guy that figures he'll win enough big states (NY and CA) to convince the delegates not committed to state votes that he's the guy who can win in 2008. He knows he won't win with the hard-cores in Iowa and New Hampshire, but will kick some ass in the first big delegate states (Michigan and Florida).

7) Huckabee's an interesting character. He's charismatic, but not in an over-the-top way. His tone of voice makes him sound reasonable and his deep christian convictions is just what the Republican right loves. However, his logic breaks down. When asked how he can be pro-life when it comes to abortion, but pro-death penalty, he says (more or less), "In abortion one person makes a decision on that life, where as the death penalty is served by all of the citizens of the state/nation." Not true. First, through the election of representatives who want to keep abortion legal, millions of Americans have decided that women have the right to make that decision. Second, while millions of Americans through their representatives have decided to make the death penalty legal in their states (and for certain federal crimes), it's 12 people on a jury who make that final decision (and, in some cases, one judge who decides to uphold it) and 9 people on the Supreme Court who hear the appeal. It's not like American Idol where we ALL get to vote on a death sentence. Regardless, it's clear that Huckabee's going to drive Romney even further to the right, which will eventually help Giuliani.

My wife mentioned that we haven't watched a democratic debate. I don't know why she's interested since she's going to back Clinton no matter what. If we do watch one, I'll report back.