First of all, I despise the crowd at these debates. They are fans not constituents. They are being sold on a product not persuaded into voting for who could govern this country.
The GOP debate quickly turned into a battle between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney over health care and immigration. The back and forth, “I know you are but what am I,” arguing was remnant of a 2 year old temper tantrum and storm out. Additionally, when speaking to another candidate, Rick Perry would say Congressman this or Speaker that. When speaking with Herman Cain, it would be “my brotha”.
Early in the debate, Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan was under fire. Cain insisted his 9-9-9 plan to reduce personal income and corporate taxes to 9 percent and create a 9 percent national sales tax would not raise taxes on middle-income Americans. This is inaccurate. His 9-9-9 plan will affect the middle-class more than the upper class or bourgeoisie class. In fact, when he became under fire more, his rebuttal became “I invite people to look at our analysis which we make available.” Um. Okay?
When discussing immigration, the general consensus was to build a huge wall along the border. Michelle Bachmann’s idea was to double that. Ron Paul wants to take troops from protecting the Pakistan border to patrolling the Mexico border. Later in the debate she argues that President Obama put troops in Libya THEN Africa. Um, Mrs. Bachmann, Libya is IN Africa (clearly Bachmann didn’t win this debate).
Negotiations with terrorisim. Herman Cain said we don’t negotiate with terrorist. Anderson Cooper quoted Herman Cain when saying that he would authorize a trade for American prisoners. Hmmmm. #FactCheck. Bachmann absolutely disagrees. She would not release hostages from Guantánamo Bay. Ron Paul asked about condemning Ronald Reagan for negotiating with terrorism. Santorum and Gingrich backed up Reagan.
Foreign Aid. Rick Perry wants to defund the UN. Mitt Romney wants to cut the budget (including Obamacare) and spend less on foreign aid. Ron Paul said this is the easiest cut. It’s taking money from poor people in this country and give it to poor people in poor countries. When asked about Israel, Paul wants everyone to be treated equally. Bachmann disagrees and doesn’t want to cut foreign aid to them.
Who can beat Obama? Cooper said Romney is the most popular and people think he has the best chance. Santorum had a 1% approval rating. Santorum says, no one has won a swing state except him (three times). Romney believes that his entire life has been politics and he has created jobs. Rick Perry said Romney created 40k jobs in 4 years while Texas created more in the last two months. Herman Cain says his business experience is more mainstream. He says it’s going to be “a problem solver versus a president who hasn’t fixed anything in this country.”
In my opinion: Ron Paul won. With Rick Santorum at a close second.
My Double Consciousness 