Santorum: Bringing a Knife to a Gun Fight
Who the hell voted for this idiot? Did the states he has carried in the past few weeks have open primaries – where they let just anybody vote in the R primary, including mischievous Democrats? He is a valiant defender of the status-quo, weak, flustered, compromise-oriented, proud of his wheeler-dealer ways. I can’t stand guys like that. He’s boring, trite (repeating what the other guys say), too young – sort of like the Republican version of Obama. His wife is wearing a ponytail as if she was headed to the grocery store and not a televised debate with millions of viewers. A ponytail? Hint: Have everybody on the team “dress for the job they want.” Take notes from that Callista Gingrich, every hair shellacked in place. First impression of Santorum: his eyes are too close together. This guy was seriously outgunned by Newt’s brain, Ron’s heart, and Mitt’s hair.
Newt Gingrich: That’s Mighty Bold Talk for a White-Haired Fat Man
Newt is a lot like Rooster Cogburn, as bold as the day is long, and I love it. I can imagine him telling a gang of 10 bad guys that he only needs to arrest the leader, the rest are free to go, he has no business with them today. He is America to me – confident, cocky, smart, aggressive, he bows before no one. He has a specific plan of action for everything. Country’s broke? Drill half of the 69 percent of federal land in Alaska, and we can tell the Middle East to have at each other. That deals with two problems actually…foreign wars and poor economy. Repeal the 130-year-old civil service laws, too, while you’re at it. Love the purple tie (Callista surely dressed him).
I’m puzzled by the press’ assertion that he has given up, his heart not in it. He looked to me like he was having a great time, doing exactly what I would have in the situation – smartass answers to stupid questions, answering the audience member’s question posed instead of the moron mediator’s, the “oh, it’s my turn finally” look.
I would love to see this strong-minded man as president. He resonates with me. My favorite line: Not taking control of the border is a failure of will. Yeah, he’s a tough son-of-a-bitch, and I love him.
I grinned when at the end of a perfectly delivered rebuttal of Romney’s (earnest gaze right into the camera, his beautiful, rich voice deepened for emphasis on the last syllable), Newt, sitting next to him, smiled at him and said, “Good job.” Wherever Newt is, he’s the smartest guy in the room, and he knows he was sitting next to the guy who looks like he was born for the part.
It would have been really good if the camera had caught Romney’s expression in reaction to Newt’s comment…was there surprise, amusement, pride? Do we have a ticket forming here, with Newt as Mitt’s vice president?
Mitt Romney: Mr. Smooth
I thought what an anal-retentive, tight-ass, little walk he has, as he entered the stage. I’ve read Lincoln had a funny walk, too, though, very gangly.
I realized a couple of weeks ago that I had a prejudice, and I needed to check myself. I had ignored Mitt because he was too handsome, slick, white-bread, yuppy-looking. By God, I prefer an ugly president – give me some guy with a mashed-in mug and character written in every crevice.
I realized this was reverse-discrimination (although I swear he looks like an actor responding to a casting call for a new Hollywood movie about a presidential election), and began reading up on him. Mormon? Well, I don’t see a lot of future drunken bashes in the White House, and that’s not a bad thing, people. He’s marketed as the “CEO President.” Well, I’m all over that – I was with Perot 20 years ago and would have voted for Trump to finally get it. His resume impresses me, with a lot of solid business successes. He can close the deals.
I was anxious to get a looky-loo at him in action. I was not disappointed in the debate. His business experience stands out from other candidates, regarding bailouts, budgets…I believe him when he says he will look at every single government program and ask “is this worth borrowing from China to pay for?”
He is a terrific choice. He is beginning to look less “perfect” to me…and more “presidential.” I notice less the prefect hair, teeth, face and more the poise and determination.
Ron Paul: The Defender of Liberty
Ron Paul has been my favorite all along despite the media’s insistence that he can’t win and thus ignored, despite fellow Rs’ insistence that his foreign policy is looney and that it’s too late for isolationism.
I think Dr. Paul made the best points of the night.
1. Communism fell because we spent them under the table. Now we are going to fall because we’re broke and can’t stop spending ourselves under the table. He’s right. Having troops all over the world fighting wars with no clear vision of success is killing us from the inside, threatening our financial security.
2. What’s wrong with having an anti-war president? This only means we won’t have a president surreptitiously sending troops into undeclared war situations (advising, training, escorting, you know). This president will not declare war, and folks, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. War is supposed to be declared by the legislature, by the true representatives of the people. But, this isn’t what’s been happening lately (since Korea, Viet Nam, et al). We’ve become so immune to all sorts of bounds-overstepping that we don’t even realize it anymore.
3. Earmarks. Dr. Paul nailed it. If the federal government wouldn’t suck up the states’ money and give it to foreign countries in aid, then states wouldn’t have to come begging for earmarks to fix their roads. I still believe earmarks are evil, as they are attached to other bills, without a straight-up solo vote on the merit of the earmark, which creates a situation where deals can be made and votes bought. The true picture is every state needs their roads and bridges fixed, their guys look bad when they negotiate for money to go back to their state to do this, I get angry because I think MY money is going to fix stuff in Alaska when I need it in Oklahoma and will never use the road in Alaska in my lifetime…and while we’re all fussing about it, that fat-cat federal government is sucking all the resources up, insisting it has the right and authority to spend it on More Important Things like foreign aid.
I believe Ron Paul can win the Big Show if the diehard Rs would just trust in him during the primaries. He can draw the young, the moderate, the disillusioned Democrat, the Independent, the Tea Party, the Libertarian. (And when I say Tea Party, I don’t mean the fake Tea Partiers trying to hijack the movement, talking about abortion, militias, and what-not. The Tea Party is about the lack of fiscal responsibility and overstepping bounds, nothing more.)
But, they’re mortified that he might be able to enact his “radical” agenda of personal liberty (so crazy that following the Constitution is considered “radical” these days). Frankly, I see that never happening, but with his stance of “no, we shouldn’t be involved with that at all” we may actually end up back in the middle as a country.
I love when the business-as-usual politicians dicker over whether we should be in favor of something 25 percent of 50 percent. Ron Paul is the guy in the room who keeps saying “Zero percent! We don’t have the right to do this!” I like that the negotiations start at zero percent on our side, for a change. (Contrast that with Santorum’s explanation that politics is a team sport, and sometimes you’ve got to take one for the team. He stammers that he voted for things that he didn’t personally believe in. He is a person who does not vote his conscience, he lacks the will power to stand up for what he believes in, and he has no innovative thinking to offer.)
Loved it when Santorum tried to say Paul wasn’t conservative enough in his record, and he retorted something like, “well, hell no I didn’t vote for it if it cost money or overstepped our bounds.” It’s like dealing with an idiot child, that Santorum. Dr. Paul doesn’t spend money we don’t have to pander for anyone’s vote. Period.
Dr. Paul is old, but feisty. He’s like an old piece of gristle that just won’t go away! And you keep chewing and chewing, and he keeps warning of us things that will happen, and they keep coming true…it’s not going away, though. We’re spending ourselves into oblivion.
I’d really like to see him as president because Americans need to be taught what America is supposed to be – every day for four years, until we understand and remember it. It’s not supposed to be like this, in that anything you may want to do is somehow regulated and overseen by some aspect of government.
The Final Analysis
The candidates were asked to describe themselves with one word. They said:
Mitt = resolute
Ron = consistent
Newt = cheerful (smartass!)
Rick = courage (dumbass, that’s not an adjective)
I asked my husband to do the same out of curiosity:
Mitt = polished
Ron = idealistic
Newt = logical
Rick = spastic
When I vote on Super Tuesday, I’m going for the Whole Enchilada, the ideals, the dreams of what it could be like…Ron Paul. I refuse to let the media choose my presidential candidate for me, by casting Ron Paul as the looney whackadoodle that could never win so they barely let him speak or write down what he says. I may be wasting my vote, but everyone needs to vote their conscience. I may strike out, but I trust the rest of my fellow Rs will still get us on base with Mitt or Newt. With any of these three, it’s a win.
Side Notes: BTW, this wasn’t a debate. It was an interview of four people simultaneously by a media person. And the seconds leading up to it thoroughly disgusted me, during which the media person was touted by another media person, like the smack talk leading up to a professional wrestling match. Blech.
I think this is the ticket, folks.
