Last night's GOP debate again underscored the depths to which the Republican Party has sunk and it's in ability to field a true strong rational candidate. But then again, when you allow your political party to be taken over by crazy people and religious fanatics, it tends to send the sane people fleeing. For all his failings, at least Romney comes across as not crazy even if he's too willing to pander to the mental ward escapees that make up the GOP base. And true to form, the Tea Party/Christianist audience again displayed their underlying bigotry by booing when a gay soldier serving in Iraq asked a question. Never mind that he's putting his life on the line for the nation and protection the right of these batshit crazy folks to spew bile. My died in the wool Republican ancestors must be spinning in their graves over such mediocrity and insanity. Here's one analysis of the debate from the Washington Post:
[T]here’s no headline to be had here. Mitt Romney is easily the best in the field at doing this; he’s really the only one up there who seems even remotely well-cast as a presidential candidate. Of the rest, I suppose Rick Santorum shows pretty good statewide-debate-level chops, and Ron Paul certainly has his Ron Paul thing down cold. The other six are just awful at it.
It’s hard to tell whether these candidates have a basic grasp of policy beyond the most superficial talking points. Both Perry (on his astonishingly bad Pakistan answer) and Romney (on a Romneycare answer) left room for devastating attacks, but no one was either knowledgeable enough to notice or sharp enough to see it and come up with a good line — which left dozens of operatives smacking their heads in frustration.
Did I mention Rick Perry’s answer on Pakistan yet? Asked what he would do in the case of a 3 a.m. phone call saying that the Taliban had control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, Perry’s answer was that, as president, he would have strengthened the U.S. alliance with India … and so he could let India handle it. At least, that’s the closest I could get to understanding it.
Michele Bachmann doesn’t seem even remotely bound by facts, does she?
The ability of these Republican debate crowds to embarrass their party – this time, by booing the gay soldier – continues to be the theme of the debate season. It’s worth noting that, this time and last, it was a handful of people, so it’s even remotely fair to tar the whole party with the actions of a few blowhards, but it really is something, nevertheless.
Remember, the main way these early debates matter is to the extent, if any, that Republican Party actors take them into consideration when making choices. I have no idea what they’re thinking, but it’s hard to imagine that Rick Perry is helping himself so far.
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