New School Politics

LiveBlogging the Republican Debate

Zach | 3 05 2007

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We’re already about twenty minutes into the debate sponsored by MSNBC/Politico.com, and I’ll be periodically updating this blog entry with my latest impressions. So far, we’ve seen a variety of MSNBC-chosen questions, and there’s been a round of questions submitted by users of the popular political website Politico.com [I'll be writing about the importance of the interactive round shortly]. I’ve been a little disgusted with the frequency of Reagan references, but, after all, it’s a Republican debate at the Reagan Library, so I guess one shouldn’t expect anything else. Ronald Reagan wasn’t, however, the country’s greatest president, and I don’t see why all of the candidates continually refer to his greatness in practically every area of governance. I’ll be dropping general opinions into several paragraphs and I’ll keep candidate specific entries at the bottom.

Candidates on the Issues

Abortion: One of the major rifts in social policy between Democrats and Republicans, and one of the policies that will leave most of those on the fence from voting for Republicans. Even those originally pro-choice, like Mitt Romney, have changed their positions to pro-life to better align themselves with the principles of the majority of the Republican party. Why can’t candidates think for themselves? Romney spoke earlier about how a leader didn’t always have to follow public opinion. So why has he flip-flopped on abortion? There’s been a select few that

Christian Conservatives: increased interest of the party is good for the party [says Giuliani].

Faith: Huckabee’s faith does affect his decision process. Those whose faith doesn’t affect them aren’t true to their faith at all. Mitt Romney has discussed his ability to separate church and state, just as the government does. Huckabee, however, focuses on how his faith guides his decision making. Sam Brownback, meanwhile, discusses how we should “invite [faith] in and celebrate it.”

Repulican Corruption: Can’t help but to bring up Democratic corruption as well. The only conclusion is that they should go to jail..Tying the fraud to a necessity to “rebuild the family structure in this country.”

The Republican Field

Ron Paul: goal of government is not to be the policeman of the world, but instead is to promote liberty. Freedom brings people together. Overdoing military aggressiveness limits our ability to protect American rights. Principal is that of defending liberty and minimizing the scope of government.

Mitt Romney: It’s become apparent that Romney’s policies are almost all decided based on public opinion. Yet, when asked about it, he conceded that a good leader doesn’t always pay attention to the requests of the majority. If that’s what he believes, I find it a bit interesting that the majority of his policies are suddenly being shaped by the polling numbers.

Tommy Thompson: Faced a difficult question on employment of homosexuals and ultimately came to the conclusion that the government shouldn’t prevent hate-fueled firings. Why, then, is it the government’s place to regulate abortion? Vetoed 1900 pieces of legislation, started welfare reform, saved billions for Americans on taxes. Claims his record will attract Democrats and Independents. “We looked to Washington to change Washington, but Washington changed us.”

Sam Brownback: Renew the culture, lead the family, and reconstruct the American family to give the country morals. Typical Christian conservative viewpoint…doesn’t seem to bring anything special to the table.

John McCain: shirking questions like immigration reform, etc. Repeatedly claimed he’d “follow bin Laden to the gates of hell.” Shots at incompetence in government with a critique of special interest groups. Spending got out of control in 2006. Vows to stop pork barrelling if elected. Claims the line-item veto is required, despite the question of its constitutionality in Clinton v. New York. McCain is quick to criticize vast military spending yet blames it on the manufacturers of the weapons and not those signing the spending bills.

Mike Huckabee: no grades in the middle of a test, so why give the Bush Administration a grade in the middle of the Iraq conflict? Wait until the end of the conflict and we’ll judge their performance then.

Tom Tancredo: dismisses Karl Rove and claims that his policy on abortion conflicts with the White House’s.

My Perspective

I didn’t watch last week’s Democratic debate so I have no basis of comparison. What I’ve seen in the Republican field, unfortunately, is overwhelming similarity between the candidates. Almost all oppose abortion and plan to cut entitlements. Few have mentioned something unique that they bring the table in 2008. So far, Ron Paul seems to have differentiated himself with a Libertarian philosophy. He may not have a chance at the nomination, but he does have the chance to shape Republican philosophy for the future.

The comments above are not representative of the views of all authors on New School Politics. The above post is solely a quick (in fact, rather off-the-cuff and unpolished) response to a small portion of the Republican debate. Expect more coverage on the 2008 election in the future, including a roundtable with several of the authors and in-depth profiles of the candidates.