Scott Allan's World

I just finished watching the Republican YouTube Debate. I really enjoy this format. The candidates get quite unexpected questions sometimes that could not normally be asked by a media personality.

I thought Rudy took a few hits but also had moments where he shined such as the articulate explanation of whether he believes every word in the Bible. He was funny when he tried to take credit for the Yankees winning the World Series four times when he was Mayor and none since he left. He was way off base trying to go after Romney for having illegal aliens work on his property. Romney answered him quite well by saying, when you hire a company to do work on your property, it is un-American to go ask an employee of that company to show you paperwork just because he has a different accent. Touché!

Mitt Romney did well as usual looking and sounding the most Presidential and polished of all the candidates. Perhaps his only misstep was answering the question about allowing gays in the military since he had a different position in 1994. The old, gay General seemed to have been placed in the audience purposefully to make the candidates feel uncomfortable and appear discriminatory. It turns out the General works on Hillary’s campaign of course. Another plant. What a surprise for CNN. What Mitt essentially said, but probably could have expressed a little better, was that his previous statement supporting an openly gay military was naive and that decision is better left to military commanders and that wartime is not the time for a social experiment in the military. That’s a floodgate you wouldn’t be able to close once you open it. He also admitted he was wrong about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell which seems to be working despite his previous skepticism. Yes, Mitt Romney has changed several positions in the past few years but I think his positions have substantially improved as he has grown and evolved as a person and a candidate. I tend to believe these positions are who he really is and that his past positions were compromised by his political aspirations of serving in Massachusetts which not easy for a Republican especially running against Ted Kennedy. I challenge anyone to hold the same position on all issues for a lifetime.

Huckabee is coming off as more relaxed and confident although he did not score points for allowing illegal aliens special tuition rates at state universities. I especially liked how he was going to send Hillary to Mars. His best line of the night came after he gave a very thoughtful explanation of how difficult it was to enforce the death penalty as Governor of Arkansas. To the question, “What would Jesus do about the death penalty”, Huckabee said, “Jesus Christ was smart enough not to run for public office.” A million points to Huckabee for wanting to eliminate the IRS and replace it with the Fair Tax. I really wish Romney would embrace this position.

Fred Thompson had his best showing but did not receive many questions. He got a great shot in on Rudy about hiring Bernie Kerik.

McCain was his usual self, very true to what he believes in. I like how he does not apologize for anything he believes in such as Immigration Reform. He seems to have lost a little of his vigor since the last election.

Tom Tancredo can’t seem to believe he’s still on the stage.

Duncan Hunter great positions, no personality.

And lastly, Ron Paul. He is really entertaining. If he wasn’t such a nutjob on foreign policy, I’d pay more attention to him as a candidate.

Really any of these candidates are better than Hillary, Obama, or Edwards. Even Ron Paul would probably be better than them.

Here are my favorites so far in order:
Mitt Romney
(Tie) John McCain, Mike Huckabee
Fred Thompson

Acceptable but not perfect:
Rudy Giuliani
Duncan Hunter

I would not vote for in the primary but would against the Dems:
Tom Tancredo
Ron Paul