The eventual Republican nominee for the 2024 election was not on that stage last night. The front runner, Ron DeSantis looked and spoke like an angry mechanical robot, avoiding questions and instead spouting pre-recorded sound bites. On the few occasions when he was forced to go off-script he was extremely awkward.
I thought that Pence looked good. He showed more forcefulness than I've seen before and I liked his answers and comments. Realistically he has no chance because to the MAGA crowd he will always be a traitor. Asa Hutchinson displayed good objective reasoning on most issues. Working against him is the appearance of a kindly old grandfather giving advice to his grandkids.
Ramaswamy at first impressed me but as the evening progressed he became more combative and extreme in his views. I dismissed him completely when he said he would abandon Ukraine, and pardon Trump on day one. I was pleased when Nikki Haley challenged him on Ukraine.
Russia has been a pain in the world's ass for more than a century. Putin is trying to rebuild the USSR and if he's not stopped he will succeed, with the help of China and other allies. In my view the day that Russia crossed the Ukraine border he should have been met with all of the firepower that NATO could muster.
A different issue that all candidates seemed to agree on was that China and Mexico are responsible for the drug deaths in America. This is pure rubbish. No one is forcing Americans to use drugs. The drug cartels are simply supplying the demand that we have created. We are killing ourselves. Education is not the answer. Drug users know full well what the consequences could be. What's lacking is a sense of values; a sense of right and wrong. I don't have an answer as to why those qualities are lacking.
Let me get back to the candidates. Chris Christie, the man I've been in favor of has gotten some favorable reviews regarding last night but in my opinion he came up short. He was a non-factor. He did on occasion display his objective thinking, but not nearly enough and his combative attitude toward Ramaswamy was distasteful. In the coming debates he must use his reasoning ability on the issues that Americans are concerned about.
Of the eight candidates, I could support Nikki Haley. Her stance on most issued mirrored my own. I like the way she handled herself on that stage. I liked her candidness, especially in her opening comments when she said that Republicans were partially to blame for the economy. My sense is that she has her own agenda that she believes in and is not trying to be all things to all voters. That's called conviction.
But as I said, none of the eight candidates will be the nominee. Baring something unforeseen it will be Trump. For Trump supporters these debates may as well not even take place, though it does give them an opportunity to boo the hopefuls.
Yesterday in an antique shop Maribel found a "Goldwater in '64" campaign pin that I have been looking for for many months. Comes November of next year if the choices are Biden or Trump, I'll be wearing my Goldwater pin and voting for him just as I did in '64.
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