I don't have a dog in this fight, but...

[classicman]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Well, duh. He's a Republican.
there's a lot that's admirable too.
I think mostly I just find him refreshingly sensible for a republican candidate. Which is fucking bizarre really.

I agree.

These days, politics is like a freak show.

FTFY

[DanaC]

I think that's probably fair. But I also think that the Republican Party, currently, is the leader in downright phreakiness.*




*Not talking about all Republicans. Just the ones running for the presidential candidacy.

[classicman]

can't deny that. They seem to be trying really hard NOT to get reelected based upon the candidates running.

[DanaC]

I imagine it must be seriously frustrating for the average republican voter.

[classicman]

I guess. I've been all over the last few elections.

Aside/I think they should disable the "PICK A TEAM" button/lever so you actually have to select each candidate. /Aside

[Lamplighter]

Don't forget to include the last button: None of the Above

[Lamplighter]

Although Chris Christie seems to be a "normal" person,
his budget-cutting tendencies are legion*
Schools and libraries were his game targets
during his first year being Governor.
But then...

NJ.com
Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
Updated: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 7:40 PM

NJ Judge rules against Chris Christie:
Budget cuts left N.J. schools unable to provide 'thorough and efficient' education"

Tea Party favorite Gov. Chris Christie received a severe blow
to his education budget cuts by a Superior court judge:

Gov. Chris Christie's deep cuts to state school aid last year left New Jersey's schools unable
to provide a "thorough and efficient" education to the state's nearly 1.4 million school children,
a Superior Court judge found today.

Judge Peter Doyne, who was appointed as special master
in the long-running Abbott vs. Burke school funding case,
today issued an opinion that also found the reductions "fell more heavily
upon our high risk districts and the children educated within those districts."

"Despite spending levels that meet or exceed virtually every state in the country,
and that saw a significant increase in spending levels from 2000 to 2008,
our 'at risk' children are now moving further from proficiency," he said.

And besides all that:
Christie does not seem to learn from his mistakes.
That is, if you want decisions to be in your favor,
do you really think it wise to piss off all the judges in your state:

Bloomberg Businessweek
October 18, 2011, 5:23 PM EDT
By Elise Young
Christie Calls for Constitutional Change on Judges’ Pensions

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called for an amendment
to the state constitution that would subject judges to a public pension overhaul enacted this year.

Christie, 49, said he’ll try to get the proposal on the November 2012 ballot.
He spoke to reporters a day after Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg in Mercer County
ruled that members of the judiciary are exempt from a law requiring
higher pension contributions by public workers.
Christie said he will appeal.
“This is a blatant attempt to exact special treatment for themselves because they have the power,”
Christie said today in Trenton.
“Judge Feinberg’s decision, in addition to legally indefensible, is morally indefensible.
If the courts will not fix this problem,
the Legislature has to give the people the opportunity to fix this problem.”

Feinberg, who ruled on a claim brought by Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale
in her Trenton court, declined to comment.

In the same way he told teachers they don't have to teach,
maybe he will tell judges they don't have to judge.
.

[* IM might use the word "lesion"]

[ZenGum]

I was thinking about this last night. I knew Mitch mitchel was wrong, but the only name that came to mind was Loius Lewis.

I'm going to have a few strong words with my brain.

(Also, I am a bit ill at the moment, some kind of throaty-nosey-lungy-coldy-fluey thing. And senility, apparently.)

[ZenGum]

Oh and I like the fact that he is calling the Judges BS for what it is, despite the fact they could mess him up in return. More truth, less politicking.

[DanaC]

Compared to some of the lunatics currently in the race he seems relatively sane. For a right winger.

I mean...don;t get me wrong, hell would freeze over before I'd give my vote to anyone with his political views or record. But at least he seems like an actual human being.

The rest of the field are so wrapped up in presentation and appealing to this or that demographic that they seem to have lost track of who they themselves are.

[Lamplighter]

I read the first article I came to on the GOP debate...
I'm sorry, I did it again. I need help. I promise to try harder.
It was by

Fox News
By John LeBoutillier
Published October 19, 2011

Candidates Clash at GOP Debate But Voters Are Left Empty-Handed

Watching Tuesday’s GOP debate in Las Vegas this is what
Republican voters are looking for and have yet to find:
a leader who presents a vision to us – the American people –
of how he or she will reverse a widespread sense of national decline
and then lead an American revival.

<snip>
[a lot about the snipping back and forth between Romney and Perry]
<snip>
[Fox serious questions if Cain and 999 can withstand critics]

Ron Paul continued to say things that previous GOP
presidential candidates would never have had the courage to say –
especially about aid to Israel, closing foreign military bases,
not building a fence on our southern border and the Occupy Wall Street protestors

Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum were almost invisible in this debate.
They no longer have any impact on the contest --
they have become vanity candidates who stay in the race through Iowa – and then disappear.

Bottom line: not the best debate for the Republican Party overall.
We did not present a Reaganesque, positive, hopeful, visionary face to the American people.

and besides all that:
I seriously disagree that Michele was almost invisible.
She was the only one that stood out from all the men in black.

I do agree that she was not really Reaganesque.
She was more Nixonesque in her "Commander in Chief" uniform.
But then, Nixon was ridiculed for his proposed White House
"praetorian guard" uniforms (below)

.

[Lamplighter]

This LA Times article makes me wish I had watched the GOP debate.

By Robin Abcarian
October 18, 2011
Vegas debate: Cut everything in budget -- but the military

<snip>
Newt Gingrich, suggested that “historically illiterate politicians”
(referring presumably to their illiteracy about history,
not their continuing illiteracy, if you see the difference)
should not be charged with making “a numerical decision about the defense budget.”

“I’m a hawk,” said Gingrich, “but I’m a cheap hawk.
The fact is, to say I’m going to put the security of the United States
up against an arbitrary budget number is suicidally stupid.”

Cain was forced to defend something he had apparently said earlier on CNN,
that he would consider negotiating for the release of an American soldier
in exchange for all the detainees in Guantanamo Bay.

Bachmann pronounced that position naive,
but Cain said he does not believe in negotiating with terrorists
and did not recall making that remark to CNN.

Paul, who frequently harps on military spending,
said he did not want to cut “any defense.
There’s a lot of money spent in the military budget that doesn’t do anything for our defense.”
Why, he asked, do we have troops in Korea, Japan and German? <snip>

and besides all that:
There was nothing worth watching on TV last night.
.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I imagine it must be seriously frustrating for the average republican voter.

Not really, you just vote for the guy you want to make sure Obama does not get re-elected. My last three votes for President were based on who was going to be the best bad choice.

[classicman]

That is a very different perspective from what I saw and from what the pundits said in the aftershow.

Bachmann held to the "mothers" blah blah blah
Santorum stayed on the family blah blah blah.
Cain was on defense for his 9-9-9 and ignorance of foreign policy.
Newt ... was Newt.
Perry was attacking Romney and trying to look strong
(I think he looked like an asshole bully)
Romney looked like Romney.

[TheMercenary]

Glad I never watched it. It really is to early to get caught up in it. I will wait til the field narrows down before I worry to much about what any of them say.