Republican Presidential Debate on Fox 5/5/11

First GOP presidential debate: Was Pawlenty too 'Minnesota nice'? - CSMonitor.com

So I caught the end of the debate today after I left the library and went to the gym. Although I have no time, I want to write down some brief initial impressions of who was there, and other notes as well.

Rick Santorum

This guy is an over-inflated bag of conceited douchery. He is generic. He is a standard-bearer "politician," from the way he looks, to his answers, to his body language. Stiff, insincere, and cookie-cut directly from the social conservative cookbook. He is like a Mitt Romney, he is unneeded, and he will fizzle...

Gary Johnson

OK. Johnson is the former governator of New Mexico, I believe, and he is a libertarian leaning Republican. He did a good job in New Mexico and was re-elected there. I love his thinking and his ideas. I love his logic. He is a champion for drug reform, to legalize pot, and to save money from that policy through less time in prison (it costs a TON to keep someone in prison for a year, well over 30k, not to mention health benefits more public employees with pensions and I could go on a tangent here but will stop...), less police use for the punishment of drugs and more police use for actually keeping the streets safe and solving real crime.

Although I really like Johnson, he is not presidential. He did not look comfortable on stage. His voice trembled slightly like he was nervous. He SEEMED unsure, not confident, and overall I did not see him on stage and picture this tall down-to-earth guy as our President. Didnt provide good sound bites. I dont think he will win, and dont think he would get elected. BUT, I could be wrong, and hope I am, because I like his policy, and that is what matters.

Tim Pawlenty

I really dont know what to say about Pawlenty. Nothing made me dislike him (as was the case with Santorum if you could tell), but nothing about him stood out, got me excited, or more importantly probably got the rest of the republican primary electorate excited either! FOX News didnt give him the time of day which I would assume means they dont like him... (FOX hates libertarians, Hannity made sure not to debate candidates when he met with them after the debate, yet when it came time to talk to Johnson he argued with him regarding his foreign policy stance the entire time, damn Fox News). So there you go, no real opinion on the guy and dont know much about his stance on policy issues of concern.

Ron Paul

Ron, Ron, Ron, I love you Ron. Ron is undoubtedly "the man." He was the tea party back when the tea party was too busy gay bashing to be the tea party, Ron Paul was liberty before the Patriot Act took more of it away, Ron Paul was warning of the size of government back when the size of government wasnt even a talking point, Ron Paul has been called "the founding Father" of the legislature and he deserves it. He is principled, he gives the electorate sound bites, he is a true libertarian (perhaps more so than myself, I'm not sure), he is non-interventionist. Our country needs a man like Ron Paul. Furthermore, unlike Johnson, he seemed more presidential to me. He was joking a little, at one point impersonating a person fearful of drug deregulation, which I think will turn-off social conservatives.

Ron Paul was asked about social issues during the debate, he cannot win over social conservatives talking about social issues, so long as the debate stays to economic, regulatory, fiscal issues and stays away from social issues he may have a chance to win. The Tea Party loves him. His foreign policy will also turn of the neo-conservative hawks.

Herman Cain

Who the hell is Herman Cain. Cain, my friends, is the former CEO of a pizza place. He is a conservative talk radio host from Atlanta. He is an enthralling speaker, he is funny and likeable. He is black, which has a ton of implications worthy of an entire blog. I dont know very well what his policy stances are, but the Fox focus group wants to adopt him immediately (ironic that they rail on President Obama for a lack of experience being a Senator and "only being a community organizer," as if being a community organizer is not an experience-building endeavor, but then they support a never-been-elected pizza guy because he speaks concisely and eloquently, has a Presidential theme to him, and wooed them with his words). I personally found him likeable, and what he said made sense. I do not think he should win the primary, but if it is between him and Trump, then I would back him, then move to Europe, because Canada woudnt be far enough away, or perhaps, dare I say, I would vote for Obama over Trump in a second, a mili-second. once again thats another horror scenario which will not happen though.

OVERALL:

I am excited for the Republican Primary. I hope libertarianism can sink its teeth into this raging, misguided Elephant and show it its way again.

btw, Santorum just seemed like such a dick...