Current Event #9: 8 Republican Candidates Trade Attacks
The Republicans had an early debate last night. Read the recap here or check out the debate itself here. How do you see the Republican nominating process turning out? Who do you think will be the likely nominee, and why?
I see the republican nominating process turning out very disappointingly and childish. The candidates, with exception to Mitt Romney who spent much of the debate avoiding personal assaults on other candidates, merely criticized and attacked each other. The candidates appear to be merely trying to tear each other down in a seemingly failing attempt to make themselves seem that much better. But with no one being able to land a debilitating blow to Romney’s image, the other candidates appear to be erratically scrambling for second place in this republican nominating process. Many of the candidates went off on tangents in an effort to steer the debate away from legitimate topics. From Newt Gingrich’s bellowing on about the news media, to Rick Santorum’s personal attack on Michelle Bachman leadership, or lack there of. Clearly the front runner for the republican nomination is Mitt Romney, who managed to yet again dodge personal assaults on his “Obama-nistic” health care reform policies from his gubernatorial days in Massachusetts and rise above the petty squabbles of the very much hoping other candidates in this seemingly one-horse race. -David S
This race for the republican presidential nomination is very interesting, because the winner will have a very likely chance at beating Barack Obama. The candidate with the most support and the best chance at the nomination is Mitt Romney. He had a successful debate because he avoided the childish criticisms that Bachmann, Paul and Pawlenty resorted to. I think that Romney will win the nomination because he has more support from the party base than the other candidates, and he seems able to defend his health care plan. I think that Bachmann or Pawlenty will finish second, because they seemed to dominate the debate talks and get the most time speaking into the microphone, when some of the other candidates had to fight to be heard.
The Republican presidential nomination process will likely buttress Obama’s reelection bid, as the exchanged insults among the potential Republican nominees will hinder future attempts to rally behind a single candidate. Instead of focusing on their own positive qualities, the eight Republicans sought to discredit each other, undermining the chances of whoever the nominee is. I think Mitt Romney will be the nominee both because he is the frontrunner in fundraising and because he has managed to separate himself from the impolite remarks of his competitors. By calmly responding to his criticisms, Romney established an aura of authority which should appeal to voters. I think Michele Buchannan will come in a close second both because she is female, which may help her stand out to voters, and because she demonstrated her ability to remain imperturbable in stressful situations. Buchannan will also be aided by her composed response to Byron York’s rude question about her relationship with her husband; voters will probably approve of how she reacted.
The question being asked is very difficult to be answered based solely on how this debate has gone. Yes it shows some key characteristics of the candidates like Mitt Romney’s calmness under pressure and Rick Santorum’s aggressive nature, but to truly know who has the best chance at being chosen to be the republican nominee and to understand why they have the best chance, one would have to do more research on the matter. In my opinion, Ron Paul would be my first choice but it is hard to tell at this point in the race. Most of the candidates, if not all of them, have a strong support base. The reason I believe Ron Paul will be chosen is because I think he is one of the more popular choices. The three candidates I see making it the farthest in this run for the presidency are Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul.
This Republican debate has revealed the two main issues afflicting the American political climate, the lack of civility and the lack of honest debate. If we devoted half as much time to problem solving and compromise as we did to mudslinging, America would be far better off. The fact that bashing Obama and each other seemed like a better use of a debate than talking about issues is disturbing but expected. Both parties have devolved in the eyes of voters due to the lack of civility, which often turns off voters from becoming involved in politics. It has also led the average voter to be less educated in actual issues, mostly because politicians don’t dare to mention them. Of all of the republican candidates, Romney has the best chances because he has significant funding, appeals to moderate republicans, and he does not get sucked into the fray and dishonorable name-calling that has become a staple of campaigning.
The republican debate was petulant and idealistic. I got the distinct feeling from every candidate that they were only there to talk about how bad Obama has been for America, and not to debate the actual issues. Michelle Bachman used almost all her time that was allotted to discussing the question at hand, to attempting to springboard her campaign by making claiming loftily that if elected she will repeal Obama care and essentially everything the democrats have done. If I had a gun pressed against my head and was told to vote for one of these "politicians", I would vote for Mitt Romney because of all the candidates, Mr. Romney was the only one who SOUNDED like he had a plan to fix the economy as opposed to the other candidates who just condemned the system that has been put in place by the current administration
I agree with Sam Brown, the majority of the republican candidates focused mainly on pointing out Obama's flaws rather than speaking about their plans for the future. Bachmann and Pawlenty acted very pugnacious and almost immature towards each other. Fighting and insulting fellow candidates will not get them anywhere. I believe that Mitt Romney will be nominated simply because he acted very mature and he had a plan. He was not there to fight or make fun of anyone, he was only there to share his plan for the economy. Based on what was said during the debate, Romney is the best candidate. Hannah M.
The Republican presidential nomination process was a little disconcerting. There were a couple candidates who may have the potential to beat Obama in the coming election. I agree with David the debate itself was a well planned idea but the debaters were to focused on attacking each other personally, and America is not worried about the amount of land another man owns. Mitt Romney took his time to discuss national and global matters at hand and avoided personal topics and relations. He dodged the personal attacks and turned them into national concerns. Unlike Michelle Bachman, who continued to retaliate and show little signs of social maturity.
The Republican nominating process has turned out very messy and is filled with a lot of mudslinging and not many proposals for actual plans the candidates wish to enact as president. The candidates seemed more interested in fighting amongst themselves than addressing the American people. Due to the fact that there hasn’t been one clear Republican candidate I think they all got a little overexcited and desperate to be noticed. I agree with many of my classmates in that I think Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. Romney came off as more mature and prepared to deal with the pressures of being president than any of the other candidates did and he was the only one that spoke of any real plans he would enact if he were to be elected president. Erin H.
The Republican nominees this election have based their campaigning off of the problems that they find with others, which I believe will create an extremely messy nomination. Only a few candidates actually mentioned something positive that they brought to the table, most only criticized others and they way they have done things. I also noticed that many of them stretched out their answers so that they could include something only vaguely related to the question, but was positive about themselves. Therefore, I think that Romney will be a very likely candidate, as someone said before me, he did set himself apart from the other candidates. Although, I do believe that Bachman will come in close for the same reasons Palin increased the chances for McCains election in 2008. She is a women, and many voters will support her for that fact alone. On top of the fact that she has proven to take charge in hard situations. In conclusion, the Republican candidates all seem to be nose to nose. For the most part they are all using the same campaigning plan, which not make the nominating process very easy.
I see the republican nominating process turning out very disappointingly and childish. The candidates, with exception to Mitt Romney who spent much of the debate avoiding personal assaults on other candidates, merely criticized and attacked each other. The candidates appear to be merely trying to tear each other down in a seemingly failing attempt to make themselves seem that much better. But with no one being able to land a debilitating blow to Romney’s image, the other candidates appear to be erratically scrambling for second place in this republican nominating process. Many of the candidates went off on tangents in an effort to steer the debate away from legitimate topics. From Newt Gingrich’s bellowing on about the news media, to Rick Santorum’s personal attack on Michelle Bachman leadership, or lack there of. Clearly the front runner for the republican nomination is Mitt Romney, who managed to yet again dodge personal assaults on his “Obama-nistic” health care reform policies from his gubernatorial days in Massachusetts and rise above the petty squabbles of the very much hoping other candidates in this seemingly one-horse race. -David S
ReplyDeleteThis race for the republican presidential nomination is very interesting, because the winner will have a very likely chance at beating Barack Obama. The candidate with the most support and the best chance at the nomination is Mitt Romney. He had a successful debate because he avoided the childish criticisms that Bachmann, Paul and Pawlenty resorted to. I think that Romney will win the nomination because he has more support from the party base than the other candidates, and he seems able to defend his health care plan. I think that Bachmann or Pawlenty will finish second, because they seemed to dominate the debate talks and get the most time speaking into the microphone, when some of the other candidates had to fight to be heard.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican presidential nomination process will likely buttress Obama’s reelection bid, as the exchanged insults among the potential Republican nominees will hinder future attempts to rally behind a single candidate. Instead of focusing on their own positive qualities, the eight Republicans sought to discredit each other, undermining the chances of whoever the nominee is. I think Mitt Romney will be the nominee both because he is the frontrunner in fundraising and because he has managed to separate himself from the impolite remarks of his competitors. By calmly responding to his criticisms, Romney established an aura of authority which should appeal to voters. I think Michele Buchannan will come in a close second both because she is female, which may help her stand out to voters, and because she demonstrated her ability to remain imperturbable in stressful situations. Buchannan will also be aided by her composed response to Byron York’s rude question about her relationship with her husband; voters will probably approve of how she reacted.
ReplyDeleteThe question being asked is very difficult to be answered based solely on how this debate has gone. Yes it shows some key characteristics of the candidates like Mitt Romney’s calmness under pressure and Rick Santorum’s aggressive nature, but to truly know who has the best chance at being chosen to be the republican nominee and to understand why they have the best chance, one would have to do more research on the matter. In my opinion, Ron Paul would be my first choice but it is hard to tell at this point in the race. Most of the candidates, if not all of them, have a strong support base. The reason I believe Ron Paul will be chosen is because I think he is one of the more popular choices. The three candidates I see making it the farthest in this run for the presidency are Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul.
ReplyDelete- Jonathon Morrison
This Republican debate has revealed the two main issues afflicting the American political climate, the lack of civility and the lack of honest debate. If we devoted half as much time to problem solving and compromise as we did to mudslinging, America would be far better off. The fact that bashing Obama and each other seemed like a better use of a debate than talking about issues is disturbing but expected. Both parties have devolved in the eyes of voters due to the lack of civility, which often turns off voters from becoming involved in politics. It has also led the average voter to be less educated in actual issues, mostly because politicians don’t dare to mention them. Of all of the republican candidates, Romney has the best chances because he has significant funding, appeals to moderate republicans, and he does not get sucked into the fray and dishonorable name-calling that has become a staple of campaigning.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe republican debate was petulant and idealistic. I got the distinct feeling from every candidate that they were only there to talk about how bad Obama has been for America, and not to debate the actual issues. Michelle Bachman used almost all her time that was allotted to discussing the question at hand, to attempting to springboard her campaign by making claiming loftily that if elected she will repeal Obama care and essentially everything the democrats have done. If I had a gun pressed against my head and was told to vote for one of these "politicians", I would vote for Mitt Romney because of all the candidates, Mr. Romney was the only one who SOUNDED like he had a plan to fix the economy as opposed to the other candidates who just condemned the system that has been put in place by the current administration
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sam Brown, the majority of the republican candidates focused mainly on pointing out Obama's flaws rather than speaking about their plans for the future. Bachmann and Pawlenty acted very pugnacious and almost immature towards each other. Fighting and insulting fellow candidates will not get them anywhere. I believe that Mitt Romney will be nominated simply because he acted very mature and he had a plan. He was not there to fight or make fun of anyone, he was only there to share his plan for the economy. Based on what was said during the debate, Romney is the best candidate.
ReplyDeleteHannah M.
The Republican presidential nomination process was a little disconcerting. There were a couple candidates who may have the potential to beat Obama in the coming election. I agree with David the debate itself was a well planned idea but the debaters were to focused on attacking each other personally, and America is not worried about the amount of land another man owns. Mitt Romney took his time to discuss national and global matters at hand and avoided personal topics and relations. He dodged the personal attacks and turned them into national concerns. Unlike Michelle Bachman, who continued to retaliate and show little signs of social maturity.
ReplyDeleteAbbie R.
The Republican nominating process has turned out very messy and is filled with a lot of mudslinging and not many proposals for actual plans the candidates wish to enact as president. The candidates seemed more interested in fighting amongst themselves than addressing the American people. Due to the fact that there hasn’t been one clear Republican candidate I think they all got a little overexcited and desperate to be noticed. I agree with many of my classmates in that I think Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. Romney came off as more mature and prepared to deal with the pressures of being president than any of the other candidates did and he was the only one that spoke of any real plans he would enact if he were to be elected president.
ReplyDeleteErin H.
The Republican nominees this election have based their campaigning off of the problems that they find with others, which I believe will create an extremely messy nomination. Only a few candidates actually mentioned something positive that they brought to the table, most only criticized others and they way they have done things. I also noticed that many of them stretched out their answers so that they could include something only vaguely related to the question, but was positive about themselves. Therefore, I think that Romney will be a very likely candidate, as someone said before me, he did set himself apart from the other candidates. Although, I do believe that Bachman will come in close for the same reasons Palin increased the chances for McCains election in 2008. She is a women, and many voters will support her for that fact alone. On top of the fact that she has proven to take charge in hard situations. In conclusion, the Republican candidates all seem to be nose to nose. For the most part they are all using the same campaigning plan, which not make the nominating process very easy.
ReplyDelete