Friday, May 6, 2011

Review Of The First Republican Primary Debate

Well Gulls, campaign season is here at last! It kicked off last night in Greenville, South Carolina, where five of the GOP's “B-List” celebrities participated in the first debate for the Republican Primaries. The candidates included former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, businessman Herman Cain, former New Mexican Governor Gary Johnson, and Congressman Ron Paul.

Oddly enough, the GOP candidates who are currently receiving the most media buzz( Romney, Huckabee, Palin, Gringrich, and everyone's favorite walking comb-over, Trump) were not in attendance. Their absence is partially because it's still early in the election season (several of the “A-listers” have yet to declare whether or not they will run) and partially due to the fact that they could easily get run-off the road to the White House by their smarter, more competent, less wealthy, "B-list" competitors. Additionally, the longer they wait to formally declare they are running, the more FOX and other news networks will build up the suspense/ring every dollar out of it they can. To keep us interested, these political celebrities will divide their time between taking pot-shots at Democrats and popping up randomly on news-casts to share their strategically generic points of view.

That being said, I liked the debate! Honestly, I have nothing against these little guys. If anything, they have bigger balls than the “A-listers.” Everyone continually tells them “You don't have a chance!” but they sacrifice their time and money to give it a shot anyway. Unfortunately not everyone shares my sentiments; the debate ended with the moderators asking the candidates their opinion on the big named Republicans. “Well thanks for building support and trying to get your name known. Now, want to tell your supporters who they should really vote for once you're out?"

The big topic of the night was of course, foreign policy. Makes sense. After all, considering the news that we received late Sunday night, the GOP will have to work awfully hard to convince Americans that foreign policy is still their specialty. The other main issue was the economy. There was lots of talk about the free-market, businesses creating jobs, and less regulation...I enjoyed it.

Overall, it was difficult to say who “won.” It really depends on who you personally agreed with the most. There weren't any major embarrassments, and these guys simply aren't big enough to encourage political opponents to dig up dirt on them. However, if you were going to choose a winner based on the reaction of those in attendance, Ron Paul had, by far, the most vocal supporters. At one point, he had the audience cheering in agreement when he suggested the legalization of all drugs, including heroine. Mind you, it's not often you hear a room full of South Carolina conservatives applauding heroine. However, the support isn't too surprising considering that “Dr. No” collected over one million dollars in donations yesterday. Paul used a technique called the “money bomb” (where you ask for your supporters to all contribute on a single day) and apparently, it blew up in his favor. Say what you will about Paul, but in America you need money to run a serious campaign...Paul is rackin up the Benjamins mighty quick.

Uh oh, my bias is showing-I'll put that away. Regardless of who you choose to root for after last night (if you root for Republicans at all), these candidates are just the opening act for the main event in the months down the road. In the meantime, you can catch up on the political scene by watching re-runs of Trumps reality show... just think-the next season of Celebrity Apprentice could be airing in the White House. Watch out American Idol.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is Cherokee lanes still cool?

Holierthanthou said...

We go occasionally during glow bowling.

A.Adams said...

You know, at least once a month my friends and I go bowling there and I have to say they are not very friendly. They give you dirty looks when you buy beer and then they kick you out at 10 p.m... I know what you're thinking but as far as college kids go, my friends and I are not a very rowdy group. But regardless of whether we are polite or not (and we are polite) we are spending our money in their establishment so you'd think they would be a little nicer. Now, we don't believe in trash talk on this blog but I gotta say, for a struggling business they could step it up in the manners department and think about playing music for free instead of charging you $1 per song. We went on a Thurseday night and the place was practically empty. I bet if they gave college kids a small discount on shoes and beer (its just a thought) they would do a lot better. Anyway, to answer your question, Cherokee lanes isn't that cool, but they really could be.