There has been much commentary over the latest contest in the fall's favorite spectator sport, next to college football. It was another Republican Presidential debate in Las Vegas, about which Newt Gingrich said was a great place to have a convention - apparently, this was a swipe at President Obama, who had called on organizations to not visit Vegas. Here are few bullet points from my observations and comments from various experts:
A so-so night for Herman Cain - other candidates dissed his 9-9-9 plan, and he seemed a bit light on countering the claims, preferring to direct people to his website. He needs to develop some talking points to quickly defend a complex plan that is attracting quite a bit of attention. He stumbled on his response to a reference to a converation he had with CNN's Wolf Blitzer earlier about a hypothetical scenario regarding whether or not he would release the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for an American POW. He said that he would need to know a great deal of information in order to make that decision, as he was confident that Netanyahu did.
Romney once again was fairly cool and Presidential, even when facing criticism from Santorum and Gingrich about the health care plan he pushed through in Mass. He was taken aback when Governor Perry chided him for hiring illegal immigrants - he said that he hired a company to do lawn work and was not aware they had hired illegals. He and Perry did get into a bit of heated conversation. Perry was complimented by some for having more energy in this debate than his previous 2 outings. Way too much discussion of the immigration issue, in my opinion. Romney kept accusing Perry and Santorum of interrupting him and not allowing him to have his say. Santorum nails the values issues, speaks very well, but seems to be stressed out that he is not getting the attention he thinks he should. Ron Paul was, well Ron Paul, the contrarian with libertarian tendencies. Michele Bachmann speaks well, but really did not get a lot of screen time - I think that she made a weak attempt toward the end to remind listeners that the Republican race was ultimately about defeating Obama.
Gingrich played the part of the wise, seasoned sage - in fact, he has appeared on TV and radio to analyze the debate that he participated in. He almost seems about the fray. Sarah Palin & Eric Erickson thought he won; he is obviously a big idea person, but does he have too much baggage?
One of the more interesting discourses had to do with the faith issue, which has risen to the top since 1st Baptist Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress' comments at the Values Voter Summit regarding Romney's Mormonism and his view that it was a cult. Here are some excerpts from by Christianity Today on the discussion:
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who are both Roman Catholic, argued that faith says a lot about a candidate.
“It's a legitimate thing to look at as to what the tenets and teachings of that faith are with respect to how you live your life and how you would govern this country,” Santorum said. “With respect to what is the road to salvation, that's a whole different story. That's not applicable to what the role is of being the president or a senator or any other job.”
Gingrich offered a similar view. “None of us should rush in judgment of others in the way in which they approach God,” Gingrich said. “But I think all of us would also agree that there's a very central part of your faith in how you approach public life. And I, frankly, would be really worried if somebody assured me that nothing in their faith would affect their judgments, because then I'd wonder, where's your judgment -- how can you have judgment if you have no faith? And how can I trust you with power if you don't pray?”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry simply said his faith is ingrained. "I can no more remove my faith than I can that I'm the son of a tenant farmer," he said.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, as a Mormon, faced public resistance to his religion during his 2008 run for the nomination. The issue has only recently haunted his candidacy this cycle, highlighted again with comments made by a Southern Baptist pastor--and Perry supporter--Robert Jeffress’ that ignited a controversy at a summit hosted by the Family Research Council.
"I don't suggest you distance yourself from your faith any more than I would,” Romney told Perry. “[But] the founders of this country went to great length to make sure -- and even put it in the Constitution -- that we would not choose people who represent us in government based upon their religion, that this would be a nation that recognized and respected other faiths, where there's a plurality of faiths, where there was tolerance for other people and faiths.”
Romney took advantage of the topic to criticize “the concept that we select people based on the church or the synagogue they go to,” which he called “very dangerous and an enormous departure from the principles of our Constitution.”
Romney added, “With regards to the disparaging comments about my faith, I've heard worse, so I'm not going to lose sleep over that.”
In an op-ed for the Washington Post published Tuesday, Jeffress said critics were attempting to eliminate a discussion about religion from political discourse, arguing that “our religious beliefs define the very essence of who we are.”
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