Posted by
Greg Banks on Thursday, September 06, 2007 2:41:45 AM
I really don't know who won tonight's debate,
except maybe Romney who just owns the camera so completely.
Guililani
is so smart, quick-on-his-feet, aggressive, able to seize an
opportunity, but after 7 months of hearing the recitation of his
achievements as Mayor, it is starting to wear thin. McCain's got an
impish charm and a sharp wit and excellent National Security
credentials, but the bulge on the side of his head has got to go.
Tancredo is great as far as rhetoric goes, but with the ski slope nose
and the almost gay diction; he's not much more than the leader of the
sideshow and I'm sorry to say that, 'cause I kind of like him.
Huckabee
really made a nice point about not being the source for hate, very
lovely but not what we're looking for in a commander-in-chief, maybe we
should elect him Pope, the first Southern Baptist Pope, that would be a hoot. But even then it wouldn't be until the fifteenth
ballot. Brownback doesn't strike me as either: 1) intelligent, 2)
sophisticated, 3) creative, or certainly not 4) electable. I wish he
would just go away, today. Duncan Hunter is a HAWK, all caps. I like
him, you've got to like him. But it's as if he's posing as Ronald
Reagan, wearing a RR clown suit that looks uncomfortable. He
doesn't have natural charisma, or what he does have is masked by this
false face he thinks he has to put on. We learned with Gore that if
you can't be yourself at that age, you can't get elected, thankfully. Ron
Paul is just f---ing annoying, he's like the crazy aunt everyone
wishes would drink her sherry and go to bed. He's got as much business
being President as my Jack Russell terrier.
(That said, I'd vote for my other dog, Buster, before any Democrat.)
Then
comes Fred. I like what he had to say, he's serious, he's smart. He's
not afraid to tell it like it is. On Leno, he stood up to the crowd
and basically parroted Bush's words about the cost of defeat in Iraq.
Got a great applause line when quizzed, why are we so hated? (He
basically said and should have said: don't believe the hype.) He had a
great line on shedding more blood to liberate more people than any
country in the history of the earth. Even the French, who we thought
hated us, now elected a president that wants to emulate us.
He
said all the right stuff and then some in his fifteen minute podcast.
And, he seems willing to take on big challenges and he's a big guy,
maybe he can do it. All our great presidents were big men in stature
or personality: Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan, the Roosevelts.
But, what's converted me are the weaknesses of the current field of candidates.
Giuliani
has got way too much baggage, including 3 wives and a current wife who
looks like she shops at Penney's. And, despite the success he had
managing NY, he was a polarizing figure. After a while, the Dems hated
him (because he was so successful and he was vilified in the press, sound familiar?).
The good thing about him, he can go toe-to-toe with Hillary and giver
her a run in NY, NJ, CT, PA and Michigan. States which have been
totally out of play for Republicans in recent years. But, for me it's
Judith Nathan. I haven't met her, she could be great, but she just
doesn't exude the dignity of a First Lady and the First Lady, while
ceremonial is very important to the health of the country. Look at
those lovely PSAs Laura Bush did after 9-11, spot on, pitch perfect,
just being herself.
Romney is so slick, handsome, intelligent,
witty, he's like a tube of Pepsodent, so full of promise. He's direct from central
casting. I can see him fly fishing with Sarkozy and Putin, all shirtless. It would be Conservative Brokeback Mountain. His wife,
Ann, is fantastic. But, he's a little weak on the war, I see him
managing a "process" more than assembling an armada. Maybe I'm wrong.
But his biggest weakness: he's got like 5 enormously talented and telegenic sons,
all successful in their own right, so what's wrong with that? Well
none of them have served or are serving in the military. How is that
going to look when Hillary asks him: "well if you Republicans are so
pro-war, why didn't you or any of your strapping, overachieving
sons serve our military?" To which his reply will be promptly forgotten. It may not be
fair, since all Democrats deride the military as being for poor people,
but Romney proves the point, considering all his sons have gone to
Harvard.
And, since we're at it, where's Giuliani's son? On the
golf course, I think. The only two who have children serving are
Duncan Hunter and John McCain. Don't think the Dems won't bring back
the chickenhawk slur, to plenty of effect.
So to sum up:
Giuliani - many weaknesses; Romney - so damn perfect, except for
military service; McCain - melanoma in waiting (I swear, his head reminds me of Otto Preminger, think Dr. Evil with elegance); the rest: a sideshow. So, that leaves
Fred.
Fred against Hillary might be a tough fight. But
against Obama, Barry would look like a fifteen year old with
floppy ears.
What do you think?