The Debates

[Seattle or Bust]

I don't know if this means anything to you guys. But as an independent voter who watched the debate, Haley came off by far as the candidate I'd be willing to vote for. If the 2020 election said anything, it's that extreme viewpoints were rejected by independents and fringe-liberals.

I'm pretty sure I will never be voting for a candidate who puts commandments forward. That seems like a slippery slope toward indoctrination versus free thinking.

[Walla Walla Dawg II]

I don't know if this means anything to you guys. But as an independent voter who watched the debate, Haley came off by far as the candidate I'd be willing to vote for. If the 2020 election said anything, it's that extreme viewpoints were rejected by independents and fringe-liberals.

I'm pretty sure I will never be voting for a candidate who puts commandments forward. That seems like a slippery slope toward indoctrination versus free thinking.

But every one of his commandments were about freedom.
I'll take indoctrination into freedom any day.

As for extreme viewpoints, we have moved so far left that extreme viewpoints are all the right has left.

[D-train]

Haley was good but again, and I fully admit being insanely superficial, she looked like hell. I don't know if it was the lighting or her makeup or I have set the bar as my sweet hot angel Kristi. I liked that she pointed out they were virtue signaling and full of shit promising a national ban on abortion. Will never be one and that is a good thing.


Yeah, they grow them hot in SoDak. That's why I married one.

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news ... popup=true

Smoking! She even looks hot in that Plummer outfit in her Ad to get people to move to SD!

Haley looked like she could start as Lillian in a remake of the Munsters or Morticia in Adams Family.....

[D-train]

I don't know if this means anything to you guys. But as an independent voter who watched the debate, Haley came off by far as the candidate I'd be willing to vote for. If the 2020 election said anything, it's that extreme viewpoints were rejected by independents and fringe-liberals.

I'm pretty sure I will never be voting for a candidate who puts commandments forward. That seems like a slippery slope toward indoctrination versus free thinking.

He calls them commandments but the only the first one was religion oriented. But yeah Separation of Church and State the way to go. Pence was just over the top with it.

[D-train]

I don't know if this means anything to you guys. But as an independent voter who watched the debate, Haley came off by far as the candidate I'd be willing to vote for. If the 2020 election said anything, it's that extreme viewpoints were rejected by independents and fringe-liberals.

I'm pretty sure I will never be voting for a candidate who puts commandments forward. That seems like a slippery slope toward indoctrination versus free thinking.

But every one of his commandments were about freedom.
I'll take indoctrination into freedom any day.

As for extreme viewpoints, we have moved so far left that extreme viewpoints are all the right has left.

[ddraig]

"I actually thought DeSantis did well. For me he is a happy medium between an outsider and a guy with experience turning a Blue state red and and taking on the Woke clowns. As a Governor he has executive experience but no connection to the DC swamp. Military service as well. Strong presence and presidential looking."

DeSantis spend 6 years in Washington, D.C. as a Congressman.

[D-train]

Personally, I thought the worst thing said was by Vivek:
I'm up here with a bunch of "Paid For Politicians".

That implies that everyone except his is dirty.

I felt that comment was a little low-brow. He needs to act better than that the next debate.

Agree, that was low even if true. lol

[D-train]

This is a much better field of candidates than what was rolled out in 2016.

Vivek Ramaswamy is a great debater and he loved to debate during his time at Harvard. He was amazing at being prompt about his position with supporting and pardoning Trump, showing that, right or wrong, he is confident in his own opinions. Meanwhile the others on the panel literally waiting to hear the audience's response before either pledging support or speaking about Trump and Jan. 6th.

What I liked most about Vivek Ramaswamy is how the Libertarian still shines out of him. He is willing to significantly cut the size of government including shutting down three letter agencies that are designed to control Americans.

What I don't like about Vivek is that he supports further limitations on voting age unless young voters either serve in the military or take an exam similar to the immigration exam. This is shows that he is also the opposite of being Libertarian, which makes me question if he's for more government control or eliminating governement control. Additionally, his position on foreign policies is complacent and he's simplifying very dynamic situations that could further embolden Russia and China. And about his position on police support... I like that he's all for supporting law enforcement, but I do believe sworn officers of the law should be held accountable for violating the rights of the People. So police officers should be 'looking over their shoulders' and know that they have to not only enforce laws but are sworn to follow them themselves.

And lastly, Vivek is a vegetarian and is a strongly against the killing of animals for "culinary pleasure". Since I eat a 100% carnivore diet, I find it personally dangerous to have someone like Vivek in the executive office and possibly handfeeding the food industry on policies to support ways that could replacement meat and push a vegan agenda. I'm sure this seems silly to most that will read this remark, but if researched more about human carnivores it would share some perspective.

I think Vivek Ramaswamy is positioning himself moreso as a VP running mate for Trump in a faceoff against DeSantis, but only if DeSantis can step it up against Ramaswamy. Otherwise it would make an interesting primary seeing Ramaswamy v Trump or if Ramaswamy would just rollover and bow to Trump.

Ron DeSantis was strong everywhere he needed to be. He didn't do anything outstanding to gap the candidate field, but he showed his strength through his resume of actually facing and succeeding against matters that concern American's most. He did hold a couple reservations when it came to Trump, but I don't think it is because he's indecisive or trying to hurt Trump politically. I think there are many questionable antics by Trump that do have many Americans holding their reservations about the former President.

Though I was hoping to come away with more, what I liked about DeSantis is his track record in Florida and that his track record got him reelected in a landslide victory. He was great at handling Covid and lowering crime in Florida. He is more in touch with his constituents than any current leader in our country holding a government position. I also liked that he is willing to take on extreme liberal Judge's that sit on a bench and release dangerous criminals. The Florida governor didn't seem very extreme on foreign policy either way, and this is likely due to the fact that he understands how dynamic the situation is in Europe and Asia. However, he's willing to pullback on our financial support of Ukraine and put more of the burden on Europe to step it up and protect its territorial interests better than it currently does.

What I didn't like about DeSantis was that he didn't do much to take any additional steps forward as a top candidate. Yet, otherwise, he didn't do much to hurt himself in the debate either.

Nikki Haley was pretty good and strong at times. But she got caught around the axel a bit with trying to bash Ramaswamy over policy. Thought I think Haley wasn't wrong when it comes to her opinion on foreign policy, she should've been better prepared to rebut her opinions on foreign policy, especially since she served as the US ambassador to the UN. Unfortunately she came in with pull up jump shots when it came to foreign matters, rather than being prepared enough to completely posterize the candidate field.

The former VP Pence was what I expected, just a talking head honed by decades of government exposure. He projected himself as a "business as usual" politician. It's obvious to me why Trump took him in as his VP running mate since Pence is well versed in the political process. I do think Pence would give the incumbent Biden a run for his money, but I don't think his business as usual approach is going to sway the breadth of the voting share to absolute win a general election. Unless Pence changes his approach in the next debate I don't think he should keep mudding the field in the 3rd debate. I do really like that Pence stood his ground against Trump when Trump asked him to invalidate votes.

I was largely impressed with the rest of the field. They are all very smart candidates and were great with how they handled their debate points. I think Burgum projected himeself as a little bit of dark horse candidate. He seemed very prepared and well spoken. Christie was good at keeping his composure during the debate even when he was met with boos when opposing Ramaswamy or Trump. The problem with Christie is that he will aways eventually revert with whichever way the wind blows; just not a good trait for the strong leader America needs. The rest of the field may as well pack it up, call it a day, and go write a book or something. Though I think most candidates had more hits than misses on the questions asked during the debate, none of them stood out, with Tim Scott being the front runner in this tier IMO.

In the coming debates I'd like to hear more about candidate's positions on the 2nd Amendment and the proposed Balanced Budget Amendment.

It will be interesting how well the field of candidates will hold up in a less friendly hosted forum of debate. I suspect DeSantis and Ramaswamy will continue to accelerate and handle the curvy path into the primaries. And unless Trump is lawfully disqualified to hold a seat in office, IMO it will be DeSantis or Ramaswamy v Trump in nearly all primaries aside from some likely home state winners.

It should be an exciting 14 months if you enjoy following politics.

Great post CK! I really appreciate it!

One minor note that you may have missed:

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said Saturday that he would reject an offer to become someone else’s vice president if he does not win the GOP nomination in 2024.

“I’m not interested in a different position in the government,” Ramaswamy said on Fox News. “Frankly, I’d drive change through the private sector sooner than becoming number two or three in the federal government.”

[D-train]

"I actually thought DeSantis did well. For me he is a happy medium between an outsider and a guy with experience turning a Blue state red and and taking on the Woke clowns. As a Governor he has executive experience but no connection to the DC swamp. Military service as well. Strong presence and presidential looking."

DeSantis spend 6 years in Washington, D.C. as a Congressman.

Doh! Thanks John!

[D-train]

"I actually thought DeSantis did well. For me he is a happy medium between an outsider and a guy with experience turning a Blue state red and and taking on the Woke clowns. As a Governor he has executive experience but no connection to the DC swamp. Military service as well. Strong presence and presidential looking."

DeSantis spend 6 years in Washington, D.C. as a Congressman.

Who is your pick, John? Trump or one of the 8 on stage last night?