Another Week, Another GOP Debate

So here are some notes I took as I was watching tonight's debate.

-Gary Johnson must have snuck into this race without me noticing

-Romney again beats Perry with his statement that Social Security is unconstitutional. These two are trading jabs on what they wrote in their books about Social Security and Health Care.

-0:32 I’m surprised it took this long  for the first obligatory Ronald Reagan reference.

-0:36 minutes in and I’m finally aware of Newt Gingrich’s presence, and that’s only because I looked up (it sounded like Ron Paul).

-0:38 minutes in and Gary Johnson wants to get rid of the department of education, when America is falling behind in engineering, math, science, etc. Great idea, great timing. Pretty much everyone agreed.

-0:52: Rick Perry pronounces dissenting “dye-senting.” That was pretty jarring. Why can't Texas politicians speak English?

-0:58: About 40% of people answering a poll said that if a department were to be eliminated, it should be Education. What is it with people on the right and anti-intellectualism?

-1:02 We  get into Israel/Palestine. I’m admittedly out of my depth.

-1:07: Santorum says let’s stay in Iraq

-1:12: Michele Bachmann begs for attention to talk about charter flights to Cuba.

-1:16: A gay soldier gets booed by the people whose rights he risks his life to protect. Stay classy GOP!!!

-1:29: I’m surprised I have only heard “Ronald Reagan” twice. I didn’t even doze off or anything.

-1:32: Seriously, Perry needs to speak a bit faster. He and Romney are back to their books.

-1:36: It looks like Perry is running on fumes. Romney is running the marathon, Perry is sprinting.

-1:42: Oh, HERE are all of the Ronald Reagan references in one huge barrage.

Summation on performance:

Perry faded throughout the debate while Romney held firm and kept punching back. Bachmann is still off her rocker. Paul and Cain brought the funny. Huntsman still seems a little awkward at times. Santorum is still loathsome and out of touch with America on a host of issues. I still don’t know who Johnson is. Gingrich was pretty much a non-entity. I think that covers everyone. If I left anyone out, they don’t matter.

Summation on substance:

Republicans want to scrap the Department of Education altogether (which won’t fair well for them in the general election). Given that this was a GOP debate and it was on Fox, there was surprisingly little on social issues (except Santorum wants DADT back). Cut capital gains tax, end Obama’s health care legislation, we’d all make a better president than Obama, and other predictable statements. The audience showed how unpatriotic they are by booing a soldier.

Winner: Mitt Romney. While I disagree with the guy on a lot of issues, he performed better than anyone else. He stayed on the offensive, especially against Rick Perry. Even in his “awkward” moments, Romney>Perry.

Now if only I had some bourbon to erase the past two hours.