One Night, Two Debates

Alternate titles: Two Parties, One Cup or Two Debates, One Plop.

I missed a healthy portion of the Republican debate (and all but skipped the Democratic side), but I liked Fred tonight (surprise, surprise). Here's my reaction to the candidates based on tonight's performance:

McCain - I'm not crazy about McCain at all, but I could hold my nose and vote for him if he wins the nomination.

Thompson - I like what I see in Fred Thompson: Unwavering conservatism, wisdom and experience, and confidence. Among the viable Republican candidates, I believe that Thompson is the most likely to stay true to his principles if elected. I don't trust the other candidates as much to follow through when they talk a good conservative game.

Paul - Doesn't he sound like the crazy old man yelling at those kids to get off his lawn? Apart from his strong anti-war rhetoric, the thing I dislike about his campaign the most is that I agree with him on some issues. He's got some things right and he's saying some things that others won't, but he is not someone I trust to carry the conservative banner and he gives off a vibe that he's kinda unstable.

Romney - He's a business man and an executive. He isn't a preacher like Romney, but he is polished and well-spoken. He's not afraid to go negative, but I don't know that this helps him at this point in the game. I'm not sold on Romney, though I liked that he was willing to stick his neck out and defend so-called Big Pharma.

Huckabee - Sloganeering, jokes, and platitudes. I don't trust him. He talks in generalities about conservative principles. When he uses words like "second amendment" and "smaller government" and so forth, they sound like mere buzz words: empty and hollow. He's better than any of Democrats, but that ain't saying much.

Giuliani - I can't get over his lisp. He's too liberal for my taste. Of what I saw, I wasn't really impressed with his performance tonight.

Interesting that the Democrats went after the Republicans, giving more people time to participate on Facebook for the Democratic portion of the night. That said, Facebook did a much better job than YouTube in the presidential debate department.