Republican Sioux City Iowa Debate

I watched most of the last Iowa debate tonight and was impressed with the Republican candidates. Practice, if it doesn't make perfect, gets you pretty far down the road to it. Some observations.

• I saw some passion from Romney. This was his best performance. I loved his defense of his time at Bain Capital. He cut some jobs, but he also created jobs. Then he makes a very sly move and compares it to when "Obama ran General Motors." Killer move, because he isn't criticizing the take over, but it is so unpopular, that reminding voters of it is toxic to Obama.
• Rick Perry had one of the more memorable lines, comparing himself to Tim Tebow, as an underdog candidate. Also very sly, given the current controversy and the make up of Republican voters in Iowa. I think that if Perry can get a ground game going in Iowa and South Carolina, he may still have a chance.
  
• Gingrich had a great performance, except in explaining the nature of his services to Freddie Mac. As popular as it was, I wasn't happy about the whole judges testifying before Congress part. Another example of a seemingly brilliant, "out of the box idea," that didn't get the vetting needed.
  
• Bachmann looked bad, because, even if she damaged Gingrich, she looks a bit unethical in making baseless charges about Gingrich's work at Freddie Mac. I found her attack distasteful, as she suggested it was somehow unethical, with zero evidence to back up her claim.
• The discussion on Iran did no one any favors. Ron Paul sounded weird and defensive, and couldn't make the sale, but the rest of the gang sounded trigger happy. My belief is that the clandestine war that we are already conducting is the best approach. But if they get a nuke, its not the game changer everyone thinks. A nuke is eventually going to be used in the region; better it come from the devil we know, to give BMD a chance, than from a surprise source that we aren't prepared for. Now what to say in public about it? That's the tough question.
  
• Romney also responded to the flip-flop question with facts and sincerity. When you look at the fact that he governed Massachusetts as a Republican with huge Democrat majorities, you are looking at a guy who made some compromises to get things done. He touted his veto record as governor, but didn't mention how many were overridden.
  
• Santorum did a good job too, I just have a hard time being objective. It's a personal gut reaction thing for me, I just don't like him.
• Jon Huntsman was at the debate and sounded intelligent as well.
  

I saw a tweet that Gary Johnson is going to run as a Libertarian. This is bad news, if true. After the debate Ron Paul made it pretty clear that he isn't running as a third party candidate, even though he didn't rise to Sean Hannity's challenge to offer an absolute pledge. I get the feeling that Ron Paul finds Obama so distasteful that he wouldn't want to facilitate his re-election. But Gary Johnson might pull in enough tea party types angry over their choices to hurt the Republican nominee's chances. Hard to say if the desire to see Obama off would overcome the loathing of the current field as more of the same establishment Republican types.

All told, when I think through Obama's baggage, the bad economy, everything Holder does, Solyndra, Fast and Furious and ongoing bailouts, I believe he can be beaten. But he is the President, sitting on a mountain of cash, so we should remember that he will be looking to whack his opponent, figuratively, of course.

Miscellaneous Musings

I missed the Republican debate tonight, by all accounts, that now seems like a wise choice. Gary Johnson was excluded and CNN moderated, what were we to expect? Sarah Palin said that the winner on substance was Newt Gingrich? Maybe that's true, but that's a sad night indeed.

Douglas Schoen polls the OWS crowd and finds some interesting statistics. The one I found most perplexing was "And by a close margin, protesters are divided on whether the bank bailouts were necessary (49%) or unnecessary (51%)." I thought this was a protest against the greed of the financial sector.

Fire Dog Lake takes exception with Schoen's characterization of the protesters as leftist radicals.

Here’s one of the key questions in Schoen’s poll:

What frustrates you the most about the political process in the United States? {Open Ended}

30% Influence of corporate/moneyed/special interests
3% Our democratic/capitalist system
3% Stagnant middle class wages
21% Partisanship
15% Joblessness
6% Income inequality
7% Corruption
2% Entrenched bureaucracy
2% Bush tax cuts
2% Obama abandoned left
2% Military spending
2% Federal Reserve
5% Everything

Out of this, which is mostly a pro-jobs, anti-special interest message, Schoen sees left-wing radicalism.

Hard to know who is more accurate both sides have some reasons to exaggerate their point.

Meanwhile, the #OWS crowd discovers a certain love, for well, private property.

Greece is probably going to default on its debt, with massive strikes being called as the Greek parliament prepares to vote on austerity measures.

Greece is expected to grind to a halt, with a general strike that could ground flights, halt most public services and shut offices and shops.

The 48-hour strike comes as parliament prepares to vote on the latest round of austerity measures, including more tax hikes, pay cuts and job losses.

The irony of further damaging the economy and making their own situation even worse seems lost on the Greek unions. The dysfunction in the Greek political system is such that no amount of good news (Germans and French agreeing on new terms) on the next bailout will change my opinion that the Greeks will default. David Skeel in the WSJ argues that the Europeans have failed to learn the lessons of the Bear Stearns bailout.

Europe can't afford to bail out Italy, so it might as well send the right message now by forcing Greece to restructure its debt. Greece is Europe's Bear Stearns.
. . .
If the European Union continues to treat rescue as the principal option for Greece, and to treat "default" like a dirty word, it is headed down the same path the U.S. took in 2008. As bad as that sounds, the consequences of going the bailout route will be far worse than they were in the U.S.
. . .
The U.S. isn't setting the best of examples in this regard, of course. By continuing to inject the government into the economy and failing to allow the markets—especially the housing markets—to return to normal, we almost certainly have prolonged our own period of low growth.

With more economic turmoil in store, I can't see an improved economy saving Obama from being a one-term President, that can now only be achieved by Republican ineptitude, of which they appear eminently capable.

Rick Perry Drinking Too Heavily?

Rick Perry sounds drunk starting about 1:25. Maybe the worst moment of the debate. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard it the first time.



H/T Michelle Malkin