Mitt's It. Looking at the Recent Republican Debate and It's Impact on the Race to the White House

After watching the recent Republican debate on National Security, I have come to a few, undeniable conclusions. First, and foremost is, if it's from this field of candidates alone that we must pick the Republican nominee for President, I believe that President Obama isn't going to have a difficult time being re-elected to the White House in November. Let's look at each candidate, not only with respect to their responses during the debate, but also in light of everything that has happened recently in their individual campaigns.

The one candidate that stood out to me the most was former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. I was biased against him by a historical dislike for not only his political policies, but for him personally as well. But I had decided going in to this debate, to remain open-minded and allow each candidate an equal opportunity to impress me on the issues. In doing this, I found myself agreeing with him on may points. For one, he sounded almost human when he stated that our immigration laws should take in to account how long an illegal immigrant had been in the United States and also their ties to the community and family. He almost used the term "Amnesty" several times, but when called on this, he stated that he did not favor amnesty of any kind for any illegal immigrant. With these statements, a spark was lit under former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Romney continually accused Gingrich of being soft on immigration and actually favoring amnesty for all of the estimated 11 million current illegal immigrants in the United States. He wouldn't state his exact position on this issue, just a clear disagreement with Newt Gingrich.

This turned in to a focus of the entire debate. Instead of Republicans vs. Obama, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were really trying to focus on the differences they had with each other. I also noticed early on, that many of the questions asked by audience members were shifted to similar prepared questions by moderator, Wolf Blitzer. Some of the questions were actually pushed aside and a totally different discussion started. One audience member, in particular, asked about recent drone attacks by the United States on Pakistani soil. Only one candidate spoke about this, and then just for a short period of time.

Ron Paul came across as being the most straight forward and honest of all the candidates. The crowd applauded him over and over for many of his responses. The audience seemed to especially agree with Paul on his views of the War on Terror and balancing the budget. I seem to disagree with the mainstream media on who won or lost this debate. I feel like Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich both did very well. To me they both came out on top in this debate. Personally, I was most impressed with John Huntsman, the former Ambassador to China and Singapore and also former Governor of Utah. He seemed to speak as closely to the way I feel on the major issues. Again, Ron Paul was the most straight forward and honest with his responses. He didn't appear to be afraid to say what he felt and stand by it.

Rick Perry and Michelle Bachman faced off over the issue of Aid to Pakistan. Perry was in favor of totally withdrawing all aid to them while Bachman believed that we should continue with the current aid package, but ask for more in return. This was one of only two or three issues that Michelle Bachman spoke on. She had a very poor showing in this debate. Also, Herman Cain didn't speak very much on many issues. Only three or four times did he show that he was even on the stage. Rick Santorum made some strides toward showing the American people how he felt on the issues. But he came across as being distant and out of touch with the average Republican.

So, to sum things up, as far as this debate went, Romney and Gingrich came out on top, with Huntsman following closely behind. Ron Paul and Rick Perry would fall in the middle of the pack, with Cain, Santorum, and Bachman bringing up the rear. Adding this debate together with the most recent events happening around each of the candidates, I feel like several of them are barely holding on going in to the Iowa caucus and on to New Hampshire.

Herman Cain is slowly coming to realize that he isn't cut out for this. He has very good business sense and a great track record in the private sector, but the questions about sexual misconduct in his past and his actions surrounding those questions makes it clear that he will not be a viable candidate to face Obama in November. I know that the Republican Party movers and shakers wanted to split the black vote with Cain as a candidate, but I just don't see it happening.

Newt Gingrich and his past political blunders is going to make it very hard to get the Republican base behind him. He says the wrong thing at the wrong time way too often. Ron Paul is just too radical for any party, but especially the Republicans. He comes across as a strange mix of Ross Perot and Teddy Roosevelt. He has a lot of great ideas and I think he would make a good President, but he will never get the chance. Especially not as the Republican nominee. Maybe he could run as an Independant, which I believe he is anyway. Michelle Bachman and Rick Santorum just don't have the following that is necessary to get to the White House. Rick Perry and John Huntsman both have what it takes, but I don't think they will lead the Republican ticket.

I think it will probably end up with Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee for President, but I'm not sure America can get past his religious beliefs. I may be wrong on that account, but I don't think he has everything that J.F.K. had going for him that helped him overcome the religious issue. But I do believe that the face of the Republican party will be Mitt Romney. In choosing his Vice President, Romney will go a long way in combating his flip/flop record by making a choice of someone with a solid conservative record. That being said, why not put the religious issue right out front and have Romney/Huntsman in 2012.

This being the case, I hope that President Obama enjoys his 4 extra years that the Republican party is handing him by not putting a viable candidate forward to face him in the 2012 election.