The Horses Are Out of the Gate - The First GOP Debate

In the presence of the old Air force One and the grandeur of the Ronald Reagan Library the 10 Republican candidates lined up for their first national debate. I, for one, am glad that since our country has decided that it takes two years to elect our leaders that we are able, and that television networks and websites are open, to sponsoring these debates. The focus was on the strongest contenders -- Giuliani, the former New York City mayor; McCain, a four-term Arizona senator, and Mitt Romney, the ex-governor of Massachusetts. The field broadened with seven lesser-known rivals that joined them: Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas; former Governors, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin, Jim Gilmore of Virginia, and Representatives, Tom Tancredo of Colorado, Duncan Hunter of California and Ron Paul of Texas.

It is interesting how the debate was moderated and how fast the debate moved, and the direct and pointed questions of Chris Matthews. Mr. Matthews really worked at getting simple "yes" and "no" answers to his questions. He especially used this tactic to get clear answers on whether the 1973 roe v. wade decision should be reversed. The issues ranged from abortion, to immigration, to taxes. Another interesting observation is that Iran and China kept surfacing when it came to oil and military might. All the candidates kept true to the Republican platform of a strong national defense, honoring it and using comparisons ad naseum, to the man's foreign policy in whose library they stood. This is the first debate that auditioned the Flat tax, the Consumption tax and two of the different ways of embryonic stem cell research. The evening was full of funny antidotes and some harsh words from people that we were familiar with. Senator John McCain of Arizona quipped with this powerful statement: "We will capture Osama Bin Laden........ and I will chase him to the gates of hell!"

In comparison to the Democratic Debate it was certainly more entertaining and I have never seen so many Republicans distance themselves from their own president so quickly on matters of Foreign Policy. The Democrats spent their evening of attention on criticizing and offering no real solutions, while the Republicans were distancing themselves but suffering from the same problem of offering no real solutions to our pressing foreign policy issues, especially on the war in Iraq. The Republicans also touched on our lousy trade agreements, a subject untouched by the Democrats. The subject of former President Bill Clinton came up and the Republican candidates certainly did not touch him at all and questions about him were only greeted with smirks and smiles. Meanwhile, the Democrats couldn't get off their favorite. If anything, the republican candidates view Mrs. Clinton as a formidable candidate especially if she wins her party's nomination for president.

Three Republicans still weighing whether to run -- Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator; Newt Gingrich, the ex-House speaker from Georgia, and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. They also aren't scheduled at this point to participate in the other two debates located in South Carolina and New Hampshire coming in the next month.