Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Arizona debate; political theater or reality show?

Had the entire Falling Downs think tank gathered round the TV to watch the debate tonight.

It was Junior who labelled it a reality show.

He's right. These debates don't really debate anything. It's a prime time reality show for the benefit of whoever can get the most easy shots in. But it's a reality show that matters more than most of the other reality shows. The guy who wins this one has a good chance of being the leader of the free world.

That's a scary thought.

Romney likes to go on and on about how he learned to balance a budget when he was in private business.

Maybe he did, but let's not lose sight of the fact that his business, when he was in "private business", was to carve up other businesses, strip their assets, loot their pensions, and leave the entrails to the tender mercies of the welfare safety net.

Romney also likes the idea of linking public sector wages to those paid in the private sector. Since it's the vulture capitalists like Romney who have done more than anyone to drive down wages in the private sector, this bold gesture for wage parity has just a little bit of a bitter taste to it.

Newt played a good game here. He's playing to the masses with his appeal to bring back $2.50 a gallon gasoline. Oh, and he's gonna bring back jobs too.

If you're on a reality show and you are after the most votes, jobs and low gas prices are a sure-fire winning combo.

I haven't stayed up late enough to see how the official pundits rate the debate, but I'm thinking Santorum failed to claim a distinctive turf. He's against Obamacare. He's against entitlements. He's had his hand in more balanced budgets than any of the other guys, at least according to him. He's the guy who won't take a penny away from military spending because after all, it's so much lower now as a percentage of GDP than it was in 1945.

Keep those stupid wars coming.

Then there is the candidate not like the other ones.

Ron Paul is polling beyond his highest hopes. To be on the stage in Arizona as one of the "final four" is an achievement in itself.

While the other three guys are debating how best to do something, Paul comes up with a really radical option: how about we just don't do it.

That's revolutionary.

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