CNN/YouTube Debate 11/28/2007

OK, I didn't stay up to watch the debate live because I would have had to stay up until 2 AM for the beginning and until 4 AM to see the end. Way too late! I did, however, watch it this morning on YouTube. If you missed it, I encourage you to take a look for yourself.

Here's my analysis:

Ranking in Iowa (Rasmussen Poll 11/28)
(28%) Huckabee
(25%) Romney
(12%) Giuliani
(11%) Thompson
(5%) Paul
(4%) McCain
(4%) Tancrado
(1%) Hunter


Ranking Nationally (Rasmussen Poll 11/28)
(24%) Giuliani
(15%) Romney
(14%) McCain
(12%) Huckabee
(11%) Thompson
(Tancrado, Hunter, Paul - less than 2%)


Number of Questions Received per Candidate at CNN/YouTube Debate
(13) Giuliani
(12) Romney
(11) McCain
(10) Thompson
(9) Huckabee
(8) Paul
(7) Hunter
(6) Tancrado



Questions Posed to Huckabee

1. Would you favor a federal law requiring states who give tuition breaks to the children of illegal aliens to provide those same breaks to the children of our military families?
2. What are the top 3 federal programs would you cut?
3. Will you pledge to never raise taxes?
4. On the death penalty - what would Jesus do?
5. Do you believe every word of the Holy Bible?
6. Should gays be able to serve openly in the United States military?
7. Do you accept the support of Log Cabin Republicans? (a gay republican group)
   
8. What is your vision for human space exploration?
9. Why don't many African-Americans vote Republican?

My Thoughts

• The number of questions posed to the candidates related almost exactly to how they are doing in the national polls. This is entirely understandable. (Personally, of course, I would have liked to have had more questions posed to Huckabee but that is probably true of everyone with a favorite candidate.)
• The nature of the questions did not seem as equitable to me. Giuliani and Romney (and to a lesser degree Thompson and McCain) got a lot of the serious, presidential questions: immigration, national debt, farm subsidies, 2nd Ammendment, the war on terror, etc. Huckabee mainly got questions about issues that have been on the back-burner this election cycle: space exploration, gays openly serving the military, the death penalty.
• I was very pleased with how Huckabee responded on several questions/issues:
• He refused to be bullied by Romney over the controversy about a proposal for children of illegal aliens to receive college scholarships in Arkansas (a proposal that did not go through, by the way). Romney tried very hard to make the issue about giving illegals more rights than ordinary citizens. Huckabee would not be talked over. He made the point that the intention was to reward students who had spent their whole school career in Arkansas schools (and were applying to become citizens) so that they could become educated, tax-suppling Americans instead of tax-taking illegals. Basically his stance is: you do not punish the children for the sins of the parents. (For Huckabee's full explanation of the issue, watch this.)
  
• When asked if he would accept support from the Log Cabin Republicans (a gay republican group) he said yes, he wanted to be everyone's president and would accept their support. However, he made it clear that he would not change he stance on issues to appease supporters. (The example he gave was that if the Log Cabin Republicans decided to support him, he would not suddenly support gay marriage.)
• I also liked how he responded to the question about African American support of the Republican party. He said that the Republicans needed to reach out the African Americans community (and the the Hispanic community and others) all the time - not just during an election. He did that in Arkansas and was rewarded with their votes.
• All in all, I felt it was a good debate. Not all of the questions were serious (a few were completely irrelevant), but overall it allowed us to get a good look at how each of the candidates saw the issues and what kind of a president they might be.

I still feel that Mike Huckabee would be the best person to lead our country in the coming years. He is honest, compassionate, tough, and creative. He knows when to get a censuses and he knows when to fight for something even if it is unpopular. I encourage anyone reading this to check out his website and see what his positions are on the issues and see if he lines up with where you think our country ought to be heading. If he does, please consider sending him a donation. He is entering into a very expensive time for any campaign. If you think he has the right ideas for this country, please do your part to make sure he has the money to stay in the fight!