Official Republican Presidential Debate August 23, 2023

#401
#401
McDad said:
Inter party debates are about red meat to the base. While important, I don't care much about that. Debates between the final candidates are only marginally better.
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Believing that a candidate will even attempt much less actually do what they propose is a real leap of faith ... a lot more than I'm willing to go. All the GOP really needs to do is find a candidate with some conservative values and a set of balls; but that hasn't happened in so long, I'm not sure there is such an animal. Reagan was an anomaly, but except Trump every republican president since Nixon has rolled over and played dead. Bush Jr didn't even try to not be a dem, and Sr was far too diplomatic to even matter.
 
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#402
#402
AM64 said:
Believing that a candidate will even attempt much less actually do what they propose is a real leap of faith ... a lot more than I'm willing to go. All the GOP really needs to do is find a candidate with some conservative values and a set of balls; but that hasn't happened in so long, I'm not sure there is such an animal. Reagan was an anomaly, but except Trump every republican president since Nixon has rolled over and played dead. Bush Jr didn't even try to not be a dem, and Sr was far too diplomatic to even matter.
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Reagan oversaw massive inflationary spending, made terrible foreign policy decisions that almost ended up in WW3 and was a jubilant supporter of California handgun restrictions as Governor. Hes like DeSantis today. I wouly be relieved if he were elected over Biden or Trump just as I’m sure my parents were glad to see Carter go. But I doubt that historically he will accomplish anything great.
 
#403
#403
Vol737 said:
Would have been better if moderators could have kept control. Need a kill switch on the microphones for the windbags. Burgum was interesting to me. Practical talking points and tried to stick to the questions on issues with facts. Some of the others made that difficult while bloviating all over each other. Knew exactly zero about him. So, at least I learned something new about someone I've really never heard of before.
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Years ago I walked in while my parents were watching a debate, and I was impressed by one guy. His answers were direct, when given the opportunity to trash the opponents and the party itself, he was gracious and not an azz. I had no clue who he was at the time ... turns out he was Mike Huckabee. Guess you could say it's been a while since I've looked in on the party debates. I do know I'd rather prep for a colonoscopy than ever watch a POS like Romney speak again.
 
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#404
#404
sonofUT62 said:
Reagan oversaw massive inflationary spending, made terrible foreign policy decisions that almost ended up in WW3 and was a jubilant supporter of California handgun restrictions as Governor. Hes like DeSantis today. I wouly be relieved if he were elected over Biden or Trump just as I’m sure my parents were glad to see Carter go. But I doubt that historically he will accomplish anything great.
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I actually preferred Reagan's foreign and defense policies far more than his domestic policy. That was a particularly busy time for me, so I honestly didn't dwell on a lot of it, but I haven't been impressed that much by what Reagan deregulation gave us in the end.
 
#406
#406
turbovol said:
We saw a massive example of moral bravery from Liz Chaney, who puts country before party and before the gangster. We've seen it in Romney and those very few Republicans who voted to impeach the gangster--and we see it with Christie. And as the author notes, Pence, after playing the role of weak lackey for four years and even after the insurrection, is very, very slowly trying to grow a spine.
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Liz Cheney has no problem spilling the blood of American children in the Middle East. She’s a hero to Raytheon, general dynamics, Boeing and Halliburton.
 
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#407
#407
AM64 said:
I actually preferred Reagan's foreign and defense policies far more than his domestic policy. That was a particularly busy time for me, so I honestly didn't dwell on a lot of it, but I haven't been impressed that much by what Reagan deregulation gave us in the end.
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You’re a smart dude so I’m guessing you probably read some if not a lot. If you haven’t read “Ghost Wars” I would highly recommend it. It basically claims that Reagan’s CIA Director William Casey had a severe speech impediment and Reagan couldn’t understand him. Casey apparently considered it a fervent religious duty to kill Communists from Nicaragua to Afghanistan. He allegedly would run high risk/ potentially illegal foreign ops by RR and Reagan would give in because he couldn’t understand him and didn’t want to be rude. 40 years later it’s hysterical. At the time im sure it scared the crap out of the White House Counsels office.
 
#410
#410
AM64 said:
Years ago I walked in while my parents were watching a debate, and I was impressed by one guy. His answers were direct, when given the opportunity to trash the opponents and the party itself, he was gracious and not an azz. I had no clue who he was at the time ... turns out he was Mike Huckabee. Guess you could say it's been a while since I've looked in on the party debates. I do know I'd rather prep for a colonoscopy than ever watch a POS like Romney speak again.
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I'm a big fan of Mike Huckabee. I like his daughter as well.
 
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#411
#411
sonofUT62 said:
You’re a smart dude so I’m guessing you probably read some if not a lot. If you haven’t read “Ghost Wars” I would highly recommend it. It basically claims that Reagan’s CIA Director William Casey had a severe speech impediment and Reagan couldn’t understand him. Casey apparently considered it a fervent religious duty to kill Communists from Nicaragua to Afghanistan. He allegedly would run high risk/ potentially illegal foreign ops by RR and Reagan would give in because he couldn’t understand him and didn’t want to be rude. 40 years later it’s hysterical. At the time im sure it scared the crap out of the White House Counsels office.
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I have to admit I wasn't thinking much about Reagan and his CIA works of art. I think his greatest failing was that he was a great delegator but really bad at picking the people he relied on. Reagan was an excellent communicator, but some of the policy stuff his minions sold him was real garbage. I still like the hard line on the Soviet relationship and the results; that to me was the highlight of his presidency. It could have been sheer luck, too - that the Soviet Union was ready to fall and he was around to give it a nudge. It would take little to convince me that certainly by the second term his health - particularly Alzheimer's - was a problem.
 
#412
#412
Vol423 said:
I'm a big fan of Mike Huckabee. I like his daughter as well.
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I have no clue how Huckabee might have worked as a president or what his policies might have changed, but I really appreciated his ability to communicate. That may have been our last chance at some sort of real cooperation between the two parties to solve real problems.
 
#417
#417
My issue with political debates is that the time the candidates are allotted to answer questions aren't sufficient to fully frame and answer the questions. Most political issues aren't black and white. There are shades of gray that require explanation that can't be delivered in the allotted time frame. Also, the person that is ultimately determined by the press to be the winner of the debate is usually whomever delivered the most clever catch phrase of the night. I don't give a damn about clever slogans.
 
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#419
#419
McDad said:
I may be the outlier here, but the brash, antagonistic im-gonna-fight-back approach from Trump was one of the few things I liked the man. After decades of squishy, milquetoast types (bush 1 and 2, romney, mccain, dole) as presidential candidates, a fighter has appeal.
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No no no, don't you see. liberals are only allowed to throw out insults at everyone. Republicans have to just stand there and take it
 
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#423
#423
Vol423 said:
My issue with political debates is that the time the candidates are allotted to answer questions aren't sufficient to fully frame and answer the questions. Most political issues aren't black and white. There are shades of gray that require explanation that can't be delivered in the allotted time frame. Also, the person that is ultimately determined by the press to be the winner of the debate is usually whomever delivered the most clever catch phrase of the night. I don't give a damn about clever slogans.
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Most voters aren’t that bright. If you start talking above a 7th grade level you’ll lose their attention. Shades of gray and nuance in these debates is the kiss of death for the candidate.
 
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