I know I'll get neg repped and chastised for this, but I need to vent this:
When our we going to be honest with ourselves? I have been frank when Ron has done great or when Ron has done shaky. However, I know my analysis spot on last night. Especially the commentating on the morning shows and articles. It was a tough night for Ron. We keep on only looking at the debates with our grassroots lenses. It really is ridiculous and does us no good. It borderlines on lying to ourselves.
People forget we do actually have support among other Republicans besides us, the grassroots people. People say that once we get someone to support us, we can't lose them. That's untrue. Of course the independent, youth, libertarian, and other of us Ron Paul Grassroots people will support him full on. However, we do have a lot more support than that, that is why we are doing MUCH MUCH MUCH better than 2008. A lot of these people are strong supporters, however we still have a lot of light supporters and leaners through the republican party. We are capable of gaining more of them and losing them too. Those that are tired of wars and the like will agree with RP, but when we got into the nuances of the Osama Bin Laden issue....this is where Newt hurt us, as I mention below.
Ron had a tough debate last night, particularly on foreign policy. It really doesn't have much to do with his beliefs, philosophy or even the content of the answer. However, he was off last night. There is no way to get around this. He stuttered, stammered, and was on the defensive on foreign policy. He did not get out a clear answer. His answer on Osama Bin Laden really turned people away from him, and his delivery had a lot to do with it. A lot of us were worried and concerned about the exchange with Bachmann in the last Iowa debate. However, I wasn't that worried because he was very strong and powerful in his answers. He was clear in his answers and was strong on the defensive and almost made his strong defense into an attack. Then he goes on to tell us we shouldn't be angry with the Taliban because it was the Al-Qaeda. Of course that is true, but seriously to go out of your way to make that point? What was with that. Instead he could have used that time to say these people have been killing our soldiers and they are a repressive regime.
This was hardly the case last night, he was searching and going in circles for an answer. He couldn't capture and word a straight forward answer on the question. Gingrich, Perry and Romney were strong, powerful and to the point on what to do with Osama. The analogy using the Chinese dissident make sense, and it wasn't a good analogy. Perry's gong comment was a stinger, and what really hurt was Gingrich talking about the USS Cole attack and the fact he killed 3000 citizens. There was no other way around it. There was no oomph behind it. He again gets called by Bret to being the left of Obama on foreign policy, and he doesn't challenge the premise. He could have really gotten strong there.
Couple his foreign policy part of the debate with his answer to Santorum on the 2nd Amendment. Santorum unjustly attacked him on the 2nd Amendment, but Ron didn't tout his pro-gun record. He said for about two mumbled seconds that he is against all the anti-gun laws, and then went into how tort law is a function of the state. That national laws are unconstitutional, etc. When you are attacked on the 2nd Amendment, saying that you are trying to get rid of it, you don't get into a discussion of tort law, which most people don't understand anyways. I mean what average South Carolina primary Republican voter knows what tort law is and federal versus state jurisdiction. He compares it to medical malpractice suits, yet doesn't talk about his support for the 2nd Amendment. What particular laws he opposed. Doesn't go into the right itself, he doesn't talk about it. He lets the attack pretty much stand. He didn't ward off the attack with his talk about tort law and medical malpractice being left up to the states.
Now where I thought Ron did well was his hit on Santorum (though he should have used his full time), and standing firm on it. He threw in a lot of humorous quips that got laughs from the other candidates and the audience. He did nail his second question and his first foreign policy question. It was a real gotcha question by the dude on the left, and Ron destroyed him on it. He clearly mentioned the difference between defense and militarism. He got tons of applause on calling the Bagdad embassy waste and I thought he did a great job on that. Had he sustained that throughout the foreign policy section of the debate, it would have been a great performance. We have time to recoup, but this hurt. The moderators were horrible granted, and put Ron in tougher situations than anybody else. They really asked framed, gotcha questions to him, however that is the name of the game. This debate will be seen by more republican primary voters in South Carolina than the CNN one will be on Thursday. They just watch Fox News that much greater. Ron always speaks the truth and is right all the time, however the style and framing it must change.
Though I must say the kick a$$ statement of the night was when Ron seized the opportunity to say that the income tax should be 0%. He took advantage of the situation, and went full throttle. He also explained himself on it, instead of giving a Michele Bachmanesque answer without explanation. He also talked about the inflation tax and said that should be 0% as well. It just shows how much more powerful on the economy his views are and in style and the ability to answer the questions. He is powerful and straight forward on those issues. He is also confident in his answers. He doesn't stutter, stammer or search for answers when he is talking about the financial world, taxes, spending, monetary policy and the federal reserve.