Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Republican Debate Over the Economy (with a Romney focus)

This debate took place today at Dartmouth College and it ended up focusing on the economy.

Mitt Romney defended his health care plan in MA (although, true to his party, he opted for bailouts to Wall Street), but mainly, it was all about his image. One thing that I find hilarious is that instead of "repeatedly tangl[ing]" with Perry, he simply ignored him. Does anyone else have flashbacks to the third grade? However, he made a good choice by questioning Bachmann as we all know how important the facts are to her. This will make him look good in the long run if he is compared to her.

However, he is going back on his experience as governor and is not going to close tax loop holes as he didn't want to compromise defense spending. I personally am shocked. I mean, what American doesn't want to see everyone given a fair chance? Should we allow people to get ahead by exploiting loop holes?

Honestly, despite all of the criticism, I think that Romney is currently he best choice for the Republican candidate. Not only could he hold a candle to Obama, he is probably going to be fairly moderate if he gets into office. I feel that right now, he is simply trying to seem very Republican to get the party nomination, but once he gets past that I think it'll be a hard decision between Obama and Romney. I don't think that Perry will make it because as he said, '“Mitt’s had six years to be working on a plan. I’ve been in this about eight weeks.”' (By the way, Romney's plan supposedly has 59 points and at least 49 pages.) Thoughts?

Here's a video of Romney responding to a question from Newt Gringrich. He (Romney) seems very patriotic and to be catering to the middle class (whatever that is).

4 comments:

Alyssa_Block said...

Watching the video you posted, I found it incredibly ironic, yet personally refreshing to hear Romney discuss tax breaks for the middle class, and no tax cuts for the upper class. Lately, it has seemed as though all Republicans can talk about is preventing Obama or any law from increasing taxes on the rich, but as Romney points out in the clip, the rich people "are doing just fine." This point does make him appear more moderate.

Earlier today, I was listening to NPR in the car, and there was an update over the fact that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had endorsed Romney as the best choice for the Republican nomination in 2012.
It also discussed how the variety of Tea Party, ultra-conservative candidates in the race might actually be doing some good, because he has repeatedly appeared to be a more moderate Republican who does not flub his words or take extreme opposition to issues. Here is the link if you want to check it out:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=141239944 (Under the "listen" tab, and then the "All Things Considered" for October 11, 2011).

Michelle Pei said...

Of course we shouldn't let people get ahead through loop holes.

And yes, I agree that Romney is perhaps the most apt choice for the GOP candidate. Compared to the other candidates (especially the Tea Party folks), Romney seems way less crazy and more reasonable. However, his views are very moderate and perhaps not conservative enough for the Republicans. Perry, on the other hand, is the authentic, die-hard conservative. But the numbers have shown that people's interest in Perry has steadily declined in the recent weeks.

Like Alyssa said, Romney also has the endorsement of Gov Chris Christie (who has a lot of political influence and would've been a major threat to Romney if he hadn't pulled out of the race), which is a huge plus for him. But some people hold the fact that Romney is Mormon over him. Honestly, I don't see the big problem people have against his religion. Separation of church and state, right? If he can run America efficiently, who cares what his religion is?Hopefully it won't hold him back too much or creates a strong disadvantage for him.

Sarah Felix-Almirol said...

The only way the tax breaks for the middle class could be possibly refreshing for me were if he really meant that he could and would do something about it, even if he was not running for president. Generally, rich people "doing just fine" means that he wants to appear fair to the so-called "middle class", this is his campaign after all.

But, fair is fair, he wants to be a moderate, so be it. Of course, a moderate will always have tests of where his allegiances lie, but this election is the big one. We shall see, but things are near-sightedly looking up for Romney.

itsALEXZ said...

Could you maybe post a different video that doesn't start every time I get on the blog. Would be much appreciated!