BOCA RATON DEBATE

The remaining GOP Presidential candidates gathered on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, for a debate Thursday evening. NBC's Tim Russert and Brian Williams moderated for the MSNBC broadcast. The Florida primary is Saturday, and the consequences are enormous. Rudy has been banking on Florida to restart his campaign, which has essentially fallen off the map. Romney could use a win to add to his delegate lead and slow McCain. Senator McCain needs to win a primary that includes only Republicans to maintain his momentum, and Huckabee could use any bit of traction at all to bolster his flagging bid. My man Fred Thompson has sadly withdrawn, so I was able to view the event somewhat objectively. That's not to say that any of them earned my vote in one evening, but there was a clear winner.

The first portion of the questioning focused on the economy and the recent measures agreed to by Congress and the President on a stimulus package. Senator McCain indicated he will vote yea on the bill, suggested a cut in the corporate tax rate is in order, and then went into his speech about controlling spending and the "bridge to nowhere". Rudy pitched the three rate tax plan several of his supporters have introduced in Congress and extolled mutual foreign investment. Governor Huckabee made points by wondering if borrowing money from China to give American consumers cash to purchase Chinese goods was a wise plan, but then asserted a huge public works infrastructure program would be better than individual taxpayer checks. It might be, but the pork, waste, and various other problems associated with that type of big government plan always slow and reduce its effectiveness. Whiny Ron Paul really annoyed me by using the word "empire" to describe our overseas military commitments and foreign policy. Someone should scream loud enough for retarded grandpa to hear that the United States does not rule other lands as a singular power or with absolute authority. It's the same as suggesting our troops presence as an "occupation". It's offensive to anyone who understands the nature of our armed forces and their intent. In any event, Mitt Romney won the round with his attack on all things Washington and the failures of the federal government. He also showed a commanding knowledge of economic issues and emphasized his successful private sector business experience.

Questions on Iraq found general agreement among the gentlemen concerning the need to continue our efforts and rejection of the Democrat surrender plan. McCain continued his sickening chest-thumping over the corpse of Rummy to support his status as the most committed to success in Iraq. Paul was the only man to say the war was a mistake and not worth the sacrifice, which was followed by cheers in support of Al Qaeda from the Paul supporters present. Romney once again seemed authoritative, and proposed increasing the active duty military force by 100,000 and providing full college tuition for veterans and reservists. Romney also pointed out the idiocy of the Dems on Iraq, and said no credit will be due to "General Hillary." Rudy correctly asserted the Democrat nominee will have a major problem if progress continues in Iraq. Romney's comments on this issue were knowledgeable and his language on the issue was exactly right.

After a commercial break, the candidates were offered a chance to ask questions of each other. It's an intriguing concept full of wild possibilities, none of which were fulfilled. The entire segment illustrated the candidates' refusal to attack at all. Honestly, the Democrat race has been funner to watch lately with Hillary and Obama having really thrown some elbows in their last encounter. Nothing like that occurred last night, a much tamer affair in general. Mitt asked Rudy about China trade, McCain asked Huckabee to defend the fair tax, Paul asked McCain a yawn inspiring economics question, and Rudy asked Mitt about a proposed national catastrophe fund. McCain also somehow sneaked in his global warming pitch. Most striking was Romney's defense of Second Amendment individual rights in a response to a challenge from Huckabee. Romney won the whole round by decrying renewal of the so called "assault weapons" ban that mercifully expired. He did not hesitate to answer firmly and forcefully on the guns issue, and that was reassuring.

Another commercial interruption preceded the most bizarre portion of the entire debate. First, McCain was asked about quotes from his mother, who is 95 years old. I don't know why, but he was asked. Then Russert and Williams started a rapid fire attack on Mitt Romney that backfired badly. It began with a question to Mitt about how to run against Bill and Hillary Clinton. Romney got in a good shot by saying he didn't think Bill in the White House again with nothing to do was a very good idea. Russert interrupted with a snotty "What do you mean?," but Romney ignored him and moved on to say Hillary would be the nominee, not Bill. Mitt scored major points by highlighting the Reagan formula of uniting economic, social, and national defense conservatives to win the general election. Romney was then asked about how much of his personal fortune he has spent so far, an amateurish jab he easily deflected by saying he feels the issues are important enough to warrant his concern and cash. Another question followed that drug up the tired old Mormon faith issue, something the press should have given up long ago. His answer made the moderators look like the bad guys for even asking by attacking their insinuations of religious prejudice among the American people. Just a few moments later, during the next segment, Romney was assailed again on Reagan's tax increase to fund social security. Mitt said raising taxes isn't the answer and spoke in favor of personal accounts and raising the retirement age as first steps. McCain managed to work in "bridge to nowhere" a nauseating third time during the social security portion. Just to show I'm fair, even Ron Paul said something I agreed with by suggesting younger folks should be allowed out of the system because the money will not be there for them upon retirement.

The evening concluded for some reason with the moderators using the most vile press attacks that could be found against the individual named by putting them in the form of a question. It was another example of the liberal media slinging dirt in a Republican debate instead of allowing the free flow of argument as they so often do in Democrat debates. I have to award first place to Mitt Romney. He dominated every segment of the discussion, and seemed informed and in charge. I can't endorse anyone yet and may not at all, but Romney clearly won despite the targeted assault by the moderators. A victory in Florida might start him on a roll that will be hard to stop.