When I joined Facebook in 2004 it was social networking site limited to college students. Now they are co-hosting presidential debates. Saturday at St. Anselm College in Manchester New Hampshire ABC joined with the online phenomenon for two back-to-back debates with all the Republican candidates in attack mode first, followed by the top four remaining Democrats.
The Republican debate was a bit crowded. There were a total of six candidates on the stage. The criteria to participate was either being in the top four out of Iowa or polling nationally at 5% or above (which qualified Ron Paul). Even though it was crowded everyone managed to take jabs at former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the ostensible frontrunner in New Hampshire even though he lost the Iowa caucus and polls show John McCain pulling ahead.
Like every Republican debate there were numerous mentions of Ronald Reagan. In a heated exchange about amnesty for illegal immigrants Giuliani had a great line in which he made the point that Reagan was a proponent of amnesty saying, “I think he would be in one of Mitt’s negative commercials.” This was a low blow. To suggest that Mitt Romney would ever say anything negative about the hero of the GOP is heresy.
It’s been over 20 years since Reagan was last elected. There have been two republican presidents since. I have now seen every major Republican candidate besides Fred Thompson and each one of them has at one point during their stump mentioned Reagan. I have nothing against Reagan or his legacy but if the GOP wants to attract independent voters under the age of 40, perhaps it’s best if they stick to a discussion of the most recent republican president -- a legacy they are going to have to follow. Independent voters care about the now and now isn’t time to be living in the past particularly when we are in a hot war, not a cold one.
No comments:
Post a Comment