12/10/11 IOWA: REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE RECAP; IF YOU CHEAT ON YOUR SPOUSE YOU WILL CHEAT ON OTHERS

ABC News sponsored the last major Republican Presidential Debate tonight.  Candidates have only 24-days left to convince voter’s to choose them; because that’s when the Primary elections begin.  Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos did an incredible job moderating and asked solid questions.  The Twitter questions from the viewer’s were also very well thought out.

Initially the debate headed in the direction of a Mitt Romney versus Newt Gingrich showdown, with the others acting as “back-up singer’s”.  However, as it unfolded there were memorable comebacks from the sidelines. 

One of the stand-out moments is when they were asked if their character (personal life) should be taken into account. Rick Perry had the best response saying; “If you will cheat on your wife, if you will cheat on your spouse, then why wouldn’t you cheat on your business partner, or, why wouldn’t you cheat on anyone for that matter?”  This is exactly why Herman Cain had to step out of the race; this would be a concern for many.  Once a cheater…always a cheater, right?

In watching the Presidential hopefuls from a neutral position, there were several statements that stood out.  Although I do not consider myself Republican nor Democrat, it is still interesting to hear what direction they claim they will take us in.  Listening to each of them, my observations are simply from an “outsiders” perspective.

In my opinion all politicians lie, unfortunately, they cannot win our vote if they tell the absolute truth all the time.  While some may have good intentions, they have to change their stance periodically, based on the polls.  This is the only way to capture enough votes to win.

It is necessary for them to blame President Obama for the current condition of our country.  They cannot bring up the fact that it was a huge mess when he took office; making it impossible to fix all the issues in three years.  They cannot say he has been shut down from every angle, creating challenges to fix our issues.  And of course they cannot blame other Republicans for their short comings, it would not sit well with their party.  Not to say President Obama does everything right, but let’s face it…he was set up for failure (thanks to you know who).

In a quick recap this is what stood out for each candidate and will be talked about at the water cooler on Monday.

Mitt Romney actually was humorous, likeable and looked very “Presidential” with his perfect hair flowing.  I could see him giving great speeches and interacting well with other leaders if he were President.  Overall he came across as a leader, but had several setbacks so he probably won’t see his numbers climb.  The biggest mistake was challenging Rick Perry to a $10,000 bet over a statement in his book.  Not only did Rick Perry reject his offer, it will not sit well with the voter’s.  Treating this amount of money as though it was a “drop in the bucket” will only infuriate the unemployed or lower-middle class.  It also could be viewed as a possibility for him to bet on things while in office.  Imagine him saying to his staff, “I bet you $10,000 the economy will drop further”. BEST tweet of the night; “I bet $10,000 he wishes he could take that comment back!”

Newt Gingrich actually came across better than I expected.  However, although many applauded when he spoke about allowing young poor kids work to make money, it sounded elitist to me. While he may have had good intentions, this coming from a man with a $500,000 credit limit at “Tiffany’s” just does not come across as genuine.  He did overcome the negative press regarding the issue about his recent statement about Palestinians, which was a huge accomplishment.  Therefore, while he rubbed me the wrong way several times, he did change my mind about him because he also seemed sincere with many other topics.  Newts’ numbers probably will continue to climb or at least stay flat.

Michelle Bachman is refreshing when you compare her to Sarah Palin.  At least she sounds smart and seems sincere.  Her only problem is that she mentioned “Herman Cain” one to many times.  If she would have left him out of the equation, her numbers may have gone up after this debate.  However, in the past she was non-existent in my mind, but she did make me take notice tonight.  It still seems like a waste of her time and money to continue, she will definitely not win…but it is good to see at least one woman trying.  And her “NewtRomey” punch will stick.

Ron Paul seemed like a quirky old man in the past.  But tonight, although he still had a few goofy moments, he actually made sense with many statements.  It is good to have him keep them on their toes and say exactly what is on his mind.  He seems like a very old man who does not care what people think, so it came across very “real” and sincere.  I could not see him being our President, but he certainly sounds committed to helping change our government.

Rick Perry appears very “Presidential”…at first.  However, although he makes valid points, it is as though he loses focus.  There were several times when he sounds really good, but then drifted off, lessening the impact of his statement.  The only thing he did really well, was not take the bait from Mitt.

Rick Santorum who’s that?

Based on tonight’s debate, the race is definitely down to Romney vs. Gingrich.  The others can save their money and take a nice vacation to a tropical island.

Your opinions are important…maybe ‘they” are watching so please post your vote below.