2012 Presidential Debate 1: Republican Hopefuls Make Their Case

Last night was the first debate among potential Republican President candidates aired on Fox News.  Although not every candidate appeared in the South Carolina debate - the assumed front runners were absent (including names like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and others) - those who did show up offered a lively debate.

I will not say who I liked, didn't like, if I think President Obama will win big in 2012 or if any of these candidates will defeat him or not.  Politics isn't the most important thing to me.  But what I found interesting was the presence of two libertarian leaning candidates in a debate of five Republicans.  Ron Paul (a Congressman) and Gary Johnson (the former governor of New Mexico) both favor things as closing entire departments and legalizing drugs.  Four years ago, the lone libertarian candidate (Ron Paul) was a nuisance, but now they have multiple seats at the table.  Neither candidate rally stands much of a chance, but clearly the crowd at the debate liked almost everything Paul had to say.

But for those wanting to see a clear contrast between libertarianism and traditional conservatism, this is a good debate to watch.  Compare especially Rick Santorum (the most socially conservative candidate on the panel who made a good case for social conservatism) and Ron Paul.  Though both agree with decreasing the size of government, both have very different views about how far to limit government and the role government plays in morality.



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Immediately following the debate, Fox News had a focus group who almost unanimously said that Herman Cain won the debate. This is slightly surprising, but debates like this given this much attention in which the more front running candidates were absent will likely make many rethink their allegiances.




HT: American Thinker