I was so distraught after getting that ‘Are you smarter than a 5th grader’ question wrong that I went to their website and proved to myself once and for all that I am indeed smarter than a 5th grader. It took me 4 tries, but still.
It’s December, alright. The first thing I saw out the window today was the New York landscape blanketed by the overnight snow
I stayed up watching the rerun of the Republican presidential candidate debate last night. I have no political affiliation with either party and am officially registered as an ‘independent.’ But overall, I like this year’s Republican candidates better than the Democratic candidates. I think Hilary Clinton, even at her best, comes off as a character off of ‘Mean Girls,’ a two faced woman whose most remarkable attribute seems to be the ambition and drive to win no matter the cost. Barack Obama is a charismatic senator, whose downfall may be his obsession on taking cues from John F. Kennedy. If he can find his own voice and stop stuttering, then perhaps his refined political stature may seem more genuine.
Plus, I don’t particularly agree with the Democrats’ push for universal health care. It’ll be another government funded social program just like Social Security, where the source of funding decreases as the recipients increase. And funding it through cutbacks in military budget is ludicrous. Health care will need additional funding as time goes on, and will not be negated by those cutbacks alone.
So onto the Republican candidates. I was very impressed. Rudy Giuliani was my favorite going in, but my least favorite coming out. I thought him more of the male, Republican version of Hilary Clinton. And I don’t know why he was so adamant about attacking the other candidates, when they were giving him his due respect, unlike the Democratic debate. Saying Mitt Romney had illegal immigrants working at his ‘sanctuary mansion’ in contrast to NYC’s ‘sanctuary city’ was just not classy. And he didn’t even look at Mitt when he accused him. That and Mitt had contracted the job out to a company that unbeknownst to him, had hired illegal immigrants. You’re already in the lead, Rudy. Did you really need to do that?
Mitt Romney came off as a refined businessman, and it turns out he was the former CEO of Bain & Company and founded Bain Capital. Even though I was rejected by Bain, I was really impressed by his professional demeanor. I didn’t get to know much else about him, but I read that he favors eliminating capital gains tax on families making less than $200,000 a year. Well, how much do you think the second richest man on earth makes most of his living? Warren Buffett earns $100,000 on salary, and similar deals for the founders of Google, as well as Steve Jobs. So none of his their wealth would have been taxed. Well, Buffett’s a bad example because he recently gave away 85% of his wealth to charity, but if he was so inclined under the suggested rule, then the rich would have only gotten richer. So no to Mitt Romney, although I appreciated his reasoning behind switching positions on abortion, as well as his saying that he would seek out the counsel of John McCain on matters of terrorism and torture. That was classy.
John McCain seems to be the closest thing to a ‘has been’ right now. His views are probably much more in line with traditional Republican’s, and his genuine longing for return of compassion in politics is honorable. But he looks tired, seemingly already admitting defeat.
Ron Paul has the simplest campaign: cut taxes as well as spending. I agree with the latter but not the former. The tax code should be completely rehauled and the tax rates should be reallocated, not simply cut. Warren Buffet’s said that he pays a smaller tax rate than his secretaries, and came out with an offer of $1 million to any CEO that can say the reverse is true. No one’s taken the offer.
So Mike Huckabee was a welcome face. He seems to mean what he says, and didn’t seem to attack any other candidates but was also candid when it was time to defend himself. He is very concise and articulate in illustrating his positions, something that I believe resembles JFK in a much more genuine sense than Obama ever will. I was very impressed by his composure. Even though some of his views are ultra conservative, I must say with so many candidates on the stand, it was a night to gauge a person’s character more so than their political stance.
So I would say Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, McCain, then Giuliani, would be my order of preference as a Republican candidate.