South Carolina Republican Debate

The candidates spent less time attacking each other tonight and focused more on their ideas. It was a pretty good debate given the limited time the candidates had to answer the questions.

Ron Paul is always interesting and I find myself agreeing with him in areas. We split dramatically when he brings everyone home and closes up shop. We can't ignore the rest of the world. It's not an ideal world, we're not going to stop people from hating us just because we leave them alone. Especially if we take our money when we walk away. I've gotten into an area that deserves a full rant and my drooping eyes won't stay open long enough for two topics, thus I'll move back to the debate and my thoughts.

If Fred Thompson had performed in other debates like he did tonight he'd probably be the front runner. Unfortunately, he's been a bit too laid back, unfocused sounding and definitely uninspiring. Tonight I swore he'd been reading my blogs and gotten the message. He was on point, his quips were timed perfectly and he came across strong and knowledgeable. This is the first time I've liked him.

Mitt Romney didn't lose any points with me, but he didn't gain any either. His performance wasn't as good as in the past. I had the feeling the weight of all the constant attacks was getting to him. Just a personal thought, not one based on anything he said. He just seemed a bit flat and there was a tightness to his expressions that I haven't noted before. Could be just the stress of campaigning.

John McCain tied with Thompson as a winner in my estimation. He was sharp, gave good answers, was strong in areas he needed to be and showcased his depth of commitment to cutting spending, lowering taxes, protecting the country and closing the borders.

Mike Huckabee had one of the best lines of the night when talking about the incident the other day with the five small boats menacing our ship. You're going to hear the quote a hundred times over the next few days if you listen to the news. Although he had some good responses overall I would make Huckabee my personal loser. He was definitely the one in everyone's sites. I think everyone lobbed an attack or two in his direction. He didn't defend himself very well. He left some of the barbs unanswered. Fred Thompson in particular targeted Huckabee, rather successfully overall.

Who's left? Ah, I almost forgot Rudy Giuliani. I wanted to like Giuliani tonight and I wanted him to perform well. In the past I've felt that he might be the best candidate to face Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I'm losing faith in that premise and tonight didn't help his cause. I haven't had a chance to look at the tax plan he's proposing, but I'm glad to see he's presenting some ideas rather than simply talking about his past.

I'll be glad when we can whittle the field down a bit. I'd like to have debates that allow the contenders to flesh out ideas rather than have to squeeze as many words as possible into a short minute or two at most.

Aside from Ron Paul, I'll say again that I'd be happy with any of these guys leading our country. There is so much strength of character and passion on that stage!

By the way, I don't know the criteria for choosing the candidates to include in the debate, but I did not like it that Duncan Hunter was excluded. He at least has won a delegate. I'm sure we'll be losing him as a candidate sometime in the near future. When the media ignores you it's just a matter of time.

Walking the fence on illegal immigration, border security

I have a hard time understanding how anyone could think that tightening up our border security isn't a good idea. Whether you want a tighter immigration policy, like the way it stands now, want to allow more people to come into the country, want to send everyone home or any combination, it just makes sense to me that we'd want to know WHO was coming into the country.

I don't purport to know all the ins and outs on illegal immigration. I read, I listen, I hear both sides. I don't think it's fair that people can break in line and come across our borders illegally.

It's no different to me than standing in line at a grocery store. When someone cuts in line we get irritated. If you're not a mouse, most will usually say something to the bore who tries to circumvent the line.

None of us like those who ride down the emergency lane to cut in front of us during heavy traffic.

It's the same principal with immigration. Policies are negotiated with other countries. We allow a set number of individuals to come into the country each year. Open the borders and pretty soon we won't be the same country.

A poor analogy that pops into my mind on that one is growth in our county. No supporting infrastructure and pretty soon we're that county we moved away from because traffic was untenable. Keep building without roads, lights, schools, emergency support and we're just another overcrowded, poorly managed dot on the map. Slow it down, do it right and we'll stay the best county in the state.

Immigration is a huge problem, a much larger problem than little old me sitting in front of my computer can begin to solve.

I think a double fence along the Mexican border is a good start. We make it safer for our immigration enforcement. We make it more difficult for drugs to get across the border. We may even stop a terrorist or two from doing some dastardly deed. If you've ever traveled to some of the border towns it's pretty nasty. It's been many, many years since I was down in that neck of the woods, but my friends tell tales that will keep me from ever going back.

I'm posting a YouTube video of Duncan Hunter talking with Glenn Beck on CNN about funding for the fence. What is it with our elected officials, Republican and Democrat, that keeps them from wanting to tighten up security along the border? Why are they walking the fence on this issue?