I was down the gym this morning and was flicking through the channels trying to find anything to watch that wasn't MTV, VH1 or any other celebrity obsessed nonsence when I stumbled upon the latest Republican Presidential debate on CNN. It was fascinating, not so much because of what they said, but as a concept. We don't have anything like this in England ( England - I'm so provincial ). Here the Party leaders won't even debate with each other. I do know various things about some of the candidates, and their politics isn't mine, but even so I think I can articulate a reaonably impartial view of what I witnessed. A sort of first impression.
I thought they were all pretty anonymous, even when they spoke, and no one in particular caught my eye or averted my gaze. The only one who seemed to have any charisma was Fred Thompson, an actor apparently, I thought I'd seen him before. However, he seemed strangely lethargic, disinterested even, as if he'd been railroaded into doing this. An interesting, if uncharismatic figure, was Ron Paul, someone I'd never heard of. He is obviously the rabble-rouser for he kept addressing the audience as if he was at a campaign rally. Someone posed the question that he should run as an independent. They showed one of his campaign adverts. I have to say it does have independent written all over it - the Paul Revolution! I feel like launching my own stop Mitt Romney campaign, he's just too slick and no one can possibly look that clean. He could be a resident of Stepford. Why does John McCain always look as if he's hiding something. His eye's keep flicking from side to side as if one of the other candidates is about to reveal a secret - like his age! He is too old, not necesarilly to old to do the job, but he looks to old to do the job. And I wouldn't trust Rudi Guiliani to return my records or not pocket the spoons. Anyway he's a backslider on too many important issues. I'm afraid, for better or worse, the hands down winner was Governor Huckabee, who seemed to express an honesty, freshness and vibrancy the others lacked. So my prediction is that this guy is going to come up the inside rail fast. I might go and put a bet on him while the odds are still good. In saying that my bet on John Edwards isn't looking too good, he can't break the Clinton/Obama stranglehold, but he is holding his own in Iowa. I'm still hoping Hilary will implode.
A bit of a dull thread I know but I just wanted to give an opinion. I didn't catch any of the polling results so if anyone wants to tell me how the various candidates fared I'd be interested to know. Also, the last few weeks I have forgotten how to spell and keep losing my thread - bizaare.
Porscha