{"id":867,"date":"2011-06-15T07:56:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T11:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www3.law.harvard.edu\/journals\/hlpr\/?p=867"},"modified":"2015-10-02T15:52:50","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T15:52:50","slug":"top-10-features-of-the-gop-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/2011\/06\/15\/top-10-features-of-the-gop-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Features of the GOP Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

Jake Laperruque<\/em><\/p>\n

10.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Child Count Competition. \u00a0Rick Santorum opened this contest at the start of the debate by mentioning he had 7 children. \u00a0Michelle Bachmann bested him by announcing she had 5 children, plus 23 foster children. \u00a0Newt Gingrich forgot about his children, and just said that we need to end the \u201cObama depression.\u201d \u00a0Mitt Romney announced he had 5 sons, 5 daughters-in-law, and 16 grandkids. \u00a0Ron Paul declared that he\u2019d delivered 4,000 babies. \u00a0Tim Pawlenty said \u201cI\u2019m the father of two beautiful daughters, Anna and Mara,\u201d then, perhaps feeling comparatively inadequate with only two kids, immediately followed this statement with \u201cI\u2019m a neighbor!\u201d (Boldly separating him from his GOP rivals who live in an otherwise-uninhabited vortex). \u00a0Finally, Herman Cain finished off the tally by announcing he has two children, three grandchildren, and \u201cis not a politician.\u201d \u00a0 Bachmann must have realized that her 23 foster children gave her an edge, because she mentioned them during three separate questions of the debate.<\/p>\n

9.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John King\u2019s continuous grunting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

8.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bachmann disproving her own argument about gay marriage.\u00a0 Defending her position against giving same-sex couples the ability to marry, Bachmann argued, \u201cThe best possible way to raise children is to have a mother and father in their life.\u201d\u00a0 Then, a mere two sentences later, Bachmann declared, \u201cI was raised by a single mother.\u201d\u00a0 This makes sense until you actually think about it, at which point there only seem to be three possible explanations: 1) Bachmann completely changed her stance on gay marriage in a six-second period, 2) Bachmann is using herself as an example of the supposedly disastrous result of what she thinks will happen if you\u2019re not raised in a heteronormative home with a mother and father, or 3) when Michelle Bachmann makes a political argument, it\u2019s not so much an actual argument as series of baseless claims and unrelated statements that try to evoke emotion and sound pretty.<\/p>\n

7.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Romney\u2019s gag updating the audience on the hockey score midway through the debate. \u00a0Apparently an aide told him the score to the Stanley Cup finals game during a commercial break, but I like to think he was just surfing the web on his smartphone whenever Newt Gingrich decided to talk.<\/p>\n

Overall, it was casual, funny, and made him look like an average-joe hockey fan. \u00a0And as the former governor of Massachusetts, it made sense for him to invoke the Bruins; it wasn\u2019t just another pathetic instance of an out-of-state politician trying to score points by suddenly rooting for the local team (former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty\u2019s closing comments during the debate: \u201cThe Boston Bruins have more heart than the Vancouver Canucks!\u201d\u00a0. . . sigh<\/em>)<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Herman Cain only learning things he already knows. \u00a0At the start of the debate when everyone was introducing themselves and fighting over who had more children, Herman Cain declared, \u201cI\u2019m here tonight because it\u2019s not about us. It\u2019s about those grandkids.\u201d \u00a0After two hours of discussion, John King concluded the debate by asking the candidates what they had learned. \u00a0Herman Cain\u2019s response: \u201cIt\u2019s not about us. It\u2019s about the children and the grandchildren.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s kind of sad that the candidate who proudly declares, \u201cI\u2019m not a politician!\u201d might be the biggest empty suit in the room.<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obamneycare! \u00a0A few days before the debate T-Paw took a public jab at Romney\u00a0<\/strong>by using this phrase to merge Romney and Obama\u2019s health-care-reform initiatives. \u00a0However, when John King asked Pawlenty to follow-up on the statement, he dodged the question four separate times, nervously claiming, \u201cI just cited President Obama\u2019s own words\u201d as Romney looked on.\u00a0(In case you were wondering, Obama has never used the phrase \u201cObamneycare.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Commentators panned this exchange as the worst moment in the debate, and it\u2019s easy to see why. \u00a0\u201cObamneycare\u201d is not something you accidentally say in an interview. \u00a0It\u2019s something your campaign carefully creates and then unleashes as a planned attack. \u00a0It was supposed to be Pawlenty\u2019s \u201cBush\/Cheney Lite\u201d jab of 2012. \u00a0But once he got in the same room as Romney, he refused to stick with it. \u00a0If Tim Pawlenty doesn\u2019t have the spine to say something a little bit mean about a politician he\u2019s running against, is there any way he\u2019s got what it takes to run for \u2014 much less be \u2014 President of the United States?<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John King\u2019s stupid This-or-That game where he asked the candidates pointless questions so people could get to know them personally. \u00a0Maybe King wouldn\u2019t have needed to repeatedly grunt at candidates for speaking too long if he gave more time for substantive answers and spent less time asking them about their TV show preferences. \u00a0However, I have to admit, these sections were the one point in the debate where I truly wished Sarah Palin was participating:<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Palin \u2013 Coke or Pepsi?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cUmm . . . . All of them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCould you maybe name one specific -\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAll Of Them!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

3.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Repealing everything.\u00a0 This pretty much sums up the policy proposal of the Republican field.\u00a0 During this debate there were proposals to repeal Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, Comprehensive Health Care Reform, NASA, the Federal Reserve, and the EPA.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost surprising no one put forward a plan to solve our economic woes by simply repealing unemployment.\u00a0 The overemphasis on removing policy would be funny if it weren\u2019t matched by a complete absence of proposals to create new policy and actually address our nation\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michelle Bachmann announcing she is running for President during the middle of a Presidential debate.\u00a0 This undoubtedly was the most lackluster declaration of ones candidacy in the history of American politics.\u00a0 I\u2019ve\u00a0commented previously<\/a>\u00a0on how these GOP primary is blurring the lines between candidate, pseudo-candidate, and mere FOX News contributor, but Bachmann takes it to a whole new level.<\/p>\n

Declaring a candidacy is the ideal time to tell the people what you and your campaign are all about.\u00a0 When I managed campaigns the first thing I would ask my candidates is, \u201cTell me why you\u2019re running for office.\u201d\u00a0 A campaign should always start by answering that question.\u00a0 What does it say when your campaign begins like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m running for President of the United States!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGreat! Now let\u2019s hear a few words from Ron Paul.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Herman Cain\u2019s loyalty test.\u00a0 When King asked Cain to follow-up on a previous statement that he would not appoint a Muslim to his cabinet, the former CEO responded that he would allow a Muslim cabinet member, he just \u201cwould not be comfortable\u201d with one because \u201cyou have peaceful Muslims and then you have militant Muslims.\u201d\u00a0 Romney followed this by stating, \u201cI think we recognize that the people of all faiths are welcome in this country,\u201d before Gingrich jumped in to declare that terrorists will pretend to act like regular Americans and we just can\u2019t trust them, dammit!\u00a0 You have to sympathize with Romney as a member of another minority faith in America that faces discrimination.\u00a0 And his choice not to jump at the chance to score red-meat points for a bit of bigotry while everyone around him was doing it shows he\u2019s far more confident in his candidacy than any of his opponents.\u00a0 Wait . . . did the Republican field just make\u00a0Mitt Romney<\/em>\u00a0look reasonable?\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be a long primary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jake Laperruque 10. The Child Count Competition. \u00a0Rick Santorum opened this contest at the start of the debate by mentioning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peZQka-dZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}