The Republican Debate

I thought the debate was half decent in spite of itself. The questions were by and large chosen based on CNN's stereotypical view of what Republicans are. And of course, at least four of the 'ordinary citizens' were nothing of the kind, but were actually affilliated with or supporters of Democratic campaigns. Makes you wonder how many of the others were plants by the DNC or CNN.

I liked Thompson and Duncan Hunter, find too much to disagree with when it comes to McCain and Giuliani, and don't really trust Romney, though all of the above have their good points. Ron Paul is clueless on several important issues, and Huckabee comes across as a bit too slick. Sort of like Bill Clinton in a more subtle way. The debate last night, for all it's shortcomings, did a good job of drawing out and contrasting the candidates, so it served a purpose.

If it wouldn't validate the Democrats smears, I'd say the Republicans should do to CNN what the Democrats have done to Fox, and boycott the network. But I'd hate to give any backhanded credibility to the Democrats attempts to paint Fox News as a political rather than a news network. And in any case, CNN's smear attempts are pretty transparent this time around. Maybe it's best to let the network keep digging itself into a hole.