Rachel Alexander - Republicans need someone who can command leadership like Ronald Reagan did for conservatives, with an extraordinary theme that draws people in like the "shining city on a hill" or standing up to the "evil empire." In the latest presidential debate, most of the Republican presidential candidates echoed Reagan and brought up his name, but it won't work the second time around. Reagan's rhetoric worked for that period in time in the 1980's, but it must be updated in order to work in the 21st century. The candidate who can successfully figure this out and win the primary will beat Hillary Clinton.

Prior to tonight's Republican presidential debate in Orlando, Fox News featured a focus group of Republicans with pollster Frank Luntz. Virtually all of the participants were undecided as to which candidate they would vote for, and the consensus was that someone needs to "step forward" who they can "rally around" who will provide "vision."


Republicans need someone who can command leadership like Ronald Reagan

Republicans need someone who can command leadership like Ronald Reagan did for conservatives, with an extraordinary theme that draws people in, like the "shining city on a hill" or standing up to the "evil empire." No Republican candidate has been able to figure that out yet, as was clear in tonight's debate. Many of the contenders echoed Reagan and brought up his name, but it won't work the second time around. Reagan's rhetoric worked for that period in time in the 1980's, but it must be updated in order to work in the 21st century. The candidate who can successfully figure this out and win the primary will beat Hillary Clinton.

Tonight's debate appeared scripted, as if the candidates had been provided the questions in advance; many read from their notes and quite a few of their answers were so cleverly done it wasn't believable they were done ad hoc. The candidates did a great job at dodging tough questions and responding with an affirmative attack instead of defensively answering. The only counterpoint to this was that the questions were excellent, and challenged the candidates on some of the most controversial aspects of their candidacies, from Thompson's former work for Planned Parenthood to Mitt Romney saying he ran for office in the past to the left of Ted Kennedy.

The most notable part of the debate occurred afterwards, when Fox News asked Florida's governor Charlie Crist if he was supporting Giuliani, and whether he was contemplating becoming Vice-President. Crist didn't exactly say no, dodging the question and saying he's focusing on being governor. Obviously, Crist would be a great candidate to balance out a Giuliani ticket, since he's from a big swing state that is crucial for a Republican win, and he's from the south.

The debate was full of surprising answers by the candidates. Some of the most memorable parts of the debate included Senator John McCain's dodge when asked whether he was a "conservative" Republican and whether he was reaching out toward conservative Republicans. Instead of answering yes or no, McCain responded that he "hasn't changed" and that it's about "reconciliation." He said he was a "reliable, consistent Republican," apparently the latest catchy phrase in the McCain camp. This is the same McCain who isn't sure whether he is Episcopalian or Baptist, and the same McCain who told the audience at Value Voters Summit earlier this month, "I have been pro-life my entire public career. I believe I am the only major candidate in either party who can make that claim." Problem is, McCain voted for federal funding of fetal stem cell research, and has championed so-called campaign finance reform, which pro-life groups adamantly oppose since it has hurt issue groups like them tremendously, restricting them from running campaign ads immediately prior to elections. McCain proved in this debate, once again, that he is no friend of the conservative right.

When Representative Ron Paul declared that 76% of the American people want the war over and to bring the troops home, the audience booed loudly. They also booed when he said we don't need another Cold War (but wouldn't a Cold War be better than a real war?). He blamed the "neocons" for the Iraq War, and said that the current conflict between Turkey and the Kurds in northern Iraq is Turkey's business, not ours. Somehow I doubt he'd say the same thing about former Stalinist Russia.

Rudy Giuliani didn't shy away from saying he'd increase defense spending, noting Gorbachev admitted that Reagan's continued increases in defense spending is what brought the Soviet Union down. "America can speak softly and carry a big stick." When asked, he said that a nuclear-armed Iran would be worse than an armed Iran. Mitt Romney also strongly agreed in beefing up the military, saying the world is still a dangerous place, and Clinton's peace dividend didn't work, it got us the dividend but not the peace.

Romney seemed to be the least interested in major reforms to the healthcare system, preferring to praise the centralized healthcare system he helped set up as Governor of Massachusetts, and saying he would not cut benefits to low-income Americans (SCHIP anyone? Is low-income defined as more than 200% of the federal poverty level and earning $80,000/yr?) Governor Mike Huckabee brought up a very important problem with the current healthcare system, which is that 80% of the cost goes to treating chronic diseases, which is lopsided, since we should be focusing more on prevention. He warned that as the baby boomers age, and all the old hippies find out about the free drugs, the cost of healthcare will really become expensive.

Representative Duncan Hunter, who is one of my favorite candidates, proved disappointing, calling for "mirror trade" with nations like China to require incoming tariffs that match tariffs they place on our goods we export there. Although this sounds good in theory, making our goods as competitive as theirs, it's not practicable, because they provide lower pay and fewer benefits to their workers, lowering their cost of labor. It would be better if we adopted a more realistic approach to free trade and acknowledged that some lower-skilled jobs are handled more efficiently outside of the U.S. in less educated countries. Hunter also disappointed by saying that Turkey should not cross the border into northern Iraq to rescue their hostages. This directly contradicted Giuliani's response, which was that although both the northern Iraqi Kurds are our friends and Turkey is our friend, Turkey has the right to defend themselves. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's genocide motion denouncing the Turks for genocide against the Armenians in World War I is nothing more than injecting partisan politics into national security. Tancredo added that Pelosi is pandering for votes and demonstrates complete ignorance of foreign policy implications. He said she's a bad speaker and an even worse Secretary of State.

As in previous debates, Ron Paul provided an honest perspective on certain issues, but was way off on others. When asked why he didn't support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, Paul responded that marriage should not be in the realm of the government but should be a private religious ceremony, a respectable position considering government tends to botch things up the more areas of life it tries to manage. Mitt Romney was the only one of the top four candidates who supported the ban. He pointed out that in his state of Massachusetts, the only state in the nation where gay marriage is legal, there are problems getting children adopted because parents don't want to place their child with gay couples. Giuliani took a middle approach, saying that he would only look at a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage if too many states started engaging in judicial activism and forcing gay marriage on everyone else. This was a bit surprising considering Giuliani's past record of supporting gay marriage.

Ron Paul went a little off the deep end when he accused the U.S. of "running a world empire" which is bankrupting the country. The problem with this statement is it's one thing to spend too much money on ineffective bureaucratic healthcare and education, welfare, social programs, and pork, but it's another thing to protect the country militarily.

Congressman Tom Tancredo emphasized his high ratings from conservative organizations. There was a bit of humor when Giuliani helped Tancredo turn a question regarding healthcare into an illegal immigration issue. Tancredo brought up the issue of the cost of healthcare for illegal immigrants ($1 billion per year in California) and the fact that hospitals are closing because they're not reimbursed for these costs.

Fred Thompson admitted his vote in favor of No Child Left Behind was a mistake. He said that having tests is a good idea, but they must be tests that mean something; the children can't all have high scores like the children in Lake Woebegone. He emphasized the role of charter schools, vouchers, and local control, and said that more fathers need to stick around and raise their children (if the child custody and child support system didn't punish them so cruelly, maybe they could).

Chris Wallace got Romney to admit he did not think Hillary Clinton would make a good Commander-in-Chief. Wallace noted that Romney has compared Hillary to Karl Marx. This shows Romney has guts. Romney noted that Hillary has never served in the private sector, hasn't even run a corner store market, and learning to be president as an intern doesn't qualify her.

Wallace next told Giuliani that his rivals accuse him of not being any different than Hillary. Giuliani responded by saying there are only two things he agrees with Hillary on. One, they're both Yankee fans - Giuliani having grown up in NY his entire life, Hillary having grown up in Chicago. Two, Hillary's recent statement about a future Hillary presidency, "I have a million ideas, but America can't afford them all." Giuliani was in full agreement, adding that America can't afford Hillary. Giuliani dismissed recent polls showing him 4 points behind Hillary (43% to 47%), by pointing out that current polls at this time in prior races indicated Kerry & Gore were winning. He thanked Florida for the ultimate results in those races, and promised, "We're not going to boycott Florida the way the Democrats did."

McCain attacked Hillary's spending, observing that she had tried to spend $1 million on a Woodstock Concert Museum. He said he wasn't there, he was tied up at the time. That subtle but powerful contrast got him a standing ovation from the crowd. Overall, McCain was excellent on military defense, saying when he looked at Russian President Vladimir Putin, he saw three letters in his eyes - K.G.B. McCain said we have missile defense systems in Poland and Czechoslovakia and he doesn't care what Putin thinks about them. Thompson sarcastically noted that the Democrat Party tries our military in the newspaper and when they win or are exonerated it's relegated to the back pages.

When confronted, Thompson stuck by his statements that Medicare, Medicaid, the prescription drug benefit, and Social Security are too expensive under Bush and are going bankrupt, noting that a GAO report and other reputable studies have indicated so. It was encouraging to hear another candidate in addition to Ron Paul acknowledge this. Thompson said you shouldn't run for president if you can't tell the truth. Huckabee noted that the Social Security tables were designed with a retirement age of 65 and death at 67, obviously no longer workable for today's longer life spans. McCain's solution sounded outdated and no longer workable, saying we need a bipartisan plan like the one Reagan and Tip O'Neill negotiated in 1983 to save Social Security.

Afterwards, the Republican focus group was mostly undecided as to which candidate won the debate. No one has emerged yet as the 21st century Ronald Reagan, there are yet only outdated copies.

This artcle was first published @ IntellectualConservative.com


Rachel Alexander ist praktizierende Anwältin für die Regierung in Phönix im U.S. Staat Arizona. Als ehemaliges Redaktionsmitglied und Kolumnistin des Arizona Daily Wildcat, gewann sie für ihre journalistischen Arbeiten drei Auszeichnungen und schreibt Kolumnen für IntellectualConservative.com