Saturday, November 05, 2011
Republican debate gets personal
From The Hindu
Even as the sweltering summer of Obama-bashing wore thin in the ongoing Republican nomination debates, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney slugged it out in the latest debate in Las Vegas this week and it descended into an ugly brawl.
The softer, Obama-targeting tone of the debate all but disappeared when the two frontrunners confronted each other on the core issue of illegal immigration. The exchange of barbs became personal at one point when Mr. Perry accused Mr. Romney of hiring illegal aliens to work in his yard.
In a sharp attack Mr. Perry said, “Mitt, you lose all of your standing from my perspective because you hired illegals in your home and you knew about it for a year.” He added that the idea of Mr. Romney standing here and claiming that he was strong on immigration is “the height of hypocrisy”.
Though Mr. Romney initially tried to remain calm about the accusation, he lost his cool after further remarks from his critic and said, “This has been a tough couple of debates for Rick, and I understand that, and so you're going to get testy.”
Apart from the two sparring Governors, another potential candidate who was forced onto the back foot was Herman Cain, former CEO of the Godfather Pizza Company. He was roundly slammed for his so-called 9-9-9 plan proposing nine per cent income, corporate and sales taxes as a means to circumvent the complexities of the tax code.
Starting with Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, who was followed by Mr. Perry and others, virtually every candidate decried Mr. Cain's plan as one that would ultimately result in higher taxes for ordinary Americans and businesses.
While previous rounds of debate at Iowa, Florida, New Hampshire and South Carolina had the net effect of putting Mr. Romney near the top of the polls Mr. Perry's ratings had recently flagged after what was described as a poor showing in several debates.
The latest round in Nevada however was a visceral attack on Mr. Romney by all the candidates, who possibly view his lead in the polls as dangerous to their individual prospects.
The caucuses and primaries, through which the Republican nominee will finally be selected, will kick off in either December 2011 or in early January 2012, and New Hampshire will likely be the first venue. The Presidential election is on November 6 2012.
Labels: Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, U.S. politics
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Republican field wide open
From The Hindu
Tea Party darling Michele Bachmann, the winner of Saturday's pre-caucus straw poll in Iowa, is a supporter of the Dominionism sect, “which says Christians should rule the world”. Another frontrunner that joined the race over the weekend, Texas Governor Rick Perry, immediately launched an attack on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, calling him “treasonous” for wanting to print more money during the recession. And establishment-favourite Mitt Romney, a multimillionaire and former head of private equity firm Bain Capital, earlier joked with unemployed people that he too was currently unemployed.
These are some of the credentials of the leading candidates in the still-wide-open field for the nomination of the Republican presidential candidate in 2012.
While the actual caucuses, through which the nomination would be finalised, are not set to occur until early next year, the pre-caucus straw polls such as the one in Iowa are designed to build momentum for the debate and whittle down the range of candidates in the contest.
While Ms. Bachmann, a Republican Party outsider who is considered further to the right than current front runner Mr. Romney, struggled to answer queries about her remark that she was “submissive to her husband,” she outshone former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who later announced that he would retire from the race.
A surprise result was second-place victory of party stalwart Ron Paul, a libertarian who has won approval of his party's mainstream for his “neo-isolationist foreign policy” yet has also been labelled a closet Democrat by some.
Others in the race, including Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather Pizza Company, and Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, failed to generate any buzz and face declining prospects as 2011 rolls on.
While the candidates engaged in a debate that was at times fiercely critical, all of them were united in their condemnation of President Barack Obama, attacking all his policies from healthcare reforms described as “Obamacare” to Mr. Obama's purportedly failed plans to create more jobs in the ailing U.S. economy.
The President meanwhile launched some of his own 2012 campaign activities this week, travelling to Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois on a three-day economic bus tour in the Midwest that aimed to discuss “ways to grow the economy, strengthen the middle class and accelerate hiring in communities and towns across the nation and hear directly from Americans including small business owners, local families, private sector leaders, rural organizations, and government officials.”
Tea Party darling Michele Bachmann, the winner of Saturday's pre-caucus straw poll in Iowa, is a supporter of the Dominionism sect, “which says Christians should rule the world”. Another frontrunner that joined the race over the weekend, Texas Governor Rick Perry, immediately launched an attack on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, calling him “treasonous” for wanting to print more money during the recession. And establishment-favourite Mitt Romney, a multimillionaire and former head of private equity firm Bain Capital, earlier joked with unemployed people that he too was currently unemployed.
These are some of the credentials of the leading candidates in the still-wide-open field for the nomination of the Republican presidential candidate in 2012.
While the actual caucuses, through which the nomination would be finalised, are not set to occur until early next year, the pre-caucus straw polls such as the one in Iowa are designed to build momentum for the debate and whittle down the range of candidates in the contest.
While Ms. Bachmann, a Republican Party outsider who is considered further to the right than current front runner Mr. Romney, struggled to answer queries about her remark that she was “submissive to her husband,” she outshone former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who later announced that he would retire from the race.
Surprise second place
A surprise result was second-place victory of party stalwart Ron Paul, a libertarian who has won approval of his party's mainstream for his “neo-isolationist foreign policy” yet has also been labelled a closet Democrat by some.
Others in the race, including Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather Pizza Company, and Rick Santorum, former Senator from Pennsylvania, failed to generate any buzz and face declining prospects as 2011 rolls on.
While the candidates engaged in a debate that was at times fiercely critical, all of them were united in their condemnation of President Barack Obama, attacking all his policies from healthcare reforms described as “Obamacare” to Mr. Obama's purportedly failed plans to create more jobs in the ailing U.S. economy.
The President meanwhile launched some of his own 2012 campaign activities this week, travelling to Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois on a three-day economic bus tour in the Midwest that aimed to discuss “ways to grow the economy, strengthen the middle class and accelerate hiring in communities and towns across the nation and hear directly from Americans including small business owners, local families, private sector leaders, rural organizations, and government officials.”
Labels: Barack Obama, Herman Caine, John Huntsman, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, U.S. politics
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