The Republican Debate: Who needs the Constitution?

from The Progressive:



The Republican Debate: Who needs the Constitution?
By Ruth Conniff, October 10, 2007



Man, I would not want to be a Republican this year. The invocations of Reagan sounded downright plaintive in last night's Dearborn, Michigan debate. "How about a little optimism?" was the refrain. Huckabee, Brownback, Romney and Giuliani all played their own
variations. But then they and the other candidates got back to the bad news: Iraq, the economy, climate change, oil dependence. Then more plaintive cries for optimism. Giuliani: "Get your head up!" Brownback: "We gotta be optimisitc!" and, to tepid applause, "This place rocks!"

The fact that it was Fred Thompson's debut debate did very little to lighten the mood. On Iraq: "We didn't go in with enough troops and didn't know what to expect when we got there." And on the current leadership of the country: "I think we have to tell the truth . . . I don't think the American people believe anything coming out of Washington these days."

Romney got off a brief, forced joke about Law and Order, but otherwise the faces were glum, the candidates dull and low energy.

Again and again they criticized Bush. Interestingly, the President they invoked most often was a Democrat--John F. Kennedy. And even more interestingly, it was the Apollo mission and the analogous push to free our country of oil dependence that the candidates kept referring to. Mike Huckabee took his line directly from the Apollo Alliance web site: "We have to become energy independent and commit to it within a decade." Score one for the labor and environmental movements that formed the Apollo Alliance and its catchy theme of a massive push for alternative fuel: They are feeding the Republican presidential candidates their best lines. Giuliani also linked energy independence to "putting a man on the moon." Of course, he had to show he's a tough guy and not just some wimpy solar-power fan by talking about nuclear energy. John McCain is the same way: acknowledges climate change, and the urgency of doing something about it, and lists nuclear power first among the alternatives to oil.

Debate's weirdest moment: When Mitt Romney said he'd have to ask his lawyer whether the President needs to ask Congress to authorize an attack on Iran. That's why we have Ron Paul. "This idea of going and talking to attorneys totally baffles me!" he declared hotly. "Why don't we just open up the Constitution and read it!" He went on to point out that going to war with Iran would be "the road to disaster for us as a nation." .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.progressive.org/mag_ruth101007

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