The 10 Republican candidates for president were asked a number of more substantive questions on issues relating to morality during Thursday night’s debate than Democrats had to face a week ago. Their answers were pointed, moderator Chris Matthews was snappy and, overall, I thought the debate was more interesting than the Democrats’ recent contest.
However, one stark contrast was the fact that those who took part were all men – 10 Anglo men. Democrats have a woman, a Black man, a Hispanic man and, in the words of Jon Stewart, a leprechaun (Dennis Kucinich). The difference was quite pronounced when we got to see all the Democrats together and then all the Republicans together.
There was some division on the issue of federal funding for stem-cell research. The only candidate who didn’t say he favors overturning Roe v. Wade was Rudy Giuliani. The role of religion in public life was discussed by Mitt Romney and others. There were some frank assessments of the
Giuliani and McCain are clearly trying to distinguish themselves as moderates and bridge-builders. Romney was certainly the brightest of the candidates who fit the image of the stereotypical religiously right GOP candidate.
All the frontrunners declared themselves winners after the debate. But I heard some interesting comments about the field. A couple of Republicans remarked to me that they don’t believe any of their candidates has a chance against any of the current frontrunners in the Democratic primary. I’m not sure that’s true, but it’s interesting to hear it from Republicans.
Many reviewers said no one shone at Thursday’s debate, but none made any major mistakes, either. They all did fine.
You can watch the entire debate by clicking here and vote for who did best by clicking here.
You can watch Matthews’ analysis here and read another article on the debate from MSNBC here.
You should also check out coverage from The Politico, which cosponsored the debate along with MSNBC. Its staff did a great job.