Presidential race 2016

[HairOfTheDog]

I did the debates "old school" . . . deliberately listening (instead of watching) via AM radio.

I watched some of the debate and listened to some of it. I thought it was well done, overall.

Without seeing the candidates and their public personas, I believe that Carson is the candidate with principled character.

I got the same impression. He appears to mean what he says and to be running because he genuinely cares. I find him very intelligent and non-abrasive.

But, I don't think anyone's first governmental job should be President of the United States. And, Carson has shown ignorance (which he doesn't deny) about basic foreign policy issues and global relations, which I believe is an area of particular importance for our country at this time. I therefore think he's unqualified and does not have a serious chance of winning the Republican nomination. I've written him off.

I believe Cruz is a dicsiplined conservative.

Maybe you're right and I'm off-base. I think Cruz is a full-of-shit self-promoter who panders to the extreme religious right. I've written him off.

I believe Huckabee is the strongest debater in the truest sense of the word.

I too thought that he was very good. He's articulate, passionate, and an effective in making his point. Too bad his religious leanings had him publicly defending the Duggers and their incestuous pedo kid for months on end. I think that hurt his chances inside and outside his religious base. Still, I'm interested in some of his policy proposals and have not completely written him off yet.

I found Trump's response to the bankruptcy question spot on and poignant.

I thought it was a long way of simply saying, "everybody does it in big business". Poignant, no. True to a good degree, probably so.

I agreed with Carson's scenario on how to destroy a nation.

I liked his analogy about performing surgery on a patient; the skin color being irrelevant to what's inside.