DISQUS

It looks Obvious: Trapped in a corner

  • Sean · 2 years ago
    I just listened to a radio interview where Ron Paul went in depth into his health care positions. The problems with this "debate" format is that all candidates are not allowed to respond to the same question. The moderator picks the question that each candidate can respond to. When some candidates get 14 question and others 6. The one that gets 6 will seem to have a limited agenda.
  • Rogel · 2 years ago
    You are making a good point, Sean. However I think that Dr. Paul could have done better with the little room the moderator gave him. When asked about global warming the answer should not have been about the war in Iraq. I also noticed that other candidates knew to ignore the question asked and push their agenda - when done correctly it can be very effective.
    Participating in debates that are air on national debate is not a common opportunity, and I fear that we are wasting the little that we get.
  • Sean · 2 years ago
    I know what you are saying. I think Dr. Paul is just too decent a person to go off topic a lot like some of the other candidates. When asked to respond yes/no he will give a quick answer usually yes/no.  The top "tier" will take the opportunity to ramble on. They know that hogging time will seem presidential to some people even if what they say doesn't make any sense. or answer any of the questions.
  • sadcox · 2 years ago
    It seems like Dr. Paul went into this debate with a definite strategy to hammer home his position on the war and foreign policy.  The only problem is that this strategy was probably based on the assumption that he was going to be attacked for his stance (by Guiliani or others) as he was in the second debate and he would be able to create a highlight reel and get some mileage from it.If that was the strategy, it had one flaw--it dependended on the other candidates to go after him.  Unfortunately they didn't do that.  Whether it was because they realized they had nothing to gain by engaging a second tier candidate or because they were afraid of the public spanking they would get we'll never know, but it's pretty easy to draw the conclusion that the latter would be very damaging.And isn't it odd that they would ask an ordained misister about moral questions but fail to ask a physician about healthcare?Interesting.
  • Rogel · 2 years ago
    The question remains, will he be able to get out of the position of one issue candidate. I'm not so optimistic.
  • sadcox · 2 years ago
    I think he can, and I think he will.  I think he was trying to bait the other candidates into that discussion because he's so much stronger on foreign policy than they are--stick to your strengths. None of them fell for it.