Debate Thoughts
First off - again thanks to Lyall and the Sutherland Institute folks for hosting us this morning. It was a lot of fun. Oh I know my non-political friends and family are all scratching their heads but it really was. I got the opportunity to chat with both Jason Chaffetz and Ben Spencer before and after the event (respectively) and they both struck me as being fine, gracious gentlemen. There were not a lot of fireworks - which I have to say coming from Minnesota struck me a bit....I am used to more "explosive" debates.
There were a couple of comments that I highlighted in my notes because I really felt that these were comments that needed a little more scrutiny.
First on energy there was agreement and disagreement. Both candidates said that energy was a hot issue and both agreed (to an extent) that more drilling and advancement of alternatives was necessary. Where the two appear to disagree is where Mr. Chaffetz said that we need to make the best use possible of ALL domestic resources - something that I have been saying all along.
During Mr. Spencer's opening remarks he made the comment that if we had a foreign policy that supported Hashemi Rafsanjani over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad then we would not be in Iraq. Is he really suggesting that we should have a foreign policy that routinely interferes in the elections of sovereign nations? I was also mildly taken aback to hear a serious candidate for national office refer to the duly elected President of a foreign country as "nuts". While arguments could be made for the mental stability of said president, it is not a good idea to express those sentiments in such an open forum.
There was only one time where a question really never got answered. When the question what would YOU do to foster transparency, Ben Spencer never said what HE personally would do. While I agree that the press needs to be made accountable to their customer, saying what the people need to do and what the press needs to do does not say what YOU will do...
All in all I was very glad to have attended this event. I look forward to a couple of more in the coming 56 days.
There were a couple of comments that I highlighted in my notes because I really felt that these were comments that needed a little more scrutiny.
First on energy there was agreement and disagreement. Both candidates said that energy was a hot issue and both agreed (to an extent) that more drilling and advancement of alternatives was necessary. Where the two appear to disagree is where Mr. Chaffetz said that we need to make the best use possible of ALL domestic resources - something that I have been saying all along.
During Mr. Spencer's opening remarks he made the comment that if we had a foreign policy that supported Hashemi Rafsanjani over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad then we would not be in Iraq. Is he really suggesting that we should have a foreign policy that routinely interferes in the elections of sovereign nations? I was also mildly taken aback to hear a serious candidate for national office refer to the duly elected President of a foreign country as "nuts". While arguments could be made for the mental stability of said president, it is not a good idea to express those sentiments in such an open forum.
There was only one time where a question really never got answered. When the question what would YOU do to foster transparency, Ben Spencer never said what HE personally would do. While I agree that the press needs to be made accountable to their customer, saying what the people need to do and what the press needs to do does not say what YOU will do...
All in all I was very glad to have attended this event. I look forward to a couple of more in the coming 56 days.
Labels: Bennion Spencer, Jason Chaffetz
posted by The Lady Logician at
6:53 PM
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