I’ve read a fair amount about the policies - or the lack thereof - of the various Republican candidates, but I’ve read little about their personal characters. So educate me. And let’s keep this thread policy-free.
Newt Gingrich is a sleazeball of the highest order. Three marriages, two ending in infidelity. He then had the audacity to explain that he only cheated because of how much he loved his country, or some such shit.
Michelle Bachmann has had 23 foster children in her home, which surely counts as a positive. She also acts as a beard for a closeted gay man, so that’s nice of her (d&r).
The two Mormans, as you might expect, seem to be of exemplary personal character (depending on how much you attach their political stances vis-a-vis gay marriage and abortion to their personal moral fiber). Romney did have that thing about putting his dog on top of his car for a family trip (that was him, right?).
I don’t really know much personally about Rick Perry at this point, except that he has a reputation as a womanizer.
Paul and Cain I can’t really say much either way. Paul’s been married for over 50 years, so at least his wife thinks he’s a pretty swell guy.
Well, Bachmann is strongly fighting against government handouts and waste while missing no opportunity to lap at the trough herself (the family farm receives subsidies, her husband’s business, and a federally funded mortgage). Her rhetoric often targets the exact institution that’s benefiting her (e.g. Freddie Mac) And she lied about the subsidies.
So…hypocrite and liar?
Ron Paul wants to live in the old days, like Tombstone, Arizona. Very little government and almost no law. But if he did, he would bitch about the people having to pay for the sheriff.
Bachmann has had a lifetime of being raised deep in the bowels of the church. It is everything to her. It better be to you too if she gets elected. She will shove her religion down your throat over and over. Oh yes, she also lies like crazy due to ambition larger than her ability.
Romney is a chameleon. He tries to blend into the background of whatever audience he is talking to. You will never figure out who he really is, other than ambitious and rich. Rich wasn’t enough for him. He is knocking down a 12 million plus home because it just wasn’t big enough for him. Must be tough living in a little shack like that.
Perry is a composite of all the bad political ideas in one dumb cowboy. He reuses Bush’s slogans like they are pearls of wisdom. He calls Social Security a Ponzi Scheme. He thinks global warming is not true and seems to think Galileo got outvoted by the church elders. He is a major stumblebum who is tea bagging his way up the right wing ladder.
He is proud of his executions in Texas, claiming that they are so good at it, that they never execute an innocent man . That is also what Bush said. That is incorrect.
Perry is also using his claim that Texas created a bunch of jobs as a major reason why he should be elected President. What Perry doesn’t talk about is that the number of private-sector jobs in Texas declined. The jobs were created by expanding the state government and hiring a bunch of new government employees.
Since there’s no mention of Huckabee, I take it it’s sure that he isnt running?
Too bad, I despise his politics but I find the guy interesting.
Perry truly is a moron. Everyone knows an investor can voluntarily enter into (and opt out of) a Ponzi scheme whereas FICA contributions are mandatory.
Rick Perry? This diagram will let you know about his character. In fact much of Rick Sargent’s work has to do with Our Guv. The whole Texas Observer site is full of Perry goodness.
But these guys are all Texas Liberal Democrats! Can they be trusted? Get the words from Himself–via the Rick Perry Stupid Saying Generator.
OK, let’s see a cite of the innocent person who was executed in Texas during the governorship either of Perry, or Bush. A real cite, of a factually innocent person, who was really executed, in Texas.
A real cite.
Regards,
Shodan
Really? From what I’ve heard, he likes hanging with the boys, if you know what I mean.
Herman Cain occasionally talks a good game and gets some zingers in but has, by his own admission, serious deficits in his knowledge of the art of making public policy. He strikes me as a less annoying version of Ross Perot - his campaign is a vanity project as much as anything. I think he means well but is out of his depth.
I know very little about Jon Huntsman’s character as he tends to get buried by the great piles of crazy being thrown out by some of the other more high profile contenders. I’ve not heard anything bad about him though, apart from broad concerns about his religion.
Hypocrites, except for Ron Paul.
Cite : Every other thing they say.
Why? There are people released from death row all over the country that were put there incorrectly. It happens over and over. Illinois, with Ryan, was so offended that they had likely put innocent people to death, that they halted executions. Every state they allows evidence to be reviewed winds up taking people off death row. States that actually question executions find plenty.
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row Here are some.
Do you think Texas is some kind of special place that somehow always gets it right, even though they execute a lot more than any other state?
By the way, there are 2 well known cases that Texans do not want to talk about. They also have executed retarded people.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann This one is just the latest. The evidence was cooked up to get someone. But the screwed up police work offed an innocent man.
Innocent, but Executed | HuffPost Latest News And yet another.
Hm. You may be right. I guess I was thinking of the “Have you slept with Rick Perry?” ad and assumed it was targeting women that may have had dalliances.
I have also heard that he was perhaps light in the cowboy boots, but one does not necessarily preclude the other.
Whether or not Texas has executed an innocent man, Perry’s cavalier attitude with respect to a power of such magnitude is, IMO at least, off-putting. And soaking up cheers about killing someone, even if they “needed killing”, is un-Christian in the extreme.
As to the Bachmann foster children “issue”, I don’t really care if they were in her house for less than 24 hours or 18 years. Taking a child into your home in a time of need is a wonderful gift, and in my book she should be praised for it even if her other politics are offensive.
Certainly taking foster children into one’s home is a wonderful thing. It is not, however, necessarily a relevant credential for becoming president, IMHO. Neither is exaggerating one’s own wonderful acts, wonderful though they may be. IMHO YMMV.