Politics 2012: Christians vs. Lions

With two debates in one week, the Republican presidential field has essentially boiled down to a matchup between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and current Texas governor Rick Perry.  Oh, there's six others who are vying for the nomination, but they've been reduced to bit players.

In Tampa, Florida Monday night, the Elite Eight candidates gathered for a debate sponsored by the Tea Party and was televised by CNN.  Besides host Wolf Blitzer, the questions were being asked by Tea Party members either in the audience or at a remote location.  In practice, this sounds like the TV beer commercial in which a football coach's post-game news conference is dominated by dudes asking all the questions.

Governor Perry took most of the heat this night, trying to live down his comment at a previous debate in California that Social Security was a "Ponzi scheme".  This time, after a lively discussion with Romney, he flip-flopped by saying he now wants to reform it.  Romney, on the other hand, once again tried to distance himself from the health care program he helped create in Massachusetts by promising to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law once he gets into office.

(An aside:  Romney gained a supporter in former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who is now working on his campaign.  Remember how Pawlenty knocked Romney's health care plan as "Obamneycare", then wouldn't say that to his face during a debate?  Now we know why.  He didn't want to offend his future boss.)

Most of the debate was centered on candidates' rehashes of their positions, which we've all heard before along with plenty of Obama-bashing.  But there was one pivotal moment.  It came when Perry admitted  regretting his decision to mandate 12-year old girls in Texas getting shots to prevent cervical cancer without first clearing it with his Legislature.

That's when Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, whose standing in the Tea Party has been eclipsed by Perry, lit into the Governor for forcing government-funded vaccine on the girls and their families without an "opt-out" clause.  She also accused Perry of taking campaign contributions from drug manufacturer Merck in exchange for his executive order on the vaccine, which was later determined to be close to $30,000.  The following morning, Bachmann went on NBC's "Today" claiming the vaccine caused mental retardation, which medical authorities refuted.

What was Bachmann thinking?  Does she really want to give girls the choice between cervical cancer and mental retardation?  It makes the congresswoman sound cruel and heartless, as if she's against the prevention of cancer for political gain.  Whatever the case, her grandstanding did little to keep her floundering campaign afloat.

There was a similarity between the debates in Florida and California, and that is the tendency by the live audience to be a little bloodthirsty.  At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library appearance, they cheered when it was mentioned that Governor Perry has executed more than 200 prisoners during his term in office.  In Tampa, CNN's Blitzer asked Texas congressman Dr. Ron Paul a hypothetical question about a 30-year old man refusing health insurance, then getting deathly ill.  Paul responded by saying that life is about risks, and that government shouldn't be paying for that man's care.  The audience applauded. 

There you have it, the Republican Party in a nutshell.  As the Great Recession rears its ugly head again and the GOP is hellbent on making the situation worse, the people who want to replace President Obama have taken the concept of saying anything to get elected to a new and disturbing level.  It's time to bring on the Christians vs. the Lions (and we don't mean Detroit), live from the Roman Colosseum.