Yahoo! News is asking GOP voters in Iowa and New Hampshire for their impressions from the Republican debates. Here is a perspective from a voter.
COMMENTARY | Tuesday's GOP debate at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington featured more theatrics and sharp debates from the Republican field. Questions centered on national security, rather than all topics of concern for the U.S., forced candidates to give deeper answers, providing maybe the best debate of the 2012 Republican race. Here are three moments that stood out.
1. Green Cards for Immigrants
The candidates split around the board on this issue. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney proposed citizenship for immigrants, both legal and illegal, to attract and keep them in the United States. Neither candidate opposed keeping those with advanced degrees to increase American economy. However, Romney said that, "amnesty is a magnet," and that providing it only worsened illegal immigration.
Rick Santorum wanted regulatory reform to create trickle down, encouraging legal immigration to the United States. Other answers ranged from ignoring the issue and focusing on bigger problems, such as prescription drugs (Ron Paul) to placing U.S. military on the borders (Rick Perry).
While all the candidates appeared to have clear ideas on what needed to be done, none appeared to have actual plans on how to implement.
2. Herman Cain's 'Targeted Identification'
Herman Cain said he agreed with profiling, or Targeted Identification (TI), and that those of Muslim faith, who are young males, are often the ones carrying out terrorist attacks. Prior to this, Gingrich and Paul traded opinions on the Patriot Act: Gingrich seeing a difference between criminal law and war law, while Paul said monitoring Americans violated constitutional rights. Michele Bachmann said war criminals and those suspected of terrorism should not receive Miranda warnings.
It would be interesting to see Cain's opinion on TI regarding drugs and violence, money laundering, embezzlement, and other crimes that see higher percentages from specific groups in the U.S., such as African Americans, whites, and Hispanics. If TI applied to terrorism, would it apply across all forms of crime on the U.S., or just those regarding war?
There was no further elaboration.
3. The Budget
Jon Huntsman said that when it comes to discussing the budget, everything should be on the block, including defense spending. Nothing should be left out or seen as untouchable when dealing with the current deficit.
Candidates also argued over the installment, both current and potential, of American troops in foreign countries, citing $2 billion per week in Pakistan, over $100 billion per year. While the candidates disagreed on the number of troops and the benefits, none mentioned the idea of cutting troops to trim the budget. It might have been the only stark between-the-lines hypocrisy/contradiction of the entire debate.
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