Republican Debates

First, I would like to apologize for taking a month between posts. Now that being said. He is something new:

For those of you that do not know yet, I am an independent voter. I vote for whomever I feel is the best candidate for the job. In my lifetime, I have voted Democrat, Republican, Green, Independent, and Reform. In fact, I have on many occasions voted for myself because I didn't feel any of the candidates were good enough.

That being said, last evening I watched the CNN/YouTube Republican debates. I feel it is my duty as a citizen of America to know something about every candidate. Unfortunately, I have felt lately that the front-runners of the two major political parties have been doing more mudslinging than informing. Which, in my opinion, is sad. It disenfranchises voters. But I digress.

Last night, Mike Hukabee was asked a question regarding the death penalty. "What Would Jesus Do?" I was worried. Mike Hukabee answered with one of the most honest and best answers of the night. "Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office."

I was elated with the answer. It has been my belief that we put too much emphasis on religion and not enough on realistic policy. George Bush is supposedly a Christian. However, he has denied providing health-care to more children and to the poor. That would be an "un-Christian" action. He has led the United States into a war and will not admit that it isn't going well. (Note, I am not asking for him to admit he is a failure or that the war is a failure, just that it isn't going the best) So he has helped authorize the killing of many innocent women, children, and men. Again, not very Christian. To me, a "Christian" candidate should be running on a social services platform. Ending poverty, help people to live a life in this country not live paycheck to paycheck. Feeding the hungry. Taking care of the environment. Making sure every person has an opportunity to get a quality education. And the list goes on.

In the debates, Giuliani, Romney, and McCain sat and traded shots. Mike Hukabee said some things that I agree with (and some I don't), Ron Paul understands the war needs to end, but he also has some waaayyy out there thinking. It was kind of a disappointment for me to watch.

Right now, I feel there is no strong candidate from either side. Frankly, we are moving in polar opposite directions now. The conservatives seem to be getting more conservative and the liberals more liberal. While I admit I am a liberal thinking, I believe that this country will not survive unless the president is a moderate. The leader needs to be in the middle to keep the extremes in check. Right now we have a conservative and therefore, conservative ideology is not being kept in check, but the liberal ideology is. It is about balance and if you have a moderate president (Republican or Democrat or third party) then the Congress has to think about what they are doing and they can quit trying to pass their agenda.