Dear Commons Community,
Last night Fox News hosted another debate among the Republican presidential hopefuls. I was only able to catch the tail end because I had a late class. However, after reviewing videos on youtube and reading several news accounts, it appears to have been a worthwhile watch for those interested in presidential primaries. Rick Perry and Mitt Romney went at each other again with the Huffington Post declaring Romney the winner in their exchanges. Michelle Bachman was asked to explain her comments after the last debate about the adverse effects from the human papilloma virus vaccine. By issuing an executive order, she again claimed that Perry was catering to Merck, the pharmaceutical company that provided the vaccine and was a donor to his past campaigns. Rick Santorum scored points by attacking Perry for supporting in-state tuition rates for children of illegal immigrants. Perry made an awkward remark when asked about a potential vice presidential candidate and responded that he would take former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain and “mate him up” with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga).
One disturbing moment was when Fox News played a video of a gay soldier serving in Iraq asking what as president did the candidates intend to do as a matter of policy for gays and lesbians serving in the military. A number of people in the audience starting booing this soldier. (see video below)
The Huffington Post has a good summary of the debate.
Tony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8pcJ6Hh4Y0