Oh look, an attack article from the Washington Post!

To start off with, I want to point out that I'm ambivalent about the nature of Governor Rick Perry's (R-Tx) Gardasil/HPA vaccination executive order. I understand his concerns and his heart is in the right place. But he should have been more circumspect about the need for a executive order on the issue. Still, he did it as a Governor- and it fits with his "state's rights" agenda.

Anyways, on to the main story. The Washington Post followed up on Michelle Bachmann's attacks to Perry from last night's GOP debate with this article: Perry Has Deep Financial Ties to Makers of HPV Vaccine.

Okay, that sounds like damning stuff, doesn't it?

I don't think so, when you read the contents of the article. Let's go to the tape!

Debate updates

Some more post-debate thoughts:

Michelle Bachmann needs to tone down her sensationalism. She could have scored points against Perry on his cervical cancer vaccination executive order, but it felt more like she was trying to use that one wedge issue to take down his entire platform. Sorry Michelle, but most of America agrees with his (states rights!) actions on this. And her "You were bought out by Merck for $5,000" line was just over the top, and unnecessary. And constantly ranting that health care is "unconstitutional" just doesn't work. She needs to win on substance, not slogans.

Santorum did a better job on the vaccination front, but it won't help much, because no one really cares about Santorum.

I also think, since I've actually studied and taught immigration in America, I know that a good deal of the GOP contenders just aren't answering the immigration question right. The system for legal immigration is ridiculously complex, and needlessly so. That's one of the big barriers to immigration today. Most immigrants want to come to the states and become citizens. Make it easier for them to do so.

Ignoring the fact that 11 million illegal immigrants (if not more) are currently in the US doesn't make it any easier. Romney's plan sounds alot like stormtroopers going house to house and kicking them out of the US. That's what the Gestapo did. Now, if he wanted the police to have the authority to kick out those they captured committing crimes from the US- I'm all for that. But that leaves Perry with the best chance at winning moderate Republicans and Independents on this issue, once the dust settles from the pile-on with his immigration views from the other candidates.

Huntsman just feels like John Edwards did back in 2003-2004. He's a slick, slimy bastard with a goofy grin. And Ron Paul is the same idiot out there; why the libertarians don't go with Gary Johnson, I don't know.

**Update : Reader JohnK pointed out that it should read "11 million illegal immigrants" instead of "11 million immigrants." That's been updated in the text.

9/12 GOP/Tea Party Debate

The September 12th GOP debate was a pretty good one, and a few things are pretty clear from the debate.

First, I want to say that the debate was much better from a moderator perspective; CNN isn't my favorite cup of tea, but it's a far better one than the crapfest that was MSNBC's debate last week. Wolf Blitzer kept the stupid questions to a minimum, and actually seemed to focus more on reaching out to the Republican/Tea Party base. He spent alot of time on getting the candidates to have a dialogue about their different viewpoints as their state's representatives in Congress or as Governor. That's a valid moderator tactic, rather than MSNBC's "My god, why do Texas and Massachusetts suck?" cheap shots. So, kudos, CNN. Good job, overall.

Anyways, on to the candidates:

GOP Debate Postmortem

I saw a bit of the GOP debate at the Reagan Center on MSNBC earlier (and I'm going over transcripts of it). There are a few snap comments I can make on it:

1. Rick Perry is both aggressive and new to the debate rounds. He often came off as assertive and in command, but when he didn't, it showed. He was, to some extent, right about Social Security being a "Ponzi Scheme", but substantially, he didn't really explain why, and how he'd remedy it. He also flubbed a very easy question about Climate Change, falling too easily on his Texas record than he should have.

2. Mitt Romney came across as in command. He was rarely on the defensive, even when there were attacks on his record as Governor of Massachusetts. He also got some of the best lines in there about the GOP field being united in their dislike of Obama. Good stuff, but he didn't get the knockout blow he wants against Perry.

3. Newt Gingrich had the best line(s) of the night, when he attacked the MSNBC moderators for their conduction of the debate. He effectively showed how they were trying to get the GOP candidates to fight each other, and that their questions and moderation was essentially one giant "Hey everybody! The GOP is nuts! Trust us!" MSNBC totally beclowned themselves here, with alot of obvious liberal "red meat" questions   that were disingenuous at best, and hostile at worst.

More after the jump:.