GOP Prez Debate Evokes Bevvy of Far-Right Themes: States' Rights, Rapist Babies, Gold Standard and More


At the Republican presidential debate last night in Ames, Iowa, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, soon to announce his candidacy for the nation's top spot, had a very good night. Never mind that he was nowhere near Ames; the weakness of his competitors was on full display as Perry's impending candidacy toyed with their brains. The debate was sponsored by Fox News, the Washington Examiner and the Iowa Republican Party.

If there was any doubt that the Republican Party is now firmly in the hands of far-right ideologues, last night's broadcast surely dispelled that notion. In fact, many of the themes sounded throughout the evening appeared to come right out of the platform of the Constitution Party, the hard-core, theocratic party founded by Christian Reconstructionist Howard Phillips. Candidates either cited or were asked questions regarding the right of fetuses conceived in rape to be born, a return to the gold standard as the basis for U.S. currency, and the proposed abolition of the Federal Reserve. Rounding out the Reconstructionist agenda was a question to Bachmann about her adherence to the doctrine of "wifely submission," advocated by a number of right-wing Christian sects, which she dodged by saying that the term simply meant mutual respect between husband and wife.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minn., who did quite well in the first debate sponsored by CNN in June, came off as petty and nasty in her exchange with former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney seemed to shape his answers around the news of Perry's entry into the race, even invoking the 10th amendment, a favorite of states' rights champions, in a discussion of health-care reform. (Perry famously suggested that Texas might secede under 10th amendment provisions because of government spending at the federal level.)

Asked to address his campaign-trail criticisms of Bachmann, Pawlenty walked back from his intimation that her migraine headaches impaired her ability to serve as commander-in-chief, but held to his assertion that her record of accomplishment in Congress was nil.

Bachmann defended herself fiercely, saying that she led the fight against health-care reform and raising the debt ceiling. "I introduced the Lightbulb Freedom of Choice Act," she added.

Then she went after Pawlenty, saying that he had introduced cap-and-trade -- the carbon-trading scheme that is part of the Obama energy reform plan and anathama to the Koch crowd -- in Minnesota, and supported mandated health-coverage in the state.

Pawlenty noted that Bachmann had not prevailed in any of the fights for which she claimed leadership. He then turned to her, saying, "If that's your view of effective leadership with results, please stop, because you're killin' us."

The Pawlenty-Bachmann exchange has pundits today coining the phrase "Minnesota mean" to offset the term "Minnesota nice" used by moderator Bret Baier when he set the two up to go after each other.

Pawlenty also took a shot at Romney, slyly citing the latter's wealth in a smart-aleck answer to an opening question, in which he offered to come to the home of anyone who could find a specific Obama plan for a list of issues -- the war in Afghanistan and the financial crisis among them -- and cook them dinner or mow their lawn. "But in case Mitt wins, I'd limit it to one acre," he said.

Newt Gingrich looked ornery and defensive, accusing Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and debate moderator Bret Baier of lobbing "gotcha questions" when they dared to ask him about the walk-out of his campaign staff, the $1 million debt his campaign has incurred, and his "evolving" stance on U.S. participation in the NATO intervention in Libya.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, Penn., seemed fixated on the term "polygamy," which he uttered as often as possible, presumably as a way to undercut frontrunner Mitt Romney, whose Mormon forbears once sanctioned the practice. As his vehicle for lobbing the term, Santorum argued against some of his fellow candidates' interpretation of states' rights, saying [video] that some things, such as same-sex marriage, must not be left to the states to determine. "This is the 10th amendment run amok," he said. "So if the states want to pass polygamy, that's fine. If the states want to pass sterilization, that's fine. No, our country is based on moral laws, ladies and gentlemen. There are things the states can't do."

Take that, Rick Perry, you Tenther you.


via alternet!