Carly Fiorina Wins CNN Debate

Last night I watched the complete Republican debate on CNN.  For five excruciating hours I sat riveted to the television, not because the debate was interesting or even stimulating but because I needed to see if anything had changed since the Fox News debacle in August.

There were definite changes but not all of them for the good.  In fairness to all fifteen candidates, I watched the early debate in its entirety as well as the prime time special.  The early debate didn’t render any surprises with one exception: Lindsey Graham made it perfectly clear why the Republicans are currently sitting on their hands in Congress and his explanation stinks.

Graham indicated as one of the party leaders, he understood how important it was to look good in the eyes of the American people by not going to any extreme measures in shutting down Planned Parenthood.  He basically indicated that the reason Republicans haven’t passed needed legislation is because Obama would veto anything they pass and they couldn’t override the veto so “why bother”.  Why bother?

I couldn’t believe my ears.  Why do we want to sit back and give Barack Obama a pass?  Shouldn’t legislation be passed in spite of Barack Obama, thus forcing him to veto it?   A veto of a bill to defund Planned Parenthood would send a clear message to the American people on where the Democratic Party stands on the issue.   When I heard Carly Fiorina describe in detail the baby that was aborted and still breathing and how Planned Parenthood discussed how to keep the heart beating long enough to “harvest the brain and other vital organs” it made me sick to my stomach.  It should make all Americans sick to their stomach.  How could they sit and watch an infant breathing with its legs flailing into the air and talk about harvesting it organs? My dear friends, this was a living, breathing human being and it was brutally murdered.  What has happened to the humanity of America?

The main debate in my opinion was better than the Fox News spectacle as the format allowed for more instantaneous dialogue and discussion.   The bad part of the format was that the moderator lost control of the bantering several times and candidates like Ben Carson who were soft spoken were not able to gain a foothold into the conversation. Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee and John Kasich also seemed to struggle to be heard last night.  Rand Paul and Jeb Bush continued to be harassed by Donald Trump. Chris Christie gave a superior performance compared to the previous debate.

So let’s take a moment to overview the top eleven prime time candidates.   We have five Governors; three Senators; and three outsiders.   It is actually a well rounded group of candidates and any one of them would be superior to Barack Obama.  So who did the best in the debate?  I believe Carly Fiorina definitely showed her stuff and proved she is a formidable candidate that deserves to be upfront in the race. She gave informed answers that were forthright and honest.  She was a breath of fresh air and in my opinion the definite winner.

Of course the polls again show Trump’s triumph but what other conclusion could be drawn when the entire debate centered on this egotistical man.  It was very sad that the majority of the questions to each candidate were to gauge their reaction to something Mr. Trump had criticized about them.  Unfortunately, the forum of last night’s debate didn’t allow for much interaction by Ben Carson because he hadn’t said anything about Trump or anyone else that the moderator could reference.  This was also the case of Rubio for the most part.

Let’s be honest about it. Do we as a nation really care about the political talking points?  I know that for me I care about how a candidate is going to turn around our economy, make our military stronger, and rid our government of all the bureaucratic incompetence that is currently choking our nation.  We are over taxed, drowning in regulation after regulation all because the Federal Government has become exactly what the founding fathers fought so hard to prevent.

Chris Christie was right on when he made a statement referencing the middle class. To paraphrase, it went something like, “The American people do not want to hear about all the business accomplishments of two entrepreneurs; the American middle class wants to know how they are going to support their family and gain a foothold in society without constantly “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.

It’s great that Donald Trump has awakened the nation to the severity of our economic climate, but what exactly is he going to do to fix it?  All I hear from Donald Trump is how great America will be once he is in charge.  How are you doing that Mr. Trump??  What is your exact plan of attacking the problems?  Who are your military advisors?  Do you even know what you’ll do the first day in office?

Jeb Bush may have been a great Governor but he had only one ace in the hole last night and that is when he stated that his brother, George W. Bush kept America safe.   He scored so heavily on that point with the audience because everyone knows that America is not safe under the current administration.

I believe of the entire political establishment candidates, Marco Rubio displayed the most knowledge and stability in which direction he would take the country.  Ted Cruz disappointed somewhat last night as he got stung on a question regarding the Supreme Court appointment of John Roberts.  In spite of it all, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have proven themselves to be men of substantial integrity and that puts them at the top of the ladder next to Ben Carson.

Under the leadership of Barack Obama America has apologized, fraternized with our enemies, disgruntled  our allies, and strolled down the middle of a road so muddy we can barely keep our footing.  We need to get off the road of clay and mire and find the solid ground that once made America great.

The Republican Party is losing it grip and trying to follow that same middle road, but it is slowly imploding.  Soon they must pick a side and stay the course in order to survive.

Can one of these candidates put America back on solid ground?  Not by themselves; not without the support of the American people.  We need to get our heads out of the sand and face the reality of what has happened to our nation, to our families, and to our faith.

Hebrews 3:8 God warns, “DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS,”  Remember when Israel hardened their hearts and spent 40 years on a journey that should have been completed in a few weeks or months.  They hardened their hearts against God’s commandments and we are doing the same thing in America.

When we can stand by and watch babies being murdered and sacrificed for body parts and not let it change our hearts, then folks we are in some serious trouble.  God will not be mocked and he will avenge the innocent.