I was fortunate enough to cover the Republican debate live at the Reagan National Library in Simi Valley as a reporter for KidScoop Media Sept. 16, and it was an amazing and eye-opening experience.
In the first debate, I believe that on substance alone, George Pataki did the best. He talked the least and when he did speak, he was logical. One example was when the candidates discussed the issue of Kim Davis. After Bobby Jindal declared that it was discrimination against conservative Christians, Pataki stated, “Imagine one minute…that was a Muslim who said I don’t believe in gay marriage, and refused to perform that wedding. We wouldn’t have had that outrage. There’s a place where religion supersedes the rule of law. It’s called Iran. It shouldn’t be the United States.”
This remark was extremely hard for the candidates in support of Kim Davis to respond to, and like all questions that are hard for politicians to answer, it was avoided. At first, Jindal was doing well, but later on in the debate, he became involved in multiple feuds about a number of different topics including immigration with Rick Santorum.
While both had good points, bickering with each other revealed flaws in both plans. Sen. Lindsey Graham did not do well; during most of the debate, he didn’t seem to connect with the audience and just kept repeating, “I will win a war [against ISIS] that we can’t afford to lose.”
In the second debate, I believe that Carly Fiorina did the best, at least on style, if not on substance. She was the most articulate among the candidates and she was effectively able to turn the tables on Donald Trump. Trump did well, but did not dominate the stage as he had done in the first debate on August 6. He was not able to make as much fun of people as he usually does because, for the first time, the other candidates were able to fire back at him.
When Trump, talking about Fiorina a week earlier, had said, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?” Jake Tapper, the moderator, asked Fiorina to respond to Trump’s statements and comment about what she thought of his persona.
She simply replied, “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.” There was total silence for a few seconds and Trump seemed caught off guard, not something that usually happens.
Jeb Bush, the early Republican favorite, threw a few jabs at Trump, but not enough to make a difference.
Overall, the second debate could be called “The Trump Debate” since most of the fire from both the moderator and the candidates was directed at him.
The debate lasted for over three hours. While there were many discussions that did not seem to benefit anyone at all, there were some substantive policy discussions, ranging from the Iran nuclear deal to raising the federal minimum wage to the war on drugs, immigration, and defunding Planned Parenthood. On many of these topics, the candidates had a wide range of opinions. The only thing the candidates agreed on was the easy target: defunding Planned Parenthood.
Fiorina spoke passionately against it, but on a factual basis, many of her statements were false. The candidates disagreed on how to accomplish it, however: many clearly favored a government shutdown, while the others, haunted by past failures shutting down the government, did not go so far.
After the debate was over, everyone was in a mad rush to try and get to the Spin Room where the candidates would appear and answer questions. I was able to see Ben Carson, although I wasn’t able to ask him any questions. I also caught a glimpse of Donald Trump, but I was soon swept up in the river of people following him, and in the process, was banged in the head about 20 times by elbows and cameras – but at least I got a picture of him (well, just his hair). Unfortunately, Bush, Fiorina, and Christie did not come to the Spin Room.
There were signs showing where candidates and members of their campaign were and seeing one for Mike Huckabee close to me, I went over to where he was being interviewed by Fox, and right when the filming was over, I jumped in and asked him who his hero was. He replied without hesitation, “Jesus; He never fails.”
I was able to ask three more questions of Huckabee and one of Scott Walker. I asked them both about Common Core and they both had the same answer: it was something that had started out with good intentions but had evolved into a failure; the money spent on it should go back to the states and education should be decided by the states. I was a bit puzzled that they thought it was a failure since Common Core was implemented at my school last year and I find it to be more challenging.
I also asked Huckabee whether he would be willing to choose a woman as his running mate. He replied that he would consider it if she had the necessary qualifications.
Finally, I asked him what his purpose for running is. He said, “Because I have five grandchildren and I don’t want them to walk through the charred remains of this country.” I liked Mike Huckabee, but I found it difficult to agree with many of his positions, such as that Kim Davis has a constitutional right to disregard the law and not perform the duties required by her job as a government official.
After all of the candidates had left the Spin Room, I met Chris Matthews, host of the show Hardball on MSNBC. He was very kind to me and even posed for a picture. I asked him what he thought of the debate. “Predictable,” he answered. Not for me.
Ask 2 Know Kids’ School Board Candidate Forum
Culver City’s most popular and only candidate forum where all the questions come from local kids and teens—the people who really know what school board candidates is planned for Oct. 14, 6:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theatrer of West Los Angeles College, Fine Arts Theater. Admission is free. Kids, submit your questions with your parents’ help to info@kidscoopmedia.org.
KSM KidScoop Media is a Culver City-based organization that connects kids with the people and events that shape our world. For more information please see www.kidscoopmedia.org.
