Thursday night, in the midst of my families one week vacation, we sat down in my grandparents' living room to watch FOX's GOP debate. As a budding journalist, and real adult of society, I find myself becoming more and more interested in the comings and goings of our government. I actually got made fun of during this two-hour long debate as I live tweeted each conversation – my way of note taking – but that is besides the point. My thoughts during this debate were random, as they usually are, and a mixture of love and hate for all of the political crap that the candidates managed to gloss over.
First of all, they need to get rid of the buzzer announcing that the candidates hit the minute mark. Every single time that damn buzzer went off, our dogs freaked out, barking and running to the front door ready to greet our new addition. Let me just remind you: the buzzer went off at least every four minutes.
Second: Donald Trump is hilarious. That debate, every answer Trump gave was the definition of IDGAF. Donald Trump may not be the best candidate for the republican party, but you have to respect the man. He has done so well within the business world, despite multiple downfalls, and he just decided to run. Also, with all of the lying and manipulating within politics these days (I speak as if I've been around since 1762), you have to admire Trump for just telling it like it is.
And what about that blow up between Chris Christie and Rand Paul? Paul, its not like the government is just going to screen through every single person's phone records month by month. "I want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from innocent Americans," Rand Paul said in defense of the Fourth Amendment. And just how are you going to filter out terrorists... exactly? And then Christie: "When you're sitting in a subcommittee blowing hot air about that you can say things like that." SHOTS FIRED! I haven't witnessed such a heated moment since my senior year of high school. Damn.
Jeb Bush addressed the fact that both his father and brother held office, stating, "I'm going to have to earn this. Maybe my bar is a little higher." And let's not forget Dr. Ben Carson. I hate to say it, but going in, Carson was definitely the underdog even if he is the smartest of the bunch. It was obvious that the other candidates had been at a podium like this before and Carson stuck out. However, with his closing statement, Dr. Carson stole the show:
Let's not forget, also, that even when it's not about Hillary Clinton, it's about Hillary Clinton. I wish I would have kept count of how many times she was mentioned during this debate. Instead of speaking on what they were planning on doing, the candidates compared themselves to the democratic candidate and her plans. I'm sorry, but I am here to hear about you, not Hillary Clinton. I know enough about Hillary, I don't need your snide comments to help me know her. "If this election is a resume competition then Hillary Clinton will win this election," Rubio stated at the start of the debate. Later on, Walker brought up Clinton again: "You know, people like Hillary Clinton think you grow the economy by growing Washington." Like I said, even when it's not about Hillary Clinton, it's about Hillary Clinton.
After two hours of question, answer and counter answer, I honestly don't know that I know much of anything about any of these candidates. Well, except for the fact that Carson is a genius, Rubio seems like a great candidate, Trump is hilarious, and Bush's family history might be wreaking his campaign before it can even begin. There is no telling what is going to happen now. After the debate, experts thought that Trump would plummet in the polls; instead he has continued to rise.
It's going to be a great year, keeping up with all of the action surrounding the 2016 election, and honestly I am looking forward to it. I have come to realize that Washington is just one big, world-influencing high school. Complete with drama, backstabbing and a lot of homework.
