Monday, October 24, 2011

The recent Republican debates hosted by CNN appeared to be a setup to create a poor view of the candidates, and I am disappointed that the GOP fell into the trap.

The format run by Anderson Cooper encouraged the very sort of sniping and attacks that ensued. It turned what could have been a constructive presentation of the candidates’ positions into a circular firing squad in which most ended up looking like a bunch of schoolkids in a classroom brawl. The only adults on the stage, in my opinion, were Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. The rest fell into the trap laid by Mr. Cooper, who incited behavior unbecoming of presidential candidates.

My advice is to avoid CNN and the other networks that are openly and knowingly hostile to the GOP - and certainly to avoid the type of format that leads to such destructive and personal defamation of character. Mr. Gingrich correctly admonished the other candidates and the moderator for turning the debate into a free-for-all. The GOP leadership must correct this strategy in the subsequent debates or risk handing the 2012 general election to President Obama.

The future focus must be on the issues, the candidates’ positions on the issues, specific solutions to specific problems, and the reasons the current administration must be replaced, which are legion. Otherwise, I predict America will face another four years of profligate spending, an economy that will continue to decline and an administration bent on the destruction of capitalism and the institutionalization of redistributive socialism. The handwriting is on the wall for the GOP candidates. It’s time they paid attention to it.

ROB WEINHOLD

Dale City, Va.

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