With only two weeks to go until the Iowa Caucuses, which will officially open the U.S. Presidential primary season, the Liberty Sphere will issue our final ratings on ALL of the candidates, both Republican and Democrat.
Periodically as the candidates have participated in debates around the country, The Liberty Sphere has rated the candidates on the views expressed during the those debates using our exclusive 'Liberty Scale.'
The Scale is based upon eight key issues that we deem to be key to human liberty: low taxes, secure borders (and enforcement of immigration laws), gun rights, abortion, national defense, U.S. foreign policy, the war on terror, and healthcare (specifically keeping our healthcare system private and the best in the world).
We then rate the candidates on a scale of 1 to 10 based upon these 8 key issues that impact liberty, with 10 being the highest score.
As you will note below, GOP candidates came out very well comparatively speaking on human liberty issues. The Democrats did not fare so well.
No Democrat, for example, except for Billy Richardson has definitively voiced support for gun rights. But Billy has mammoth problems in just about every other area. His policy statements call for big government solutions for every problem, the price tag of which will run into the billions of dollars. Thus, his views in essence mirror those of European-styled Socialists such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.
In addition, we have stated repeatedly that we do not feel that Richardson has the intellect or the ability to be President. The job is simply way over his head.
On the flip side, every single GOP candidate supports a strong defense, low taxes, private healthcare (although some would mandate insurance through private companies), and American capitalism. The rub comes in on the issues of gun rights, foreign policy, the war on terror, and illegal immigration.
All of the GOP candidates give assent to believing in gun rights, securing our borders, and a strong defense. The issue becomes who is most believable given their past record.
In addition, U.S. foreign policy and the War on Terror are key issues in a dangerous world in which the U.S. is in the unavoidable position of being the world's only superpower. Is this the time to retreat into a cocoon and usher in an era of isolationism when there are upwards of 80 million Jihadists around the world who want to kill us and the rest of the world?
Some of the readers of the Liberty Sphere clearly will not like our final analysis of the candidates. But we will be as honest and candid in our assessment and ratings as possible. But remember, this is merely 'as we see it.' Clearly there are other points of view, and we acknowledge those.
Thus, based upon a careful observation of the Republican and Democratic candidates, here is our final list of ratings as we stand on the brink of the primary season.
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES
FRED THOMPSON is our choice as the best candidate for the office of President. He is an entirely consistent conservative and federalist, an advocate for gun rights, low taxes, private healthcare, a strong defense, a pragmatic U.S. foreign policy, the War on Terror, the sanctity of human life, and secure borders with policies that discourage illegal aliens from entering the country. He gets a perfect score of 10.
DUNCAN HUNTER is our second choice, but he has failed to get the traction and recognition it takes to win primaries, which is a shame. On the issues he is as reliably conservative as Fred Thompson, but we do not feel that he is a viable candidate, unfortunately. He also gets a perfect score of 10.
MIKE HUCKABEE has been a major disappointment as his views have come into focus only recently. While the candidate is strong on gun rights, abortion, foreign policy, the war on terror, national defense, and healthcare, he is highly suspect on taxes and illegal aliens. Because the issues of taxes and immigration are so important, his score on the Liberty Scale has suffered. He gets no higher than a 7.
RON PAUL is a mixed bag. While we fully embrace his views on gun rights, taxes, abortion, healthcare, national defense, and immigration, we find his views on U.S. foreign policy and the war on terror to be highly troublesome. For this reason we give Dr. Paul a final rating of 7.
JOHN MCCAIN has come on strong since he got his wrists slapped on the immigration debacle. He has also acknowledged that McCain-Feingold had some unintended consequences that were troublesome and needed to be corrected. On the issues of guns, abortion, taxes, healthcare, national defense, the war on terror, and foreign policy, the candidate is fairly strong. The fact that McCain is a genuine war hero takes him a long way in our book. Thus, his final rating is 7.
MITT ROMNEY is problematic because of the inconsistencies. How do we know for sure where he stands? Yet the candidate is no Socialist and supports American free enterprise and our capitalistic system. He gets a rating of 6.
RUDY GIULIANI was clearly the right man at the right time for NYC when the Twin Towers were attacked. No doubt he is a strong leader who can stand strong for America's interests around the world. We also know he is not a Socialist and expressed privately his grave concern over Hillary Clinton's socialistic policies. We give him a final rating of 6.
TOM TANCREDO, we hear, will announce today that he is dropping out of the race. He has been a great voice for immigration reform and stopping the flow of illegal aliens into the country. We saw his debate performances improve dramatically over the months, and we hate to see him go.
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
Unfortunately no Democrat rates above a 4. Almost without fail, the stance of the Democratic candidates on the issues are the diametric opposite of all The Liberty Sphere finds to be imperative.
BILL RICHARDSON--4. His only redeeming quality is his stance on gun rights.
JOE BIDEN--4. A liberal, no doubt, but a pragmatic one. He knows plenty about foreign policy and would place America first in an international squabble. This is his only redeeming quality.
MIKE GRAVEL--3. I gave him a 10 for NOT showing up for one of the debates. Once again, he is a liberal, but a 1960s-styled liberal who has at least a little common sense.
CHRIS DODD--2. Socialist. He gets a 2 because he has more common sense and tons more experience than the four listed below.
HILLARY CLINTON--1. Socialist.
BARACK OBAMA--1. Socialist.
JOHN EDWARDS--1. Socialist.
DENNIS KUCINICH--0. Sorry, but we can find absolutely no rational reason to give him any points on any of our key issues.
Showing posts with label ratings of Democratic candidates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ratings of Democratic candidates. Show all posts
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday Night's Democratic Presidential Debate
Charleston, SC (TLS). The Democratic Presidential candidates met on Monday evening for a forum in Charleston, SC at the military college called 'the Citadel.' CNN co-sponsored the forum with YouTube.
Citizens asked questions of the candidates via YouTube, moderated by Anderson Cooper.
The War in Iraq dominated the discourse during the forum. As William F. Buckley observed a couple of months back, the manner in which George W. Bush has conducted the War has the potential of burying the Republicans in November of 2008.
Democrats have wasted no time in jumping on this vulnerability, taking full advantage of public sentiment. They all wish to leave Iraq immediately, but the devil is in the details.
Not all would leave immediately, despite the rhetoric. There are nuances in the various plans for withdrawal offered by the candidates.
Hillary Clinton advocates for continuing an American military presence in the country even after most of the combat forces have been withdrawn. Dennis Kucinich, on the other hand, wants an immediate total withdrawal, including cutting off funds for the troops.
Democratic activists applauded wildly for Kucinich on that point.
It is most unfortunate, however, that the War dominates political discussion so far during this election cycle. By focusing on the War, the Democrats can avoid close scrutiny of their views on many other issues, which show that they are basically in one accord on social policy.
In short, they are all to one degree or another European styled socialists.
None of the Democratic candidates talk about the importance of Constitutional law, the Bill of Rights, or the necessity of appointing only those Judges to the bench who understand that strict adherence to the Constitution is the primary task of jurisprudence.
All of the candidates support abortion, including late-term 'partial-birth' abortions. All have a dismal record on supporting citizens' rights to self-defense as delineated in the Second Amendment. All have advocated dangerous limits on freedom of speech. All would dismantle the greatest healthcare system in the world in order to help a small minority of citizens gain access to medical care, rather than focusing on ways to fix the problem without killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
Therefore, using our exclusive 'Liberty Rating System'--which rates the candidates on the basis of their stance on abortion, healthcare, gun rights, national defense, immigration, taxes, the War on Terror, and U.S. foreign policy--The Liberty Sphere rates the Democratic candidates in Monday night's debate as follows, with 10 being the highest score and 1 the lowest:
Bill Richardson--3
Joseph Biden--2
Chris Dodd--2
John Edwards--1
Mike Gravel--1
Dennis Kucinich--1
Barack Obama--1
Hillary Clinton--1
As time progresses during this campaign cycle, we are increasingly appalled at how thoroughly the Democratic candidates have virtually discarded and ignored every single principle for which the Founders of this nation stood.
Citizens asked questions of the candidates via YouTube, moderated by Anderson Cooper.
The War in Iraq dominated the discourse during the forum. As William F. Buckley observed a couple of months back, the manner in which George W. Bush has conducted the War has the potential of burying the Republicans in November of 2008.
Democrats have wasted no time in jumping on this vulnerability, taking full advantage of public sentiment. They all wish to leave Iraq immediately, but the devil is in the details.
Not all would leave immediately, despite the rhetoric. There are nuances in the various plans for withdrawal offered by the candidates.
Hillary Clinton advocates for continuing an American military presence in the country even after most of the combat forces have been withdrawn. Dennis Kucinich, on the other hand, wants an immediate total withdrawal, including cutting off funds for the troops.
Democratic activists applauded wildly for Kucinich on that point.
It is most unfortunate, however, that the War dominates political discussion so far during this election cycle. By focusing on the War, the Democrats can avoid close scrutiny of their views on many other issues, which show that they are basically in one accord on social policy.
In short, they are all to one degree or another European styled socialists.
None of the Democratic candidates talk about the importance of Constitutional law, the Bill of Rights, or the necessity of appointing only those Judges to the bench who understand that strict adherence to the Constitution is the primary task of jurisprudence.
All of the candidates support abortion, including late-term 'partial-birth' abortions. All have a dismal record on supporting citizens' rights to self-defense as delineated in the Second Amendment. All have advocated dangerous limits on freedom of speech. All would dismantle the greatest healthcare system in the world in order to help a small minority of citizens gain access to medical care, rather than focusing on ways to fix the problem without killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
Therefore, using our exclusive 'Liberty Rating System'--which rates the candidates on the basis of their stance on abortion, healthcare, gun rights, national defense, immigration, taxes, the War on Terror, and U.S. foreign policy--The Liberty Sphere rates the Democratic candidates in Monday night's debate as follows, with 10 being the highest score and 1 the lowest:
Bill Richardson--3
Joseph Biden--2
Chris Dodd--2
John Edwards--1
Mike Gravel--1
Dennis Kucinich--1
Barack Obama--1
Hillary Clinton--1
As time progresses during this campaign cycle, we are increasingly appalled at how thoroughly the Democratic candidates have virtually discarded and ignored every single principle for which the Founders of this nation stood.
Monday, June 04, 2007
The Democrats--Who's Ahead So Far?
Washington, DC (TLS). With two nationally televised debates under their belts, the Democratic Presidential candidates have begun to show patterns that help voters form opinions and impressions of their fitness for office.
Who's ahead so far?
As we did with the Republicans, The Liberty Sphere will provide an overview of the candidates' performance and their ratings on the eight key liberty issues, based upon the two debates so far.
In our opinion Joe Biden has made his way to the top of the heap when it comes to effectiveness as a communicator and ability to connect with voters. The candidate's many years in the Senate have certainly provided Biden with the experience to handle himself extremely well in public forums.
Dennis Kucinich comes in a close second in terms of overall debate performance. He is articulate and is able to clearly convey his views with a minimum amount of spin.
Edwards, Richardson, Dodd, Gravel, and Clinton make up the next tier of candidates in terms of effectiveness of communication.
Bringing up the rear is Barack Hussein Obama, who has shown viewers of the last two debates that he is clearly lacking in the experience and seasoned communication skills to be placed in the same league with the other candidates.
Obama's poor showing may well be every bit as big a story as Biden's strong performance.
Now on to the accumulative ratings of each of the candidates, based upon their scores in the last two debates on the eight key issues that impact human liberty.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score, The Liberty Sphere rates the Democratic candidates cumulatively as follows on those eight key issues:
Bill Richardson--5
Joe Biden--3.5
John Edwards--3
Chris Dodd--2.5
Hillary Clinton--1.5
Barack Obama--1
Dennis Kucinich--1
Mike Gravel--1
It is to be noted that in spite of Joe Biden's excellent showing in terms of communication skills, his views on gun rights deprived him of a higher score. Bill Richardson, on the other hand, picked up points for his support for Second Amendment rights, in spite of his disappointing answers in the 2nd debate.
The Liberty Sphere believes that the candidacy of Barack Hussein Obama is essential over for all intents and purposes. His falling poll numbers since the first debate will only continue after the 2nd. His poor debate performances have given the impression that the candidate is simply not Presidential material.
Of course, both Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel can essentially hang it up as well. We do not see either candidate gaining any momentum either in terms of poll numbers or financial support.
Thus, The Liberty Sphere believes that it is a whole new ball game for the Democrats. We now have a new set of front-runners. Hillary Clinton will continue to be THE front-runner for now, but both Joe Biden and Bill Richardson are coming on strong. We look for both candidates to greatly enhance their poll numbers.
John Edwards has slipped to 2nd-tier status. We saw nothing in last night's debate to change that fact. In spite of his overall cumulative score, we feel he is losing momentum while Biden and Richardson are surging. This is why we feel Biden and Richardson are now in the top three, while Edwards is on his way downward.
In terms of polling numbers and campaign cash, look for the following lineup of front-runners in order of their poll numbers and financial support:
Hillary Clinton
Bill Richardson
Joe Biden
Chris Dodd leads the pack of the 2nd-tier candidates, but look for him to begin to surge should one of the new front-runners stumble.
For perspective, consult with The Liberty Sphere's ratings on the first Democratic presidential debate. This will also explain in great detail our eight key, critical issues with regard to human liberty:
http://thelibertysphere.blogspot.com/2007/04/ratings-of-democratic-presidential.html
Who's ahead so far?
As we did with the Republicans, The Liberty Sphere will provide an overview of the candidates' performance and their ratings on the eight key liberty issues, based upon the two debates so far.
In our opinion Joe Biden has made his way to the top of the heap when it comes to effectiveness as a communicator and ability to connect with voters. The candidate's many years in the Senate have certainly provided Biden with the experience to handle himself extremely well in public forums.
Dennis Kucinich comes in a close second in terms of overall debate performance. He is articulate and is able to clearly convey his views with a minimum amount of spin.
Edwards, Richardson, Dodd, Gravel, and Clinton make up the next tier of candidates in terms of effectiveness of communication.
Bringing up the rear is Barack Hussein Obama, who has shown viewers of the last two debates that he is clearly lacking in the experience and seasoned communication skills to be placed in the same league with the other candidates.
Obama's poor showing may well be every bit as big a story as Biden's strong performance.
Now on to the accumulative ratings of each of the candidates, based upon their scores in the last two debates on the eight key issues that impact human liberty.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score, The Liberty Sphere rates the Democratic candidates cumulatively as follows on those eight key issues:
Bill Richardson--5
Joe Biden--3.5
John Edwards--3
Chris Dodd--2.5
Hillary Clinton--1.5
Barack Obama--1
Dennis Kucinich--1
Mike Gravel--1
It is to be noted that in spite of Joe Biden's excellent showing in terms of communication skills, his views on gun rights deprived him of a higher score. Bill Richardson, on the other hand, picked up points for his support for Second Amendment rights, in spite of his disappointing answers in the 2nd debate.
The Liberty Sphere believes that the candidacy of Barack Hussein Obama is essential over for all intents and purposes. His falling poll numbers since the first debate will only continue after the 2nd. His poor debate performances have given the impression that the candidate is simply not Presidential material.
Of course, both Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel can essentially hang it up as well. We do not see either candidate gaining any momentum either in terms of poll numbers or financial support.
Thus, The Liberty Sphere believes that it is a whole new ball game for the Democrats. We now have a new set of front-runners. Hillary Clinton will continue to be THE front-runner for now, but both Joe Biden and Bill Richardson are coming on strong. We look for both candidates to greatly enhance their poll numbers.
John Edwards has slipped to 2nd-tier status. We saw nothing in last night's debate to change that fact. In spite of his overall cumulative score, we feel he is losing momentum while Biden and Richardson are surging. This is why we feel Biden and Richardson are now in the top three, while Edwards is on his way downward.
In terms of polling numbers and campaign cash, look for the following lineup of front-runners in order of their poll numbers and financial support:
Hillary Clinton
Bill Richardson
Joe Biden
Chris Dodd leads the pack of the 2nd-tier candidates, but look for him to begin to surge should one of the new front-runners stumble.
For perspective, consult with The Liberty Sphere's ratings on the first Democratic presidential debate. This will also explain in great detail our eight key, critical issues with regard to human liberty:
http://thelibertysphere.blogspot.com/2007/04/ratings-of-democratic-presidential.html
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Ratings of Democratic Candidates--2nd Debate
Manchester, NH (TLS). The Democratic Presidential candidates squared off in this, their second major televised debate.
As always, The Liberty Sphere will provide complete evaluations on all of the candidates, based upon their performance and how closely they adhere to our eight key issues that impact human liberty.
First, a word about CNN and Wolf Blitzer's job as moderator. Blitzer is due high marks for his willingness to level the hard questions at the candidates, giving them very little wiggle room for deflection. Right out of the starting gate he zeroed in on the War on Terror in light of yesterday's foiled attack at JFK.
There was only one 'stupid question' segment of the debate, a segment which we have come to expect from the mainstream media's coverage of Democrats. In contrast to MSNBC and Chris Matthews' penchant for emphasizing the absurd, Blitzer only asked one question that could be considered stupid, which was, 'What role will you give Bill Clinton if you are elected President?'
Overall, however, Blitzer and CNN are to be commended for producing a debate that focused largely on the pertinent issues. Fox News is still tops in the manner in which they handled the Republican debate, but CNN is running a close second so far.
GENERAL EVALUATION OF DEBATE PERFORMANCE OF CANDIDATES
In terms of communication skills, clarity, answering the question asked, and ability to connect with the audience, The Liberty Sphere believes that there are two candidates that came on very strong--Joseph Biden and Dennis Kucinich.
The two candidates who exhibited a marked improvement over their last debate performance are Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel.
Bill Richardson and John Edwards both can be placed in the 'good' category, both giving a solid performance.
Once again, Barack Obama came across as rather tentative. We noticed this tendency during the last debate. The candidate often seems to struggle to put together his answers. And, since this is certainly an observable trend rather than a one-time fluke, we feel that the candidate is simply not in the same league with the other candidates.
This leaves Hillary Clinton. Her performance was as expected--nothing to win people over but nothing to discourage her supporters either. Her problem, in our view, is her playing loose with the facts. We noted several instances where the candidate simply was not candid in her answers and instead opted for her usual spin of facts.
For example, she referred to the War in Iraq as 'George Bush's War.' This was big lie number one. She voted for it, no matter how she spins the issue. In addition, this is America's war. OUR sons and daughters are fighting in it. We are in it together.
Big lie number two was Hillary's claim that her husband tried to 'take out bin Laden.' Actually, the record shows he had several opportunities to do so, but opted out.
We will stop with the first two big lies of Hillary, simply because much of her rhetoric is not worth the time to evaluate.
RATINGS OF CANDIDATES ON THE ISSUES THAT IMPACT LIBERTY
The Liberty Sphere's eight key issues that impact liberty are as follows: national defense, taxes, healthcare, gun rights, abortion, the war on terror, U.S. foreign policy, and immigration control.
Based upon the candidates' answers this evening, and their previous statements on these issues, we rate them as follows on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score:
Joseph Biden--5
Bill Richardson--4
Chris Dodd--3
John Edwards--2
Hillary Clinton--1
Barack Obama--1
Dennis Kucinich--1
Mike Gravel--1
Joe Biden's strong showing this evening is perhaps THE big news of the debate.
Bill Richardson lost some points from his first debate performance due to his answers concerning immigration, taxes, and U.S. foreign policy.
In addition, Richardson's assertion that the Border Fence that is to be built between the U.S. and Mexico is like 'the Berlin Wall' is the most ridiculous statement of the evening. The Berlin Wall was built to keep oppressed people imprisoned by a totalitarian government. Our Border Fence is being built to keep a free people from being overrun by those who neither respect nor value America's way of life or her government.
That Richardson would even suggest such a highly ludicrous and asinine thing is simply unbelievable for a Presidential candidate.
Running a close second to Richardson's most ridiculous statement of the evening is John Edwards' repeated assertion that the War on Terror should not be fought and that it is 'just a bumper sticker slogan.' That he would suggest such a thing only one day after the FBI foiled one of the most massive terrorist plots in the history of the nation is simply baffling.
We must at this point question Edwards' judgment, and therefore, wonder if he is fit to be President.
Only one Democratic candidate believes that English should be the official language of the United States--Mike Gravel. He is also the least likely to gain any ground as a viable candidate.
Thus, there are NO Democratic candidates who believe that English should be the official language of America.
You will note that none of the Democratic candidates could muster above a rating of '5' on our Liberty Scale. This is very telling and very dangerous.
If the Democratic Party can offer no one but these, or perhaps Al Gore to boot, then it is obvious that American politics has reached a sorry state of affairs when it comes to human liberty.
As always, The Liberty Sphere will provide complete evaluations on all of the candidates, based upon their performance and how closely they adhere to our eight key issues that impact human liberty.
First, a word about CNN and Wolf Blitzer's job as moderator. Blitzer is due high marks for his willingness to level the hard questions at the candidates, giving them very little wiggle room for deflection. Right out of the starting gate he zeroed in on the War on Terror in light of yesterday's foiled attack at JFK.
There was only one 'stupid question' segment of the debate, a segment which we have come to expect from the mainstream media's coverage of Democrats. In contrast to MSNBC and Chris Matthews' penchant for emphasizing the absurd, Blitzer only asked one question that could be considered stupid, which was, 'What role will you give Bill Clinton if you are elected President?'
Overall, however, Blitzer and CNN are to be commended for producing a debate that focused largely on the pertinent issues. Fox News is still tops in the manner in which they handled the Republican debate, but CNN is running a close second so far.
GENERAL EVALUATION OF DEBATE PERFORMANCE OF CANDIDATES
In terms of communication skills, clarity, answering the question asked, and ability to connect with the audience, The Liberty Sphere believes that there are two candidates that came on very strong--Joseph Biden and Dennis Kucinich.
The two candidates who exhibited a marked improvement over their last debate performance are Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel.
Bill Richardson and John Edwards both can be placed in the 'good' category, both giving a solid performance.
Once again, Barack Obama came across as rather tentative. We noticed this tendency during the last debate. The candidate often seems to struggle to put together his answers. And, since this is certainly an observable trend rather than a one-time fluke, we feel that the candidate is simply not in the same league with the other candidates.
This leaves Hillary Clinton. Her performance was as expected--nothing to win people over but nothing to discourage her supporters either. Her problem, in our view, is her playing loose with the facts. We noted several instances where the candidate simply was not candid in her answers and instead opted for her usual spin of facts.
For example, she referred to the War in Iraq as 'George Bush's War.' This was big lie number one. She voted for it, no matter how she spins the issue. In addition, this is America's war. OUR sons and daughters are fighting in it. We are in it together.
Big lie number two was Hillary's claim that her husband tried to 'take out bin Laden.' Actually, the record shows he had several opportunities to do so, but opted out.
We will stop with the first two big lies of Hillary, simply because much of her rhetoric is not worth the time to evaluate.
RATINGS OF CANDIDATES ON THE ISSUES THAT IMPACT LIBERTY
The Liberty Sphere's eight key issues that impact liberty are as follows: national defense, taxes, healthcare, gun rights, abortion, the war on terror, U.S. foreign policy, and immigration control.
Based upon the candidates' answers this evening, and their previous statements on these issues, we rate them as follows on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score:
Joseph Biden--5
Bill Richardson--4
Chris Dodd--3
John Edwards--2
Hillary Clinton--1
Barack Obama--1
Dennis Kucinich--1
Mike Gravel--1
Joe Biden's strong showing this evening is perhaps THE big news of the debate.
Bill Richardson lost some points from his first debate performance due to his answers concerning immigration, taxes, and U.S. foreign policy.
In addition, Richardson's assertion that the Border Fence that is to be built between the U.S. and Mexico is like 'the Berlin Wall' is the most ridiculous statement of the evening. The Berlin Wall was built to keep oppressed people imprisoned by a totalitarian government. Our Border Fence is being built to keep a free people from being overrun by those who neither respect nor value America's way of life or her government.
That Richardson would even suggest such a highly ludicrous and asinine thing is simply unbelievable for a Presidential candidate.
Running a close second to Richardson's most ridiculous statement of the evening is John Edwards' repeated assertion that the War on Terror should not be fought and that it is 'just a bumper sticker slogan.' That he would suggest such a thing only one day after the FBI foiled one of the most massive terrorist plots in the history of the nation is simply baffling.
We must at this point question Edwards' judgment, and therefore, wonder if he is fit to be President.
Only one Democratic candidate believes that English should be the official language of the United States--Mike Gravel. He is also the least likely to gain any ground as a viable candidate.
Thus, there are NO Democratic candidates who believe that English should be the official language of America.
You will note that none of the Democratic candidates could muster above a rating of '5' on our Liberty Scale. This is very telling and very dangerous.
If the Democratic Party can offer no one but these, or perhaps Al Gore to boot, then it is obvious that American politics has reached a sorry state of affairs when it comes to human liberty.
Democrats Debate Tonight
Washington, DC (TLS). The Democratic Presidential candidates take the stage this evening for their next debate at 7 PM, EDT. CNN will take the honors this time as the co-sponsor and broadcaster of the event.
As always, The Liberty Sphere will provide readers with our exclusive 'Liberty Rating System' of each of the candidates in the debate. The candidates will first receive a general evaluation based upon their debate performance alone--communication skills, answering the questions posed, ability to connect with the audience, etc.
Then, we will rate the candidates based on their adherence to the principles that promote and preserve human liberty, using our 8 key issues as indicators.
More about that tonight.
So, be sure to watch the debate and then check back with The Liberty Sphere this evening for our evaluation of the Democratic candidates.
As always, The Liberty Sphere will provide readers with our exclusive 'Liberty Rating System' of each of the candidates in the debate. The candidates will first receive a general evaluation based upon their debate performance alone--communication skills, answering the questions posed, ability to connect with the audience, etc.
Then, we will rate the candidates based on their adherence to the principles that promote and preserve human liberty, using our 8 key issues as indicators.
More about that tonight.
So, be sure to watch the debate and then check back with The Liberty Sphere this evening for our evaluation of the Democratic candidates.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Ratings of Democratic Presidential Candidates
Orangeburg, SC (TLS). The first major debate of the upcoming campaign cycle took place tonight in Orangeburg, South Carolina, at the campus of a traditionally black college, South Carolina State University. The University has a first class facility that only bolstered its reputation, and the debate was professionally conducted.
The Democratic candidates gathered on the stage to discuss the major issues of the day and to present their views about America's future.
The Liberty Sphere has rated each of these candidates as a service to those who study politics and public discourse, and to those who are honestly seeking clarification on a myriad of issues that can appear daunting and confusing.
According to the mission statement of The Liberty Sphere, we are here to advocate for groups, candidates, Parties, and organizations that promote human liberty all around the world. Thus, the heart of our rating system revolves around the candidates' views on those issues that we deem to be essential to human liberty.
More about that in a moment.
First, however, we would like to rate the candidates in tonight's debate based upon the strength of their presentation alone. A central element to being a good leader is being a great communicator. We will first rate the candidates based upon their style, manner of presentation, clarity, persuasiveness, and that often elusive quality of ANSWERING THE QUESTION that is posed.
Based upon our analysis of these elements of communication, we feel that John Edwards was strongest. He rarely dodged the question, although he did so a couple of times, and his style of communication was relaxed, succinct, and substantive, all encapsulated in a pleasant, deliberative demeanor that came across very well.
Three candidates tied for second place when it comes to strength of presentation...Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, and Dennis Kucinich. Each of these presented their case very well, but none came up to the level of Edwards.
In third place is Chris Dodd, who is no slouch as a debater but who often came across this evening as a bit tentative at times.
Fourth is Hillary Clinton. Her performance was predictably lackluster and did nothing to change the opinions that have already been formed of her. To those who love her, she did nothing to disappoint. To those who dislike her, she did nothing to persuade the leery.
Surprisingly, Barack Hussein Obama came in fifth. Obama was unusually ill-prepared in our view. He seemed to strain for his sentences, coming off as rather hesitant, disjointed, haphazard, and lacking in his usual energy and charisma. One wonders if this was simply a bad night for Obama...one of those days when a person is off their game, or if more significantly, being on the same stage with Democratic veterans was sufficiently intimidating to knock him off-balance.
But for whatever reason, Obama certainly did not help his case at all this evening, and if anything he may have hurt himself with many voters.
Coming in last is the former Senator from Alaska, Mike Gravel, who is such an unknown that his performance would be totally unremarkable, except for his striking anger and vitriol. The candidate came across as a gruff, angry, and irritable curmudgeon who is a bit frightening.
Now, on to the more substantive issues.
In rating the candidates in tonight's debate, The Liberty Sphere looked at 8 key issues that are central to the cause of liberty--national defense, taxes, healthcare, gun rights, abortion, the war on terror, U.S. foreign policy, and immigration control.
National defense is the ONLY thing mandated by the U.S. Constitution as a legitimate role of government, other than to protect and preserve basic human freedom. Without a strong defense, we cannot expect to maintain liberty in a world full of oppression and danger.
Taxes can be oppressive or they can be an adjunct to a healthy society. When taxes become so burdensome that average citizens feel oppressed, with little or no recourse or adequate representation, then liberty suffers. Currently the U.S. Tax Code is oppressive by its sheer size, scope, and contradictory provisions, leaving the electorate with nothing but mass confusion. The IRS is the single biggest example of taxation without representation in America today.
Healthcare is an issue that collectivists are using presently to take away more of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. If this nation goes with a 'nationalized healthcare plan' funded by tax dollars, all freedom of choice goes out the window both on the part of patients AND doctors.
Gun rights are paramount in the preservation of liberty. Enough said.
Abortion is an issue of human freedom due to the fact that no government can maintain the moral authority to govern if it sanctions atrocity, murder, and barbarism. The Supreme Court passed an important corrective to absolute abortion rights by placing rational restrictions on the practice based upon the view that even medical procedures should be humane and not barbaric. Partial birth abortion is simply barbaric, and every single Democratic candidate stated on the record that they oppose the recent Court decision to ban this blood-thirsty, savage procedure.
This alone was enough to rob every single candidate of a top rating.
America must fight the War on Terror with the resolve to win or else we will not exist as a nation. Our enemies have sworn our annihilation. To back off, cut and run, or proclaim defeat is to accept our demise. We can do much better. The Democrats have little to offer in this most important endeavor.
U.S. foreign policy is crucial in the preservation of liberty. Do we stand with the EU with its Leftist leanings? Do we continue to support the U.N., which has become an organization of murderous thugs that bash America constantly? Or do we stand with our friends, such as NATO, Israel, Australia, Japan, and the eastern European block?
The support of Leftists and their anti-American rhetoric is a prescription for disaster for liberty.
Finally, without immigration control the nation is lost as a bastion of freedom. We CANNOT continue to allow non-citizens to come here illegally, benefit from our way of life without a willingness to adopt our language and customs, and make a mockery out of law-abiding immigrants who obey the law and go through the legal procedure for becoming citizens.
We MUST begin to enforce the nation's immigration laws, or else every single freedom for which our forefathers fought will come to naught.
Thus, based on these 8 key, critical issues that are central to the cause of liberty, The Liberty Sphere rates the Democratic candidates as follows, on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best score), based upon tonight's debate and the previously-stated views of the candidates:
Governor Bill Richardson--6
Former Senator John Edwards--4
Senator Hillary Clinton--2
Senator Joseph Biden--2
Senator Chris Dodd--2
Rep. Dennis Kucinich--1
Senator Barach Obama--1
Former Senator Mike Gravel--1
As you will note from our ratings, of the 8 Democratic candidates in tonight's debate, Bill Richardson rates way ahead of the pack on the issues that impact liberty. But even then he has rated only a '6.' Thus, while there are aspects of Richardson's views that are encouraging, such as his stance on gun rights, there is actually little to recommend any of the Democrats thus far as potential guardians of our precious liberties.
The Democratic candidates gathered on the stage to discuss the major issues of the day and to present their views about America's future.
The Liberty Sphere has rated each of these candidates as a service to those who study politics and public discourse, and to those who are honestly seeking clarification on a myriad of issues that can appear daunting and confusing.
According to the mission statement of The Liberty Sphere, we are here to advocate for groups, candidates, Parties, and organizations that promote human liberty all around the world. Thus, the heart of our rating system revolves around the candidates' views on those issues that we deem to be essential to human liberty.
More about that in a moment.
First, however, we would like to rate the candidates in tonight's debate based upon the strength of their presentation alone. A central element to being a good leader is being a great communicator. We will first rate the candidates based upon their style, manner of presentation, clarity, persuasiveness, and that often elusive quality of ANSWERING THE QUESTION that is posed.
Based upon our analysis of these elements of communication, we feel that John Edwards was strongest. He rarely dodged the question, although he did so a couple of times, and his style of communication was relaxed, succinct, and substantive, all encapsulated in a pleasant, deliberative demeanor that came across very well.
Three candidates tied for second place when it comes to strength of presentation...Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, and Dennis Kucinich. Each of these presented their case very well, but none came up to the level of Edwards.
In third place is Chris Dodd, who is no slouch as a debater but who often came across this evening as a bit tentative at times.
Fourth is Hillary Clinton. Her performance was predictably lackluster and did nothing to change the opinions that have already been formed of her. To those who love her, she did nothing to disappoint. To those who dislike her, she did nothing to persuade the leery.
Surprisingly, Barack Hussein Obama came in fifth. Obama was unusually ill-prepared in our view. He seemed to strain for his sentences, coming off as rather hesitant, disjointed, haphazard, and lacking in his usual energy and charisma. One wonders if this was simply a bad night for Obama...one of those days when a person is off their game, or if more significantly, being on the same stage with Democratic veterans was sufficiently intimidating to knock him off-balance.
But for whatever reason, Obama certainly did not help his case at all this evening, and if anything he may have hurt himself with many voters.
Coming in last is the former Senator from Alaska, Mike Gravel, who is such an unknown that his performance would be totally unremarkable, except for his striking anger and vitriol. The candidate came across as a gruff, angry, and irritable curmudgeon who is a bit frightening.
Now, on to the more substantive issues.
In rating the candidates in tonight's debate, The Liberty Sphere looked at 8 key issues that are central to the cause of liberty--national defense, taxes, healthcare, gun rights, abortion, the war on terror, U.S. foreign policy, and immigration control.
National defense is the ONLY thing mandated by the U.S. Constitution as a legitimate role of government, other than to protect and preserve basic human freedom. Without a strong defense, we cannot expect to maintain liberty in a world full of oppression and danger.
Taxes can be oppressive or they can be an adjunct to a healthy society. When taxes become so burdensome that average citizens feel oppressed, with little or no recourse or adequate representation, then liberty suffers. Currently the U.S. Tax Code is oppressive by its sheer size, scope, and contradictory provisions, leaving the electorate with nothing but mass confusion. The IRS is the single biggest example of taxation without representation in America today.
Healthcare is an issue that collectivists are using presently to take away more of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. If this nation goes with a 'nationalized healthcare plan' funded by tax dollars, all freedom of choice goes out the window both on the part of patients AND doctors.
Gun rights are paramount in the preservation of liberty. Enough said.
Abortion is an issue of human freedom due to the fact that no government can maintain the moral authority to govern if it sanctions atrocity, murder, and barbarism. The Supreme Court passed an important corrective to absolute abortion rights by placing rational restrictions on the practice based upon the view that even medical procedures should be humane and not barbaric. Partial birth abortion is simply barbaric, and every single Democratic candidate stated on the record that they oppose the recent Court decision to ban this blood-thirsty, savage procedure.
This alone was enough to rob every single candidate of a top rating.
America must fight the War on Terror with the resolve to win or else we will not exist as a nation. Our enemies have sworn our annihilation. To back off, cut and run, or proclaim defeat is to accept our demise. We can do much better. The Democrats have little to offer in this most important endeavor.
U.S. foreign policy is crucial in the preservation of liberty. Do we stand with the EU with its Leftist leanings? Do we continue to support the U.N., which has become an organization of murderous thugs that bash America constantly? Or do we stand with our friends, such as NATO, Israel, Australia, Japan, and the eastern European block?
The support of Leftists and their anti-American rhetoric is a prescription for disaster for liberty.
Finally, without immigration control the nation is lost as a bastion of freedom. We CANNOT continue to allow non-citizens to come here illegally, benefit from our way of life without a willingness to adopt our language and customs, and make a mockery out of law-abiding immigrants who obey the law and go through the legal procedure for becoming citizens.
We MUST begin to enforce the nation's immigration laws, or else every single freedom for which our forefathers fought will come to naught.
Thus, based on these 8 key, critical issues that are central to the cause of liberty, The Liberty Sphere rates the Democratic candidates as follows, on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best score), based upon tonight's debate and the previously-stated views of the candidates:
Governor Bill Richardson--6
Former Senator John Edwards--4
Senator Hillary Clinton--2
Senator Joseph Biden--2
Senator Chris Dodd--2
Rep. Dennis Kucinich--1
Senator Barach Obama--1
Former Senator Mike Gravel--1
As you will note from our ratings, of the 8 Democratic candidates in tonight's debate, Bill Richardson rates way ahead of the pack on the issues that impact liberty. But even then he has rated only a '6.' Thus, while there are aspects of Richardson's views that are encouraging, such as his stance on gun rights, there is actually little to recommend any of the Democrats thus far as potential guardians of our precious liberties.
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