THERE was an unusual moment in last night’s debate among Republican candidates in California. On the issue of immigration, the moderators from NBC and Politico ceded the floor to Jose Diaz-Balart of Telemundo, who stood directly in front of the candidates. The suggestion was that any of the candidate’s answers on immigration affected Latinos and Latinos only.

All of the candidates, except Romney, did poorly on the immigration issue, failing to reject amnesty directly.

The debate otherwise showed a party invigorated by its opposition to Obama. Despite the claim by some reporters that they “locked horns,” the exchanges between Perry and Romney were civil and engaging. The contest is between them. Any notion that Bachmann is up to the task of being president was dispelled for me by this debate. She appeared weak and somewhat robotic. Her reference to herself as a “mom” was dumb and Palinesque. She appears to be serious about this claim that she “raised” 23 foster children, taking it one step further on the national stage.

However, all of the eight candidates, including Bachmann, did a good job of explaining some of the basic premises of conservatism, especially why mandated health insurance and public entitlement programs are immoral. I liked Ron Paul’s answer at the end:

So don’t always try to turn around and say that we who believe in liberty, we lack compassion, because we who believe in liberty and understand the market, we’re the only ones that really understand how people are taken care of, how they are fed, and how people have jobs. It’s the market. It’s never the government that does it.

So this whole idea that there’s something wrong with people who don’t lavish out free stuff from the federal government somehow aren’t compassionate enough. I resist those accusations.

One of the best things about this debate was that Sarah Palin was not there, effusing her celebrity and folksiness into a serious forum. And the debate was refreshingly serious.

                                     — Comments —

Lydia Sherman writes:

I agree with Ron Paul. Our country does not need to be monitored or run by politicians, since it is people who actually determine what works and what does not. In a free enterprise system, if something does not work, Americans will not buy it again, and if they like a product, they’ll beat a path to the door of the one who is providing it, and that type of response is what will create jobs and send a message to others who want to succeed. 

It it popular to vote for a candidate who can “create jobs” or “balance the budget” or “pay off the debt,” but unless politicians learn to run the country like a business, these things will not be accomplished. And so, that is why I propose a write-in candidate in the next election: vote for Wal-Mart. 

Wal Mart runs a lean, clean machine with a low profit margin, providing jobs for everyone including the handicapped, the elderly, the single parent, young people just starting out, and legal immigrants. To my knowledge, Wal-Mart does not borrow, pays its debts, balances its books, and provides jobs. Isn’t that what we have all been trained to look for in our government? 

Walmart and similar retail companies cropping up these days do not allow Unions to control them, provide stock in the company for employees, with bonuses each year (more or less depending on how well the employees can guard the store and reduce waste and theft), and insurance. Isn’t that what people wish the government would do, and what the candidates always promise? Using the money the government extracts from the people, Wal Mart, or any other successful business could run the country better than the government. They keep an eye on waste, study their market constantly, and look for better ways to do things.

Hurricane Betsy writes:

According to the AFL-CIO’s website, “Wal-Mart is the single largest importer of foreign-produced goods in the United States, and the majority of its private-label clothing is manufactured in at least 48 countries around the world—and almost none in the United States.”

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