Observer Interviews w/GOP Presidential Candidates
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:42 am
Here is an article I wrote that didn't fit into the last print edition of the Observer.
These are exerpts from interviews I did with the Presidential candidates at the GOP debate a couple weeks ago.
Rather than let it go to waste, I decided to place it here on the Deck.
From the Post-Debate "Spin Room": The Candidates in Their Own Words
You likely already know all the major highlights of the GOP Debate in Cleveland. Trump sparred with Megyn Kelly; Rand Paul and Chris Christie jostled over surveillance; Carly Fiorina was well received in the early debate; and John Kasich got a warm hometown reception. However, there was much more to the debate than just the headlines.
The Observer was granted access to the post-debate spin room, so here are some quotes from the candidates that you haven’t already seen or heard. We present some of those quotes here, in alphabetical order by candidate.
DR. BEN CARSON
On the debate: “I thought it was a very good debate. It was an opportunity to really get some things out. I wanted more foreign policy questions, I only got one.”
On his qualifications to be president: “Our country was actually designed for citizen statesmen, it wasn’t designed for a political class”.
“What we really need is people who know how to solve problems, complex problems, and utilizing the people around them, the resources around them to get that done, and it’s more critical now than it ever has been.”
FORMER VIRGINIA GOVERNOR JIM GILMORE
Observer: “Do you regret entering the race so late?”
Gilmore: “I think it was the right timing, besides I wanted to understand what this race was going to look like.”
Observer: “What do you want the people here in the Cleveland area to know about you?”
Gilmore: “I am dedicated and committing to restoring the economy of the United States. You cannot have a good strong national security without a strong economy.” “What we have seen in Washington in recent years is law after law after law that prevents growth, that stops business, that prevents investment, and keeps wages flat. I think the people of Cleveland would like to see more money in their paycheck. This is a state that has a long tradition of working people, manufacturing, and success in industry.”
SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM
Observer: “Are you going to watch the Donald tonight?”
Graham: “I’m going to get some dinner now, I’ll try to watch. I wish them all well.”
On the battle with ISIL: “We’re not going to defeat ISIL with the current strategy. It’s not going to be easy to ask people to go back over there but they have to go and most people in the military know it.”
On Rand Paul’s foreign policy: “I think the world that Rand Paul has constructed for us would be a dangerous world.” “At the end of the day I think world events have overtook Senator Paul’s policy”.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR MIKE HUCKABEE
Observer: “How do you react to Trump’s decision that he wouldn’t necessarily endorse the [GOP] nominee?”
Huckabee: “Well I hope that’s something he will change, because I look at it this way…the party is spending millions of dollars to prepare a track for us to run on. I have, to me, in my own view, sort of an honorable duty to make sure that I stay within the Republican framework because they are the ones who provided this track on which I run.”
“I think he’ll come to see that, I really do. I don’t think it’s something he’s thought about. He’s not really a “party guy”, so let’s give him some slack. ”
LOUISIANA GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL
On campaign strategy: “We’ve got to embrace our principles. I believe we need to run as conservatives. Too many in the establishment think that we need to try to be less conservative, that we need to try to get the liberal, the left, the media to like us. That never works. Whenever we’ve tried to do that we’ve lost and we’ve deserved to lose.”
On Planned Parenthood: “I will use every tool at my disposal to go after Planned Parenthood. What they’ve done is barbaric. I believe they have violated the law. They say they are a non-profit organization, yet in these videos they seem to be focused on profits. So absolutely I think it’s appropriate for the IRS, for the Department of Justice, if I can send the EPA or any other agency I’ll send them after the Planned Parenthood as well. They better hope Hillary Clinton wins.”
Observer: “Infrastructure is a big issue here. What role (if any) does the federal government have in that?”
Jindal: “As Governor I invested more in infrastructure than my predecessors put together.”
“Infrastructure is important at the federal level, at the state level, at the local level…the reality is we don’t need to be raising taxes. It’s time to shrink the size of government, not continue to grow it. I don’t mean slow the growth rate. We actually need a smaller government than we’ve got today.”
FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR GEORGE PATAKI
Observer: “You talk about reducing the size of your state government [as Governor of New York]. How do you maintain infrastructure?”
Pataki: “I think we have to not just maintain infrastructure, we have to invest in infrastructure. I didn’t get a chance to talk about that [during the debate]. We should repatriate the two trillion plus dollars that American corporations are sitting on overseas because their taxes are too high. We lower the rate temporarily for nine percent, bring back that two trillion, the federal government will have $180 billion in new revenue that they can use to launch a major program to improve American infrastructure. Along with that, I believe in public/private partnerships.”
Observer: “Do you think your record, elected three times in a blue state, helps you in a place like Cleveland, which has traditionally gone heavily for the Democrats?”
Pataki: “I do. I’m the only person ever elected in New York state as a Republican conservative. I was elected three times. I had the ability to reach across party lines, to appeal to independents, to appeal to conservatives, appeal to moderate Democrats, and I didn’t just win. My two last margins were the largest ever for any Republican, whether it was Teddy Roosevelt or Nelson Rockefeller, in New York state. But more importantly than just winning, which I know I can do, you have to govern well once you’ve won.”
FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR RICK SANTORUM
Observer: “Lately we’ve had concerns [in Ohio] with the algal bloom in Lake Erie. The environment comes up more often. What is the role of federal government to balance manufacturing, job production against the environment impact?”
Santorum: “I’ll look at those regulations and those executive orders, and where they’re appropriate we’ll leave them in place and where they’re not, where the health benefits or the safety benefits are exaggerated or non-existent, and many of them are exaggerated and non-existent, we’ll suspend them and repeal them. We want to create an opportunity for people to get back to work. The best thing we can do for the environment is to have a healthy economy. You have a healthy economy, you’ll find that the environment gets a lot more attention and gets a lot more care when people are doing well and have the ability to be able to care for those things. If you go to places around the world where the environment is the worst, the economy is the worst. I think they go hand in hand.”
These are exerpts from interviews I did with the Presidential candidates at the GOP debate a couple weeks ago.
Rather than let it go to waste, I decided to place it here on the Deck.
From the Post-Debate "Spin Room": The Candidates in Their Own Words
You likely already know all the major highlights of the GOP Debate in Cleveland. Trump sparred with Megyn Kelly; Rand Paul and Chris Christie jostled over surveillance; Carly Fiorina was well received in the early debate; and John Kasich got a warm hometown reception. However, there was much more to the debate than just the headlines.
The Observer was granted access to the post-debate spin room, so here are some quotes from the candidates that you haven’t already seen or heard. We present some of those quotes here, in alphabetical order by candidate.
DR. BEN CARSON
On the debate: “I thought it was a very good debate. It was an opportunity to really get some things out. I wanted more foreign policy questions, I only got one.”
On his qualifications to be president: “Our country was actually designed for citizen statesmen, it wasn’t designed for a political class”.
“What we really need is people who know how to solve problems, complex problems, and utilizing the people around them, the resources around them to get that done, and it’s more critical now than it ever has been.”
FORMER VIRGINIA GOVERNOR JIM GILMORE
Observer: “Do you regret entering the race so late?”
Gilmore: “I think it was the right timing, besides I wanted to understand what this race was going to look like.”
Observer: “What do you want the people here in the Cleveland area to know about you?”
Gilmore: “I am dedicated and committing to restoring the economy of the United States. You cannot have a good strong national security without a strong economy.” “What we have seen in Washington in recent years is law after law after law that prevents growth, that stops business, that prevents investment, and keeps wages flat. I think the people of Cleveland would like to see more money in their paycheck. This is a state that has a long tradition of working people, manufacturing, and success in industry.”
SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM
Observer: “Are you going to watch the Donald tonight?”
Graham: “I’m going to get some dinner now, I’ll try to watch. I wish them all well.”
On the battle with ISIL: “We’re not going to defeat ISIL with the current strategy. It’s not going to be easy to ask people to go back over there but they have to go and most people in the military know it.”
On Rand Paul’s foreign policy: “I think the world that Rand Paul has constructed for us would be a dangerous world.” “At the end of the day I think world events have overtook Senator Paul’s policy”.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR MIKE HUCKABEE
Observer: “How do you react to Trump’s decision that he wouldn’t necessarily endorse the [GOP] nominee?”
Huckabee: “Well I hope that’s something he will change, because I look at it this way…the party is spending millions of dollars to prepare a track for us to run on. I have, to me, in my own view, sort of an honorable duty to make sure that I stay within the Republican framework because they are the ones who provided this track on which I run.”
“I think he’ll come to see that, I really do. I don’t think it’s something he’s thought about. He’s not really a “party guy”, so let’s give him some slack. ”
LOUISIANA GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL
On campaign strategy: “We’ve got to embrace our principles. I believe we need to run as conservatives. Too many in the establishment think that we need to try to be less conservative, that we need to try to get the liberal, the left, the media to like us. That never works. Whenever we’ve tried to do that we’ve lost and we’ve deserved to lose.”
On Planned Parenthood: “I will use every tool at my disposal to go after Planned Parenthood. What they’ve done is barbaric. I believe they have violated the law. They say they are a non-profit organization, yet in these videos they seem to be focused on profits. So absolutely I think it’s appropriate for the IRS, for the Department of Justice, if I can send the EPA or any other agency I’ll send them after the Planned Parenthood as well. They better hope Hillary Clinton wins.”
Observer: “Infrastructure is a big issue here. What role (if any) does the federal government have in that?”
Jindal: “As Governor I invested more in infrastructure than my predecessors put together.”
“Infrastructure is important at the federal level, at the state level, at the local level…the reality is we don’t need to be raising taxes. It’s time to shrink the size of government, not continue to grow it. I don’t mean slow the growth rate. We actually need a smaller government than we’ve got today.”
FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR GEORGE PATAKI
Observer: “You talk about reducing the size of your state government [as Governor of New York]. How do you maintain infrastructure?”
Pataki: “I think we have to not just maintain infrastructure, we have to invest in infrastructure. I didn’t get a chance to talk about that [during the debate]. We should repatriate the two trillion plus dollars that American corporations are sitting on overseas because their taxes are too high. We lower the rate temporarily for nine percent, bring back that two trillion, the federal government will have $180 billion in new revenue that they can use to launch a major program to improve American infrastructure. Along with that, I believe in public/private partnerships.”
Observer: “Do you think your record, elected three times in a blue state, helps you in a place like Cleveland, which has traditionally gone heavily for the Democrats?”
Pataki: “I do. I’m the only person ever elected in New York state as a Republican conservative. I was elected three times. I had the ability to reach across party lines, to appeal to independents, to appeal to conservatives, appeal to moderate Democrats, and I didn’t just win. My two last margins were the largest ever for any Republican, whether it was Teddy Roosevelt or Nelson Rockefeller, in New York state. But more importantly than just winning, which I know I can do, you have to govern well once you’ve won.”
FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR RICK SANTORUM
Observer: “Lately we’ve had concerns [in Ohio] with the algal bloom in Lake Erie. The environment comes up more often. What is the role of federal government to balance manufacturing, job production against the environment impact?”
Santorum: “I’ll look at those regulations and those executive orders, and where they’re appropriate we’ll leave them in place and where they’re not, where the health benefits or the safety benefits are exaggerated or non-existent, and many of them are exaggerated and non-existent, we’ll suspend them and repeal them. We want to create an opportunity for people to get back to work. The best thing we can do for the environment is to have a healthy economy. You have a healthy economy, you’ll find that the environment gets a lot more attention and gets a lot more care when people are doing well and have the ability to be able to care for those things. If you go to places around the world where the environment is the worst, the economy is the worst. I think they go hand in hand.”