Arizona Showdown -- American Politics Journal -- Republican Presidential Candidates Debate

Arizona Showdown
Hatch gets the line of the night, but McCain tops the field -- again!
Our instant analysis

by David J. Gonzo

Monday, Dec. 6, 1999 -- NEW YORK (APJNS) -- It was more fun and games from what a comedian on Saturday Night Live had called the GOP "Reservoir Dogs" -- six dark-suited Republicans who want to be President and verbally duked it out in Arizona tonight. CNN's Judy Woodruff moderated the broadcast debate, with correspondents Candy Crowley and John King joining in with questions.

Gary Bauer got the first questions -- and blamed today's school shooting on "a breakdown of values... [students] giving the Nazi salute." He talked about hanging the Ten Commandments in the halls. He said guns were not to blame.

Bush got a question on education -- and gave a vague cliche followed by saying he'd give money to parents in "failed schools." He said he'd support charter schools.

And we laughed -- reminded of the school that closed up shop in Austin with zero notice! So reliable, those "charter schools."

And Orrin Hatch praised charter and parochial schools too! Make no mistake -- the GOP is out to destroy the public schools.

John McCain (by satellite from New Hampshire) was asked a question about good teachers getting paid less than bad Senators -- and McCain practically called for a Senate pay cut! Ho got a laugh about his comment about winning "Mr. Congeniality."

John King asked Keyes about a contradiction between his desire to shut down the US Department of Education and using the bully pulpit to put morals back in school. Keyes slammed the career interest of bureaucrats and said he wants to return educational decisions to parents.

Great -- parents with no experience or expertise in education.

Judy Woodruff asked Forbes a question about using tax credits to allow parents to stay home with babies. Forbes called it "raiding unemployment" -- but if Forbes had his way, he'd kill unemployment too.

King talked about the great economy -- and asked Forbes about what Alan Greenspan has done wrong. Forbes lied and said that Reagan laid the foundation for prosperity -- and got predictable applause for invoking imbecile St. Ronnie's name. Forbes hammered Greenspan, saying he liked Jack Kemp.

Candy Crowley asked Keyes about sales tax -- doesn't it hit the poor disproportionally? Keyes praised a national sales tax -- saying that before people are fed and clothed, they have to pay income and payroll taxes! "We're worse off than the Serbs!" He got spontaneous applause -- probably because he reminds the audience of Howard Beale from the film Network.

McCain was asked about poor mothers being hit by lots of taxes -- and invoked the specter of a mother "passing on her farm to her children without being confiscated." He also took time to hammer "special interests" for getting breaks from the Beltway. He looked earnest and concerned.

Hatch was given a wide birth to castigate the tax code. He got worked up about its complexity -- and if it weren't for the breaks in his speaking cadence, we would have confused him for Keyes! It was great to see him riled.

Woodruff asked Bush what would happen if the surpluses his plan needs did not materialize. he said he "refused" to believe they would not materialize. Dumb, dumb, dumb. he went into the usual vague platitudes about "the working people" and what a great governor he claims to be.

Bauer was confronted with a question about the estate tax -- which would only benefit the wealthy, and cost the government billions. Bauer went into the old "double taxation" nonsense -- then onto the bigger "the tax system isn't working" song and dance, then slammed the Forbes and Bush plans. Good move.

International affairs time! King asked Bauer about his opposition to Kosovo intervention and new reports of ethnic cleansing. Bauer went yammering on about his idol Reagan talking about when and where "we put our sons and daughters in harm's way" -- as if it were Reagan's idea to bring it up in the first place, which we can assure you it was not. He talked about the "gutting of the military" and said it was "foolish and imprudent" to intervene.

Bush did his "promote the peace" and "free trade" song and dance in answer to a question we missed. In fact, it almost doesn't matter what the question is -- Bush never answers specifically!

Hatch was asked about the Seattle protests and the protesters' argument that trade was hurting American workers. Hatch talked about the collapse of the talks -- and got worked up about open trade with China, which he said would bring down their authoritarian regime! Right, Orrin -- turn it from awful Maoist to wonderful Fascist!

McCain was asked about the orphaned Cuban boy that Cuba wants back. "J.J." said the father should come to America and enjoy freedom (spontaneous applause). He also expressed admiration for Harry Truman over his handling of North Korea.

Judy then hammered Keyes with a question about his opposition to Kosovo intervention -- and a report that Serbs intended to kill Kosovars. Keyes said intent was not enough to justify intervention -- because Hitler did it. Oh -- we see -- so the Berlin airlift was also wrong, Alan!

Candy asked Forbes about his claim that America makes "promiscuous use" of troops. Forbes slammed every intervention he could think of. Funny that he hasn't mentioned that not one American has died in foreign combat since Clinton became president!

Then the real fun began -- candidates asked questions of each other.

Bauer to Bush -- "I worked for Reagan, he never gave the Soviet nation MFN" -- he said that Bush supports China MFN, following "Clinton-Gore" policy. Bush said Bauer knows how to insult someone -- and said it was in our best interest to sell to China and to trade with their entrepreneurial class (we will point out most of them are in the "Red Army" -- or should we say "Green Army). Bauer's rejoinder -- we would never make that argument about Nazi Germany, and some comment about forced abortion. Bush: if we turn our back, it gets worse. And was right -- but his response was heavy on the stammering, as it would be all night. Not good at all.

McCain to Bauer -- will Gary continue to support McCain's campaign finance reform initiative? Bauer commended McCain's initiative, and called one, two, and five million dollar checks to parties unfair, and said that it has to be stopped. He claimed that Chinese money is corrupting politics. McCain said that they'll never know how much China-Indonesia money poured into "Clinton-Gore" in '96 (it was less than the GOP got!!), and Bauer echoed him. A McCain-Bauer love-fest!

Forbes to McCain -- he slammed the Bush tax plan and asked McCain if he supported the flat tax. McCain thanked Forbes for his pro-flat-tax stand, then went into some detail on what he'd do and slammed the tax code. "Until we remove the influence of the special interests," it's going to be tough. Forbes talked about Washington drawing special interest "mosquitoes" -- do we have to "drain the swamp" first? A bad metaphor, but delivered well. McCain said if you want to drain the swamp, take away the "K Street money... break the iron triangle of lobbyists, big money, and legislation." Lovefest two!

Bush to Orrin -- he started in Spanish and asked about "compassionate conservatives" attracting Hispanics. Orrin praised Bush for reaching out to Hispanics and talked outreach, calling it "pathetic" not to reach out to women and minorities. Bush then brought up "his" ending social promotion -- and then Orrin attacked, saying Bush was a weak governor with no foreign policy experience -- and then said he was considering Bush as his running mate! "After eight years, you'll be ready to be President!" Slam-dunk line of the night -- and a devastating sound bite for poor George!

Keyes asked Forbes about "tax slavery" (he loves to play the race card) -- how do you abolish the IRS if you keep the income tax. Forbes answered that if you have a tax, you need a collection agency to receive and check the paperwork and make sure the checks clear. He slammed "death taxes" that will hurt his rich pals. He wants "real savings for real working Americans." Keyes would not relent -- he wants to abolish the income tax. Forbes said a flat tax or national sales tax, and asked what do you exempt? Tuition? Houses? The kid mowing your lawn? He said he would be compassionate and pay for job training for out-of-work IRSers.

Orrin asked Keyes -- whom he said he enjoys -- about getting on the bus and debating. Huh? Keyes talked about potential voters "seeing the person" in debate -- then talked about the "loneliness of the Chief Executive." It's time to allow folks to see the candidates apart from their handlers, Keyes said -- a shot at Bush -- and said he's not so sure that some of the candidates would perform well. He's all for the GOP road show. Orrin followed up with a dig at handlers, and Keyes talked about "liberty, prosperity and happiness... you're not just voting for yourself, you're voting for the future of this country."

Forbes to Bush -- Texas is the 11th biggest economy in the world and number one in the US for oil production. OPEC is jacking up prices -- what would he do to bring the price down? Bush said he'd push for exploration and encourage use of natural gas. Forbes had a terse "call me Steve" exchange -- then asked about OPEC again and asked how low Bush would push the price. Bush said governments don't set prices -- a good answer that made Steve look kinda dumb -- and talked price controls.

Bush to McCain -- "You can call me John" -- what would you do to encourage faith-based programs? "I think you're doing a good job, George, or W., or Bush." McCain talked about Bill Bennett's "Book of Virtues" being taught in charter schools (which will do those kids a lot of good on the math SATs -- not). Bush: should non-itemizers be allowed to deduct cahritable contributions? McCain said yes -- then cautioned relying on surpluses to balance the federal budget and pushed for tax cuts.

Bauer to Forbes -- from Bauer's mom, who has "some good old American common sense" -- what's with Forbes' Social Security "scheme?" Forbes said that if his plan were in place 20-30 years ago, his mom would have twice the money. Right, Steve -- and she would have had half that amount if she were a retiree two decades before the '70s! Forbes plugged his personal account scheme -- "America is better off, your mother would have been better off." Bauer: "You may have said something that you may not have wanted to." Forbes said Social Security was a sound idea -- but the choices are made by the politicians. Forbes was a little more worked up than we'd seen him all night.

Keyes to Bauer -- they agree that China should not be in WTO, but the WTO is an unrepresentative entity that impinges on American constitutional government. Bauer slammed bureaucrats and said that the WTO is unrepresentative. He even slammed "the protestors in the streets," calling them leftisis with a hidden 60s axe to grind. We laughed out loud. Is this guy for real?

McCain to Orrin -- should the Internet tax moratorium be made permanent? Orrin said yes and talked about a chat with his wife, who still prefers to shop in stores. He is worried about "the almighty hand of the government coming in and oppressing" the Internet. As with the New Hampshire debate, Orrin mentioned intellectual property issues. McCain gave a rambling follow-up and blurted out "mccain.com" -- and Orrin blurted out "hatch.com" and again hit up viewers for thirty-six bucks.

Orrin to Keyes -- McCain-Feingold is unconstitutional, what do we do? Keyes said they're all wrong -- that there should be NO restrictions on contributions from private individuals, but NO dollar vote without a ballot vote -- that means NO money from companies or unions! It would drive out special interests by driving out the politicians who get paid by them. Keyes also predicted that many people would be dissuaded from contributing by publication of their names.

Closing remarks:

Bauer touched on "issues of the human heart" and gave an Evangelical sermon. Snore.

Bush plodded through platitudes about the American dream and a conservative agenda. Snore.

Hatch said that he had a record of experience, accomplishment and consensus-building, talked about his impoverished upbringing and job as a janitor. He guaranteed "I won't let you down." Orrin sounded a bit choked up.

McCain talked reforming government, the tax code, the military, education, and the need to make reforming campaign finance his top priority.

Keyes said he has a sense of the differences and has heard the promises, but the government is an instrument for doing those things that individuals can't -- then started on an anti-abortion rant.

Forbes did his "new birth of freedom" stump speech. Double yawn.

Once again, McCain took the day, but Keyes also impressed with his brashness and energy. McCain scored high for his passion and strong performance in the "attack" portion of the debate games.