The Fourth Republican Primary Debate

 Today Id like to reveal my take on the fourth republican primary presidential debate that occurred on December 6th.  Out of the four candidates that were present, I greatly disliked two - Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswami.  DeSantis lost my favor because he continually danced around the questions that were posed to him, or would simply ramble about an unrelated topic whenever the questions were difficult.  I don't appreciate it when any politician does that.  I recognize that  nearly all politicians do that from time to time, that doesn't change the fact that I don't like it when it happens and DeSantis dodged his questions way too much for my liking.  As for Vivek, I will admit that he makes some good points in regards to how the media suppresses information, and that even if the suppression of information for the 2020 election wasn't deliberate, it still effected the outcome of the election, possibly skewing it in favor of one candidate or the other.  I also happen to agree with his stance on some of the financial issues that our country faces such as the unfair business practices of the Chinese.  Despite all of this, Ramaswami comes off as if he is trying to hard to emulate Trump in his mannerisms and viewpoints.  I don't really want a Trump copycat.  If I had to choose between a copycat and the original, I would prefer Trump himself each time.  Additionally, Ramaswami came off as confrontational with his accusations against Nikki Haley and Chris Christie.  Now, I recognize that personal attacks have become standard procedure for modern day politics, something that Trump is also guilty of, however, Ramaswami didn't do it in a way that was tactful, giving him the appearance of one who is immature and purposefully rude.  Wither you love him or hate him, Trump just has some sort of dark charisma that makes his abrasiveness almost endearing, whereas with Ramaswami it irritatingly exasperating.   

I don't have much good or bad to say for Haley other than she was able to hold her own against the attacks made towards her - something that not a lot of people can do under pressure, and I really liked that.  Her positions on foreign policy and Medicaid were also good.  

The most surprising performance in my opinion was championed by former governor Chris Christie.  I never really like Christie up to this point as I felt that his only reason for running the race was to desperately prevent trump from winning the presidential race.  While I can understand that, I feel that that is not a sufficient reason for vying to be president.  However, this debate was the I felt that Chris Christie actually was serious about the presidential candidacy, in doing what he felt was right for the country as a whole.  I also appreciated that even though Christie and Haley are current rivals, Christie came to Haley's defense on some of the unnecessary personal attacks that DeSantis and Ramaswami were making.  One key example is when Ramaswami accused Haley of being a Neoconservative.  Now, I personally disagree with the Neocon sentiment that the U.S. should be the world's police force. However,   the use of personal attacks in this context (especially because Haley's husband has served in the military),  I believe the jab was very uncalled for.  Especially, when Ramaswami was accusing her of ignorance in terms of territorial defenses in Ukraine when there is no evidence that Ramaswami himself is aware of such information.  I really like that Chris Christie called Ramaswami out on that in Haley's defense as it shows a portion of Christie's true character.  I recommend taking a closer look at Christies views and points, and i will do the same myself

If you wanted declare an overall winner, I would have to pick Chris Christi due to his clear goals, concise speech, and knowledgeability on the issues he wishes to address.  He also called out Ramaswami for his idiocy, which I'm sure a lot of people really appreciated.