For voters, GOP debate falls short at USF

Column

The Republican debate was more like a demolition derby, and left Florida voters wondering if the candidates understand what's up here.

If you watched the latest Republican debate Monday night, it's understandable if you checked "none of the above" on your Florida primary ballot next week.

Mitt bashed Newt.

Newt bashed Mitt.

Rick Santorum tried to get noticed but probably behaved too decently for that. Ron Paul said the same stuff he always says about reducing government's growth and influence, but that message hasn't helped him break out of the pack.

Put it this way: If this was a college football poll, Paul would be classed with teams "also receiving votes." No offense intended to his incredibly loyal supporters, but to this point it's true.

Besides, I'm guessing that the highlight clips from this debate will focus on the fireworks between the two front-runners. It was entertaining.

Former poll leader Mitt Romney said current leader Newt Gingrich is an "influence peddler" who worked as a lobbyist and was pushed out as speaker of the House "in disgrace." Newt said Mitt is a liar and he did no such thing. Actually, he said, "You've been walking around this state saying things that aren't true."

And so it went during the latest version of Republican demolition derby, this time at the University of South Florida.

Maybe this is just how it has to be, but if you're a voter just trying to figure out which of the four men contending for the Republican nomination is best able to directly address your issues, you might feel a little deflated about now. That's particularly true if you're from Florida, where we're still waiting for a signal that these candidates understand what's up here.

They touched on the housing and mortgage crisis. They talked about jobs. That's nice, but it seemed more like textbook talking points and less from the heart.

In the hours before this latest debate, for instance, there was a panel discussion at USF – no candidates were there – on retirement issues. Social Security and Medicare are big deals everywhere, of course, but in no other state are they bigger issues than here.

"I think it's a very sad commentary when we've had, what, 1,200 Republican debates so far and they've been allowed to all get away with bumper sticker slogans," Heritage Foundation lead analyst David John said during the discussion.

I was able to ask Gingrich about his Social Security plan a few hours after that during his meeting with the Tribune's editorial board.

He has one.

"I would take Social Security off budget and return it to a true trust fund so that no president ever again will say what (President) Obama said in July. Twice he said, 'We may not be able to send you your checks.' That's baloney," Gingrich said.

He said he'd offer a program where participants have the option of staying with the current Social Security plan or direct a portion of their contributions to a private account that would invest in the stock market and bonds. He said it is modeled after a program in Chile.

It was a specific answer to a question of importance to Florida. Agree with it, disagree, but it's the type of issue that should be thoroughly aired because it affects everyone. Instead we get too much of what we saw in the opening moments of the debate.

"I think it's going to come down to a question of leadership," Romney said during his first turn at the microphone. "If you're going to choose the president of the United States, you're looking for someone to lead this country at a very critical time, lead the free world, and the free world has to lead the entire world. The speaker was given an opportunity to lead our party in 1994 and after four years he had to resign in disgrace."

Gingrich fired back quickly.

Oh, and that whole Social Security thing. They didn't say much about it.

Maybe next time.