An excerpt from the Register’s post-debate editorial:
The United States faces great challenges, and some of the candidates offered forward-looking ideas. Others, however, seemed to pretend America can take the easy way out, or they reinforced a fortress mentality.
An example: Register Editor Carolyn Washburn, who moderated the debate, asked whether the country’s financial situation creates a national security risk.
A sampling of responses: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said the United States must be able to feed and fuel itself and manufacture its own weapons. (True, but he didn’t say how he would ensure the nation could do that.)
Maybe the reason why Gov. Huckabee didn’t say how he would ensure that is because the Register’s moderator gave him 30 seconds to answer the question. They did give the candidates a chance to follow-up. Another 30 seconds.
The editorial continues:
Most candidates spent too much time trying to prove toughness against the threat of terrorism, which should be a given for any candidate seeking the White House. Americans expect their government to protect and defend them.
If only it were so. Here’s the transcript. From my read of it, what the Register wrote just isn’t true.