Rick Perry, the current governor of Texas, aside from trying to "reform" the universities he did not exactly excel in, also did not engage in debates when he ran for governor of Texas. At the recent Iowa straw poll, the young Republicans even saw this as a positive, that he was somehow not letting the media "spin' him. However, what this really shows is a complete lack of intellectual courage, and it seems to be characterizing most of the current Republican party.
It used to be that when a candidate dodged the media and tough questions they were not seen as a credible candidate. They were characterized as lacking the necessary intellectual ingredients to hold public office. However, with the rise of the Tea Party and conservative media, this seems to no longer be the case. Supporters of these intellectual midgets actually see them dodging mainstream media as a positive thing, perhaps to avoid a "gotcha" question, which is when a Republican is caught in a contradiction or a lie and they are called out on it, like when Newt Gingrich called Ryan's plan to change Medicare "right-wing social engineering," and then spent the next few days backtracking. Or when John McCain called the Tea Party hobbits, and then went on Sean Hannity and did an about face.
Independents, Democrats, and the few moderate Republicans that are left in the GOP need to start holding candidates feet to the fire when they attempt to dodge tough questions. Barack Obama went on the "O'Reilly Factor." I cannot imagine Rick Perry or Mitt Romney having the intellectual hutzpa to go on the Rachel Maddow Show and give her an hour long interview. This is a telling sign of the way the current Republican party has decided to abdicate their responsibility to being an intellectual alternative to the Democrats, and instead have decided to live by talking points and cliches that are lacking in substance.
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