Rick Perry-Mitt Romney Fight Video: GOP Debate Gets Nasty

by NowPublic Staff | October 19, 2011 at 08:02 am

181 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Mitt Romney vs Rick Perry: Best Part of October 18 Republican Debate

We watch political debates for the fights, and that's okay. The October 18 Republican debate in Las Vegas did not disappoint: the main event turned out to be Rick Perry vs Mitt Romney over illegal immigration.

Rick Perry launched on Mitt Romney, bringing up Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, in which it was revealed that he had hired a landscaping company that used illegal immigrants in its workforce.

You can see the video below, which starts inauspiciously with Rick Perry saying that Texas "has one of the best healthcare systems in the world", as if illegal immigrants are the ones stopping Americans from getting healthcare.

While he may have scored a quick point on Romney, his case of interrupt-itis made him look a bit childish. WIlliam J. Bennett, a Republican analyst, said that Perry only ended up hurting himself.

Indeed, the overall squabbling tone of the debate (to us, it didn't seem worse than normal, but perhaps that's part of the problem) could be a turnoff for voters; not that it matters, because, if you're voting Republican, you're realistically going to have to choose one of these candidates.

Herman Cain is still the most interesting candidate (and he is an interesting guy in our opinion), but his lack of knowledge across all areas coming up in these debates is alarming. He doesn't even seem to understand the implications of his own 9-9-9 plan. What does it say about the overall field that he remains on top in the polls?

Still, it makes for great television.

And a quick note to the Republican debate participants: it's pronounced "NOO-clee-ar", and not "NEW-kyoo-lur". This is an important word to get right these days.