Anyone wondering where the 2012 presidential race has been hiding will get an answer of sorts with the first GOP debate tonight in Greenville, S.C. But will the eventual nominee be there? The confirmed participants are former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (in photo), former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, businessman Hermain Cain and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. Only Pawlenty is considered “even close to top-tier material,” noted Washington Post bloggers Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake, who also wrote that “the debate will be more defined more by who isn’t there than who is.”
“Through last year and much of this session, what Kansans heard loudest from the anti-nudity crowd was that strip clubs and other adult-oriented establishments were bad for property values, generated crime and were difficult for small communities to keep from spreading into their midst,” wrote Topeka Capital-Journal columnist Ric Anderson. “But none of those arguments produced enough traction for the proposed restrictions to make it through the Legislature. . . . Then, however, came a compelling story in The Wichita Eagle during mid-March about human trafficking, and now what we’re hearing is the crackdown is needed to battle that problem.” Though trafficking is a serious issue, Anderson questioned whether the best way to tackle it was by targeting businesses that have little or nothing to do with that problem. In the end, the Senate still didn’t have enough votes Wednesday to advance the bill.
Anyone wondering where the 2012 presidential race has been hiding will get an answer of sorts with the first GOP debate tonight in Greenville, S.C. But will the eventual nominee be there? The confirmed participants are former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (in photo), former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, businessman Hermain Cain and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. Only Pawlenty is considered “even close to top-tier material,” noted Washington Post bloggers Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake, who also wrote that “the debate will be more defined more by who isn’t there than who is.”
