So many words

I just finished watching two debates in New Hampshire. Four Democrats, six Republicans, lots of words and at times, not much was said. It was fascinating to watch the exhanges between candidates, to see their facial expressions, and to watch the body language. I was surprised at the amount of mud slinging that took place in the Republican debate and then how relatively little there was during the Democratic debate. One of my least favorite parts about politics is how they mock each other. Just tell me what you believe. Convince me to vote for you based on what you believe not by slamming your opponents.

Thoughts from the Republican debate:
- I'm not keen on sending home 12 millions illegal immigrants so they can get in the back of the line and try to get into the US legally. I don't pretend to have the answers, but that's one that I don't like for sure!
- What about the economy? The poor? Unemployment? Where was the talk about these issues?
- If I had to choose today to vote for a Republican, it would be Huckabee because he seems to be the most compassionate.

Thoughts from the Democratic debate:
- Change, change, change - while I agree that we need change, we also need to do more than just throw the word around. What do you think needs to change? How will you do - specifically? I liked how Clinton pointed out that change takes work, hard work. It's not going to happen overnight, for the most part. Clinton also noted that change is hard, change is possible if you're prepared to do what needs to be done.
- Richardson had a number of good quotes. He's very passionate which I liked. He admonished everyone to remain positive and said that "I've been in hostage negotiations more civil than this." Amen!
- Obama had an interesting quote about Iraq: we should be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in. Words to chew on...
- I wasn't too keen on all Edwards talk about fighting for the middle class. While I appreciate his passion and talk about how it's personal for him, I have to ask, what about the lower class? What about the poor? I realize he's talking about a shift from a focus on the rich but I hope we don't lose sight of the poor among us.
- One of my favorite moments was when Obama admitted to flipping between the Republican debate and football.
- If I had to choose today to vote for a Democrat, it would be a really difficult choice. On the one hand, I really liked Richardson's passion and they way he kept bringing up the economy, education, health care and other issues. On the other hand, I really like Obama's message of change.

It's still anyone's game...