Campaign For Liberty: Meet the candidates of the 12th

Campaign for Liberty held a event to meet the candidates running in the Republican Primary in the 12th Congressional District.

The candidates there were Scott Sipprelle, Mike Halfacre, and David Corsi. I don't know of any others.

Sipprelle came off as the most serious of the three. He gave detailed answers to many questions and tried to answer the questions directly rather than shift to his preferred talking points. He was clearly irritated at the bringing up of his donations to five House democrats and Chuck Schumer in 2002. He said he was offended and explained his donations were to Blue Dogs in hopes of swaying them to vote against Obamacare. Four of them ended up voting against it. He explained his positions on the Federal Reserve, taxes, the economy which does not include abolishing it. He is a "to-the point guy", with a less than poetic delivery, being blunt at times, and as I said serious. The other candidates were unwilling to challenge him on policy.

Mike Halfacre is probably the most likable of the three. He smiled alot, spoke directly to the person asking the question, tried to be funny, and gave Republican talking points as answers. But he gave the least amount of detail of the three. His personal story is nice but he repeated it three times. And claiming he was "from the streets" made me cringe. His answer on abortion was awful, demonstrating he seems to think the issue is more political rather than moral. His answers on taxes and spending were better. He was the more realistic and practical one. He also elaborated the least during rebuttal, satisfied with his first round answers.

David Corsi was the most entertaining. He has unique positions on the Fair Tax, on the Federal Reserve, and other government programs. He wants to abolish the Medicare and Medicaid programs (not sure how that is possible). He demonstrated strong knowledge in these areas but his solutions seemed not only unrealistic, but I am not convinced they would work. He had a spat with a tax attorney (or accountant I don't remember) regarding the 16th Amendment which was mystifying. It is unclear why, but the debate on the 16th Amendment got very fiery and delayed the whole event for a good 8-10 minutes. Corsi held his ground and did not get angry or visibly shaken by the man. On the other hand, it was difficult to take Corsi seriously with his very ambitious and radical plans. While Halfacre was more realistic, Corsi was the radical idealist. Corsi also stayed out of the spat between Sipprelle and Halfacre, which was most wise.

Sipprelle is the serious answer man, Halfacre reminds me of the high school captain of the football team, and Corsi the entertainer. I could imagine Sipprelle getting up in front of the class giving complete answers while Halfacre poked fun at him trying to make the class laugh and ignore his presentation. Corsi meanwhile is the class clown, getting plenty of positive attention, but with no one really taking him seriously.

As a matter of disclosure, I was a mix of class clown and slacker that never tried in high school.

Overall, I think no one is served by a drawn out personal battle between two Republicans. Sipprelle was pushed off his positive and substantive message for a brief time. If he stays on it, he has the policy expertise and seriousness to carry on. He cannot allow these silly attacks (which are fairly weak even if all true), to drag him into a personal battle. Corsi will likely run as the libertarian candidate which is a horrible fit for the district.

Halfacre clearly knows how to deflect attacks and remain likable while his website and campaign aides are constantly on the offensive, attacking Sipprelle week-after-week. A personal battle will push out the policy differences, intelligence, and capability in exchange for a decision on who is most bearable and most believable. Halfacre could convince them he is the safe, bearable one. If the decision shifts more to the issues, Sipprelle has the advantage.

My choice is Sipprelle. I have always preferred the "smart" ones rather than the "clever" ones.