I had never heard of this guy, but then he doesn’t know who the Swiss President is. I’m new to American politics and my first impressions from the YouTube clip is that he comes across as a nice principled guy. He seems trustworthy and a lot of what he say about government vis-a-vis commerce, war and diplomacy makes sense. However, I was left wondering how much of his emphasis on social and legal contracts, which seemed to be pivotal to his idealogical thrust, are workable. I was a little unclear how you do away with the IRS and Medicare, and what replaces it. He also seemed to side-step the issue of global warming. Whether you believe it is man made or not, it can’t be ignored. It seems that contracts will govern everything and business will fund everything. What role is left for government?
Allowing guns on planes, which he says could have prevented 9/11 is a very shaky supposition. He appeared equally ambiguous on gay rights as on environmental issues.
Judging the man himself; his demeanor and ethos, I was left wondering whether he has presidential charisma. Arms flap about and he rambles, I found myself drifting off. I just can’t see him strutting the world stage, and being taken very seriously.
