Former Republican Senator: The GOP presidential field is ‘embarrassing.' I agree

I’ve been watching some of these Republican debates and they’re just terrible. Terrible. What have been the big applause lines in these debates? Well, a statement that the governor of Texas is responsible for killing 234 people on death row. Or that we favor torture. Or that we’re creating a fence on the Mexican border that electrocutes people when they try to cross it. Or when people show up at the emergency room at hospitals and they’re not insured don’t treat them. And that, I mean these are the big applause lines, people just hoop and holler when they hear all that.

--Republican John Danforth, who served as a senator from Missouri for nearly 20 years and later as George W. Bush’s ambassador the United Nations

I agree. Just look at the field and you get a good reflection of the state of the GOP: intellectually and morally compromised.

Santorum - a social conservative extremist
Bachmann - an extremist in nearly every regard
Gingrich - an undisciplined and inconsistent leader who isn't respected by his former GOP colleagues
Romney - a man with no center or character who will do anything to be president except comport himself with integrity and dignity
Paul - principled, but way out of the political mainstream
Perry - someone who is not smart enough to lead this country through difficult times...and has many of skeletons in the closet.
Cain - a man who appears to have sexually harassed many women and has a long-time affair at the same time he positions himself as a social conservative.

While I don't agree with Huntsman on his policies, he is the only person with the gravitas and temperament to be president.

Danforth is right: this field is embarrassing.

joe