So tonight was the first GOP debate on the Fox News Channel. Not going to spend a lot of time here relating the content of the debate, because in my opinion there wasn’t a lot of content in this debate.
I have to say that the Fox moderators were probably the worst moderators for a debate I have ever watched. They were glib and personal with the candidates, and the questions bordered on being nothing more than tabloid headlines. They were clearly seeking only the sound bite answers to play later. And then on the follow-up of the debate, on The Kelly File, by the way Megyn Kelly was one of the moderators, they spent a lot of time patting themselves on the back about how great the debate was.
I had predicted that Donald Trump would end up being the big story out of this debate, and he did not disappoint. But instead of being his usual self, he seemed small and uncomfortable.
His biggest misstep of the night was the first question he answered, “is there anyone on the stage that won’t pledge to support the winner of the primary, and to not run as a third-party candidate, raise your hand?”
Trumps was the only one to raise his hand, and while some might say that at least he was honest, what you have to understand, what you have to know, is that a third-party candidate would hand deliver the race to the Democrat.
Trump also surely lost points with women voters for his remarks to Megyn Kelly, about how he could be not so nice to her, considering how she had treated him.
All in all, this debate will mean nothing. It may drop some of the so-called top ten down to the “B” team, and allow others to move up, possibly Carly Fiorina who had a good night on the earlier forum held for the so-called “B” team.
Hopefully in future debates we can weed out some of the never-wills, like Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, though he still has a future, just not right now. This doesn’t mean that these candidates are not intelligent, or that they don’t have valid points to make, but unless Republicans voters in this primary, realize it is about winning the general election, and not about a purist ideology test, then the GOP is doomed to fail again.
I think Scott Walker has the broad appeal, and the background and record to win the general, the question is, will the GOP voters, vote for the best candidate who can win the general, or will they vote for the one who puts on the best show, or the one who panders to the fringe?
Time will tell.
It may drop some of the so-called top ten down to the “B” team, and allow others to move up, possibly Carly Fiorina who had a good night on the earlier forum held for the so-called “B” team.
They could run this like they do with the major football leagues around the world ,and it would probably attract more viewers. It’s called the “relegation and promotion” system. You take the three teams who end up at the bottom of the first devision table, and you relegate them to the second devision. Likewise the top three teams from the second devision are promoted to the first devision.
Hopefully in future debates we can weed out some of the never-wills…
The first “never will” to get rid of is Bush. He has the backing of the big-money “establishment,” the same “establishment” that gave us McCain and Romney as “reasonable” cross-the-aisle dealmakers who can carry the “independent” vote.
Unfortunately, Bush (like McCain and Romney) won’t carry the most important component in any election- the base. The GOP establishment just never learns from past errors. At the end of the day, there’d be very little difference between a Hillary and a Jeb presidency.
In presidential politics, conservatives win and those in the middle-of-the-road get run over.
‘In presidential politics, conservatives win and those in the middle-of-the-road get run over.”
So RIck – tell me again why Barak Obama has won not ONE but TWO presidential elections???
Rick, the base is what you build on, usually the “base” is what the party can count on to support it. Unfortunately that is no longer the case, since the so called base has now become the fringe and can no longer be counted on.
As I said, if this becomes nothing but a purity test for ideology, then the primary may choose the most conservative candidate, but that does not equate winning the general election.
What if in the primary the GOP chose the most qualified to run the country, and then in the general, the so called “base” actually helped elect them, instead of supporting some third party lunatic run, or even a write-in. Your McCain and Romney examples only show that if the so called base had supported them, the outcome may have been different. We don’t govern until we win, and we don’t win with trump or Paul, or even Carson.
Your history lesson on conservatives winning is just that in the case of the presidency. You assume that nothing has changed in the nation and its electorate. That so called base has shrunk, not because people are no longer conservative, but because conservatives have allowed themselves to be betrayed as nuts and lunatics, and supporting Trump would simply solidify that impression.
“because conservatives have allowed themselves to be betrayed as nuts and lunatics, and supporting Trump would simply solidify that impression.”
Oh, so Trump is “nut” and “lunatic” now, is he?
He’s worth ten billion dollars.
How much are you worth, oh sane, reasonable person?
I think I’ll go with the guy who knows how to win. And that is Trump, without a doubt.
Fish Bites, I give you Howard Hughes. And the ten billion is Inflated by Trump, in a recent disclosure it was revealed that actual worth is more like 1.4 billion, but hey we don’t care if the guys we support lie, right?
ROFLMAO!!!
Not much difference between clean ex boxes on you feet and a bad comb over? Trump is a side show that should stick to what ever it is that he does and leave public service to others.
“in a recent disclosure it was revealed that actual worth is more like 1.4 billion”
Oh wow Frank. I guess that makes him a real piker.
Can you remind me how many billion you are worth?
No Fish Bits, it proves he’s a braggart or a liar, either one is not in my opinion qualification for president in my view.
So are you telling me that you would only be critical of politicians that have the same net worth as you, and that you actually choose your candidate based on their net worth?
I am neither impressed by or critical of Trump based on his net worth, I prefer my choices to be based on qualifications and for them to be, oh, I don’t know, maybe not a clown?