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The Republican Debate: Conclusions

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Good debate, Fox News did itself proud. The questions were tough, well-researched, meaningful. 

The candidate who impressed me was Kasich. He was shockingly reasonable and human. But these candidates were obviously not speaking to me. I disagree with them on every single issue. (You’re gonna send weapons to Ukraine? In fucking 2017? Keep up, loser, the situation changes daily. Nobody in Ukraine is sitting on their asses, waiting for you to wake up. Ukrainians are not your talking point that stays the same for years to accommodate your lazy ass. OK, sorry, rant over. I’m all, don’t take Ukraine’s name in vain around me or I fly off the handle.)

So who do you think won in the eyes of the intended audience? And who lost? Who did unexpectedly well? Or unexpectedly poorly? What’s your read on the prospects?

21 responses to “The Republican Debate: Conclusions”

  1. jeff Avatar
    jeff

    It’s hard to say. Too many candidates, too little time to say something meaningful. Many relied on prefab quips they brought to the debate. The Donald didn’t make as much of a splash as everyone expected.

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  2. Evelina Anville Avatar
    Evelina Anville

    I think Kasich could be very dangerous to the Democrats. I don’t think he can win the entire primary but I could see him being a powerful VP candidate. And if he delivers Ohio to the Republicans? That would go very very far in clinching the election.

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    1. Stringer Bell Avatar
      Stringer Bell

      Completely agree. Note how the audience reacted favorably to his comments about loving his family members even if they were gay. This is a big shift from previous elections.

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      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        I wish somebody finally had the balls to ask, “What if your child is a woman and her life is imperiled without an abortion? Would you support her or let her die?”

        It’s ridiculous that we still have a bunch of 60 – year-old men pontificating about the best way to manage women’s bodies for an hour.

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    2. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I never saw Kasich before but he made a big impression. He comes off as a reasonable, calm, salt of the earth fellow. Especially against the background of everybody else.

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  3. Evelina Anville Avatar
    Evelina Anville

    And I agree that Fox news did a wonderful job. Never thought I would say that! But the questions were great.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Fox News had to ask hard questions to make it look like Trump was not the only person in the field who’s not afraid of straight talk and tackling hard questions.

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  4. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Kasich too human to win a republican primary. Bush was boring, but solid. Clearly the favorite. These two stood out for me.

    None of the rest improved on their position. They all lost ground.

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    1. Evelina Anville Avatar
      Evelina Anville

      Yes. I agree. But I am now very worried about a Bush/Kasich ticket.

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      1. Shakti Avatar
        Shakti

        Bush would need someone to signal to the True Wingnut Believers that he will scorch the earth. Never mind that all of these guys are right wing ideologues, Kasich appears way too reasonable and possibly more charismatic than pequeñito Shrub, which could be a plus/minus depending on whether Bush wants to be upstaged.

        Bush/Walker would be a dangerous ticket simply because they’d be able to combine their SuperPACs and the Koch Brothers into a super Voltron of endless money. Plus Walker’s deceptively derpy face hides the fact that he’s been very effective at union busting which true believers love. I could even see Walker/Bush.

        Trump is still on top because bluster plays well.

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        1. Evelina Anville Avatar
          Evelina Anville

          The prospect of a Bush/Walker presidency truly frightens me. And you are right: between the two of them, they would have nearly endless supplies of money.

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          1. Clarissa Avatar
            Clarissa

            That would be the most boring ticket ever, though. Both guys are so entirely lacking in charisma, so colorless, so drowsy. Each of them needs a colorful, perky, memorable running mate. Somebody less monotonous and more alive.

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            1. Shakti Avatar
              Shakti

              The lack of charisma, color and sleep inducing properties could be spun as a real asset if people associate them with the “right” values and “back to normal”. People will forgive a lack of charisma if they hate the right people. It’s only Democratic voters who require charisma and color.

              Although I’m trying to remember an election in which the less charismatic person won. I don’t remember Shrub the elder having much charisma at all (nobody wanted to play Bush elder in the mock debate so I ended up doing a Dana Carvey impression), and to me it’s on the bubble as to whether Shrub had more charisma than Kerry. And Shrub needed the Supreme Court to rule in favor of him for his first election against Gore, who was widely regarded as a nerdy robot, especially contrasted with the Bill Clinton charm machine. This wouldn’t happen to a charismatic pol.

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              1. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                Kerry was, unfortunately, the least charismatic candidate. Even Bush looked less wooden and more perky by his side.

                And I can’t agree that Republican voters don’t care about charisma. They keep giving their hearts to Hollywood actors or TV personalities of doubtful credentials. Yes, this is a very vulgar form of charisma but these are people who know how to work the cameras because it’s their job.

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  5. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Man, I had forgotten how bad of a speaker Bush was.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Horrible memories. Man, he sucked. Those were bad, bad times. I can’t believe people are seriously considering inflicting another one of them on us.

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  6. JE Avatar
    JE

    From the way he’s talked about I get the impression that Kasich is the New Coke candidate; he makes a good impression on people who are nevertheless going to vote democrat.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I’m not dedicated to any single party. If Republicans were collectively more like him, I’d be willing to listen to what they have to say. It’s good to have two functioning parties that have something to offer. Unfortunately, right now, the Republican party is a disgrace, as we saw on stage yesterday. 9 out of 10 people are plainly dumb. That’s just sad.

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  7. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    And I can’t agree that Republican voters don’t care about charisma. They keep giving their hearts to Hollywood actors or TV personalities of doubtful credentials. Yes, this is a very vulgar form of charisma but these are people who know how to work the cameras because it’s their job.

    I don’t think they care as much. Yes, they like play actors but they keep fielding boring candidates.

    Seriously, the only really charismatic Republican presidential candidate in my lifetime was Reagan, which as you say, was a former Hollywood actor. There’s a reason why everyone keeps referring to Reagan.

    There were more charismatic Republicans running in the last presidential election but they selected Mitt Romney, animatronic Just-For-Men model. Sarah Palin had a lot of undeniable natural charisma (man she grated on me with her voice and empty headed stupid meanness but people loved her) but she was a vice presidential candidate.
    I admit, I’m biased, but the most charismatic Presidents in my life that I remember were Clinton and Obama. It seems to me that Democratic candidates for President have to be super charismatic or they lose.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Yes, Mitt Romney was anti-charisma personified. I have no idea what they thought letting him run against somebody so naturally personable as Obama. I still can’t get over his completely fake, rehearsed smile. I couldn’t even listen to what Romney had to say because his dead eyes and wooden smile were creeping me out.

      But the worst one in this sense is Walker. He reminds me of Putin so much that it’s scary. There’s usually a lot of bad shit hiding within such indistinct, seemingly insipid, mumbly fellows. Jeb Bush, for instance, I don’t think he’s evil. I think he genuinely wants what’s best. His idea of what’s best is the opposite of mine but I don’t think he’s rotten inside. Walker, though, just looks like something is wrong with him on a profound level.

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  8. NG Avatar
    NG

    “HELL IS EMPTY AND ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE”:

    A SHAKESPEAREAN GUIDE TO THE 2016 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY.

    Donald Trump

    “… many a man hath more hair than wit.”

    Jeb Bush

    “Give me my robe. Put on my crown. I have
    Immortal longings in me.”

    And so on…

    http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hell-is-empty-and-all-the-devils-are-here-a-shakespearean-guide-to-the-2016-republican-primary

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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