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Who Won the GOP Debate?
I didn’t watch the debate Wednesday night, nor was I planning to. Every candidate is going to say they won, and every pundit is going to let you know their preference with their critique. For example, we have this “hot take” from Mary Katherine Ham (whom I like, though I also think she has lost touch with the base).
https://twitter.com/mkhammer/status/1722421008353693934?t=mVwEPeVBazP46s777-yuEA&s=19
Each campaign will post their top moments and claim they won. Vivek called Nikki Haley Dick Cheney in three-inch heels, and her response was:
https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1722424683428004021?t=KlfUIvhbEdNAGRqohvTYBg&s=19
I am trying to figure this out, how it is a response, and what she was trying to say. The ratio on X implies that I am not the only one.
I’ve only seen one highlight reel and that was Vivek’s. He listed five top moments. Number 5 was saying that one reason that Millenials and Gen Z have lost pride in the US is that they feel the American Dream isn’t available to them. I’d add that many Gen X feel that way as well, but no one really cares what Gen X thinks.
His point about college debt is spot on. We have made it almost a requirement to attend college and then inflated the costs through free money via loans that end up with kids graduating tens of thousands in debt before they even get going. My oldest graduated in May. She owes about $25K from four years. We told her that she can live at home for a few years and, instead of paying for rent/utilities, can pay off her loans. She is sticking away 50% of her paycheck to that end and hopes to pay them off in less than 18 months…but how many families can or want to do that?
Number 4 was saying no to the neocons. This is where I diverge most with Trump and Vivek in my beliefs. But, his line about spending trillions, killing millions, and making billions resonates with many because those of us who do believe in a strong policy of intervention have failed to make that case for why our interests are at stake. I don’t think we need to go everywhere and solve every problem, but we also cannot walk away from the world. Luckily, we can strike a balance, and I think we will going forward. The line about Dick Cheney in three-inch heels does pit Haley and her profiting from her post-government career, even if I prefer her basic foreign policy to Vivek’s.
Number 3: improve people’s economics by increasing the supply of energy, stopping paying people not to work, and challenging restrictions on home building that increase those costs. This is why we see cities sprawling further and further from their cores…because it’s expensive and difficult to build in cities. But cities are where the work is, especially the high-paying jobs. Yes, hybrid and remote work is here to stay, but the coming commercial real estate crisis is already driving companies to get people back into empty office suites before that market crashes.
Number 2 was where he called out the Democrats for running a fake nominee in Joe Biden. He says it better than I can relate, so I won’t even try, but he notes what many do believe: that Biden isn’t really in charge but is being managed by others.
Lastly, his “top moment” was calling out that NBC was given this debate by the RNC. He offered his time to Ronna Romney McDaniel to come up and resign due to her performance, and she has been reported to have called him an “a–hole” and said that he will get no money or support from the RNC. If true, and it’s been reported fairly widely, his call for her to resign should be joined by many others as it is unbecoming of her position as Chair of the RNC. Even better, he directly went at Kristen Welker and demanded that she answer if her coverage of the Russian Collusion story was real or Clinton promoted disinformation. Obviously she declined to answer.
You can see his “supercut” here and it’s pretty good. I’m sure others have their own, I just haven’t seen them.
https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1722480586432840099
Hugh Hewitt was on the stage as well and it took NBC almost half an hour to give him a question. He evidently asked about TikTok and ship numbers, both of which are solid and important topics, but otherwise appears to have been a non-factor (in a way, that’s exactly as it should be). The fact that we even mention debate moderators is a problem because they shouldn’t be the story.
Anyway, does it even matter? Will anyone get within three times the Margin of Error of Trump?
Published in Election 2024
Trump
Yep
Ramaswamy runner up.
Just watched Vivek’s video. It’s good. He’s gotten better at this.
I watched some of it. Nikki did her thing. She hasn’t really had a misstep in any of these debates. I don’t care for her foreign policy positions but if you like her, you probably thought she did well. Christie was more sober and actually talked about issues more than about Trump. Scott is a nice guy but he had an air of desperation about him. His answers were rushed and talking-point heavy. Maybe he wants a cabinet position, or maybe he should just go back and do his job in the Senate. DeSantis seemed much more at ease and gave some good responses, but he too often defaults to an awkward smile and a much-practiced sound bite. He seems stuck in second gear.
If you’re on the Vivek wagon he was entertaining, apparently. I find him to be the most obnoxious candidate from any party in years. He began by attacking the moderators and NBC, then continued to attack everyone else. He was rude and intellectually incontinent. He never answered a question but bridged to his key attack-laden talking points. I have the sense that Vivek spends an inordinate amount of time practicing in front of a mirror with himself as the audience…rapturous applause every time! (His three-inch heels jab at DeSantis fell so flat he had to keep repeating it.) If you think Trump is obnoxious but Vivek is fine you need to have your head examined. His treatment of Nikki Hailey alone disqualifies him…if he had any support from women it has left the building. What a [redacted] PO[redacted].
None of these candidates will be Trump’s running mate.
He was the most entertaining. Tim Scott and Chris Christie should drop out. They suck.
Haley, DeSantis and Ramaswamy are all good quality candidates and I can see Haley being most popular with independents.
I don’t care for him but Vivek had the attack/statement of the night by going after Ronna McDaniels and Kristen Welker. Her infuriating grin in response to his challenge about the Russia Collusion Hoax was devastating.
I heard enough of it to be mortified. The war rhetoric was staggering. Nikki was the worst.
I can’t believe how much I disagreed with them all on just about everything except for Vivek who was the only one making any sense.
Each one seemed more inauthentic than the next.
They all came off as very angry with China, Russia, and Iran and itching for a fight. I think they have a highly inflated idea of what our nation’s capabilities are as well as our (and their) credibility and world status.
Scary.
Larry Kudlow should be Trump’s running mate. He makes Trump’s case better than Trump does:
https://twitter.com/mkhammer/status/1722421008353693934
https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1722424683428004021
https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1722480586432840099
The embedding widget isn’t working. At least they’re clickable now.
This is big because it is most illustrative of the system generated by the globalist bankers and investors. High but still under control inflation is the key and this is made possible by the unlimited government spending and the control within the Executive Branch augmented by the Federal Reserve System. The 1970s showed the power of this approach so it was carried out in spades as part of the the governments involvement in the 2008 economic debacle and has led to the enormous power of the few in economic matters crucial to the middle class such as housing, education, and healthcare.
This is really number one.
I only watched the first 30 minutes, and even then only because of this post.
The last game show I’ve actually watched was Password, but I’ve seen snippets of others since and my first reaction was this is Family Feud.
My second was that Less Holt was the occupier, right down to the visible irritation Holt showed the third time he reprimanded the audience for any supportive applause.
And my third thought was that I was getting seasick watching the rocking and rolling of the background.
And my final thought was that the contestants all were rather restrained in their speechifying, but speechifying it was. It would better have been done on Zoom.
Nikki is disgusting to me. ‘My heels are ammunition’. She’s going to take us on a girlpower tour through Armageddon.
Vivek was nailing the sentiment that gave us Trump. The anger directed at him highlights the fact that the neocons hate Trumps policies first, and it has little to do with personality, as they like to claim.
I can’t believe how much hate Vivek gets. Obnoxious slick talker seems to be the line I hear most, but that doesn’t resonate with me. I’ve watched Vivek in hours of various in depth podcasts and he comes off as consistent, clear, bold, and realistic every time. His prioritization of issues and general stance on them closely matches mine.
But anyone who chants rap music from the podium is “unfit for office”, and doesn’t afford it the “dignity” it requires. Remember, gravitas is not just what makes an apple fall.
uttering truth nuggets = “obnoxious”
common sense well articulated = “slick talker”
I think the reason both Trump and Vivek don’t dwell so much on spending issues per se is that other issues likes globalization, warmongering, uncontrolled immigration and borders, and Communist behavior a la police state domestically are all posing greater danger at the moment. This range of desperate matters shows the importance of changing who leads the Republican Party and the need to re-establish true American values by electing better representation in both houses of Congress going forward from 2024. Congress is where the control of spending should be controlled.
I keep thinking that Vivek would give us the best possible federal government and healthiest body politic at the end of his term. He treats people like people, instead of as a sum of their positions, and that attribute is lacking among our politicians.
But lefties and many others really find him smarmy. Does that make him unelectable?
I continue to think the strongest ticket would be a Vivek/Nikki or Vivek/DeSantis ticket. Gives both of the VPs somewhere to go in their political career, and lets Vivek get the job of fixing our deep state done.
No President wants a VP who wants to go somewhere in their career. The last time that happened was LBJ and that gets into conspiracy theory territory. VPs may think they are going somewhere but that’s not always the case. Just ask Mike Pence or Dan Quayle.
It could work for a lame duck like Trump and Vivek could also be a candidate. If you have a VP to Trump with somewhere to go, it could make them do everything possible to make Trump a success.
Better at what? Sounding like a petulant know it all jackass? Yep he’s got that down pat
On the topic of college students and debt: I’d like to see their 4- year expenditures on entertainment and experiences. I bet for most students at least 1/2 of their borrowing went for lifestyle “extras.”