Your friend Jim George thinks you'd be a great addition to Ricochet, so we'd like to offer you a special deal: You can become a member for no initial charge for one month!
Ricochet is a community of like-minded people who enjoy writing about and discussing politics (usually of the center-right nature), culture, sports, history, and just about every other topic under the sun in a fully moderated environment. We’re so sure you’ll like Ricochet, we’ll let you join and get your first month for free. Kick the tires: read the always eclectic member feed, write some posts, join discussions, participate in a live chat or two, and listen to a few of our over 50 (free) podcasts on every conceivable topic, hosted by some of the biggest names on the right, for 30 days on us. We’re confident you’re gonna love it.
This won’t be another debate recap post. An army of pundits (Please note: Worst. Army. Ever.) has already dissected last night’s proceedings and the emerging consensus seems about right to me: Carly Fiorina dominated, Marco Rubio and Chris Christie both had some pretty good moments, and Donald Trump’s pilot light kept shutting off. Everyone else was basically treading water. In the undercard debate, Bobby Jindal and Lindsey Graham both looked serviceable, but c’mon — it’s not that big of a deal
Look, I am never, ever going to get back together with TRUMP.
But, I really, truly, do appreciate him being there.
He makes the wishy-washy candidates take a stand, which is the last thing they want to do.
He makes the guys beholden to the special interests try to defend those interests.
And he makes everyone else (namely, Carly) actually campaign.
Seriously, everyone, he’s never going to get the nomination. If he acts as a trial run for the real race, he’s done *all of us* a favor, no matter how annoying it seems right now.
Mitt could have used the same in 2012. Imagine life right now.
Whenever mainstream people on the right use alpha/beta it always feels kind of sad. Its always in the context of people I like and people I don’t like.
You’re being this guy.
Don’t be that guy.
The next debate’s in Boulder? Next thing you know the RNC will stick the convention in Cleveland.
Agree with your Kasich take, Troy. He’s not as appealing as his perfect-storm victory in OH would indicate. He’d have been perfectly positioned for VP if he’d stayed hidden here. But he introduced himself to the country and blew it.
Thanks for the pic of Huckabee’s palazzo, now that I know how much the care and feeding of conservative media types cost, I’m not surprised we invented the Thatcher and Reagan tiers. How about a picture of chez Senik?
I understand you and I are about the same age, so I think you’ll still be a little too wet behind the ears by inauguration day. But hey, 2020 ain’t that far off.
Agree with dnewlander that Trump has value — mostly by drawing unprecedented audiences, which are then exposed to an impressive field of candidates.
Ouch
And George Pataki likely doesn’t have the support of a majority of voters in his own home.
Ted Cruz: He could crush Trump and has the bonafides for the right wing, but your criticism is spot on from last night. They need to be worried. He has been an outspoken Senator for a while, won cases before SCOTUS and is a textbook of knowledge. He can’t show up acting like he knotted his necktie too tight again.
Carly Fiorina: I love her fight and taking down Trump. Your comments are perfect. Now comes the scrutiny and there may be some issues that slow the train to the nomination. She is reviled by some libertarians that prioritize privacy and the 4th amendment. She is still a leader, but do not expect calm seas and smooth sailing.
Trump: Down, but not out. What’s next? If he continues the “I’m gonna be best…” schtick he is short lived. If he realizes he got hit in the mouth, this is the big leagues, and details matter more than insults, then gets down to concrete strategy and policy he can be very dangerous. I met a guy years ago that was a contractor for him on Trump Tower. He told us a story about how Trump would blow in, walk through, but then tell everyone how many screws in the switch plates weren’t vertical. He has attention to detail we haven’t seen yet.
Here’s a pic of Casa de Gabriel, sitting on some prime real estate in suburban Mesa, Arizona.
I’ve been There. It’s a lot bigger on the inside:
Buffoon may be the brand, but every sitcom buffoon eventually has an episode where they demonstrate effectiveness.
Trump is Trump all the way down, as Jonah Goldberg might say. A great danger for him is that his schtick will get old.
It may be a horserace term for most political journalists, but it has a slightly more distinct meaning for those of us who’ve worked with pack animals. Trump’s appeal has been couched almost entirely in his dominance of personality. Watch that video again. Carly got his tail between his legs. The description fits.
Don’t be that guy cannot follow posting an Offspring video. Posting an Offspring video is the most “don’t be that guy” move of all. (If I didn’t find emojis degrading, I’d be winking here).
This strikes me as the more plausible case: you come for Trump, you hang around and watch everyone else.
I’d quibble with the argument that he’s forcing other candidates to take stands. I don’t see any evidence of that. Who’s he pushing on substance in these debates? Now, you can certainly argue that he’s bringing certain issues more to the fore, but we can debate whether or not they’re worth the candle.
I, for instance, am both a fairly strong immigration hawk and a critic of birthright citizenship as a policy matter. That said, I think the time we’ve sunk into that issue has mostly been wasted. It’s an extremely small part of the immigration question and one that you could only change through an effort entirely disproportionate to the outcome.
This sounds right. Rubio’s performance impresses me a bit more than it has others, however. I would be sorry to see Walker out. But a guy who cannot talk the talk is not going to be allowed to walk the walk.
To paraphrase a line from “the Social Network”, if Cruz could have crushed Trump, he would have crushed Trump. But he’s seemingly content to play Trump’s Mini-Me until the likely sputtering out or implosion of the the Trump campaign. People are likely to remember this phase, though, and it’s going to be a ceiling on Cruz’s appeal. I understand that he expects to pick up Trump’s supporters. It doesn’t make him look like a leader.
To be fair to Cruz, some of the things that put me off about him are superficial, but they add up. One thing he can’t help is having Chris Wallace eyebrows, which give him a plaintive look, and a pursed mouth that makes it look like he’s about to cry. He uses this “look” to some effect; he knows how to project fiery indignation. In sheer IQ, Cruz is hard to beat, but that’s not what elections are about. If you love Cruz, great, don’t let me discourage you; but if you don’t love Cruz, he comes across as Eddie Haskell crossed with Al Gore.
@Troy
A tip of the hat to u sir
The end of Trump will be when he fights with Chuck U Schumer for camera time. Combover vs Plugs.
Buffoon? Boring? Word choices matter.
In real time, I had the same reaction that most people did to the several Trump/Fiorina exchanges, that Carly came out looking strong and poignant. But there’s one place where I think he may have drawn some serious blood. Carly’s record at HP.
Trump trashed Carly’s record hard last night. He violated the unwritten rule of the intrasquad scrimmage, that it can be physical as long as no one gets hurt. Trump went for the throat against his teammate, and you can bet the Trump zealots are going to pile on. I’m going to assume no one in that camp is taking Christie’s advice to focus on the real opponents, the Democrats.
I’m pissed about the failure of the GOP leadership to follow through on its promises, too. But Trump is such a classless pea-brain, it’s maddening that his brand of vitriol finds any constituency in the Republican base.
Troy, you’ve said everything I’ve been thinking. Just so.
Not just big, also fugly.
I’m surprised you find Walker’s “decline” surprising. It seems to me entirely predictable. Somnambulance hardly seems like a winning quality.
I think a lot of us are surprised by Walker’s ho-hum performance in the debates and silly campaign errors. My three favorite picks this spring were Walker, Perry, and Jindal, which tells you how different I am then whoever answers polls.
Cruz would make the best president, but Rubio is the best candidate for the general election.
Z in MT, you nailed my choices too. On policy, brains, ability to stand up to the left. That those three have gone to the dogs is largely the result of Trump taking all the O2 out of the room. Do you remember about a month ago when Walker and Perry both made big policy announcements on the same day? I don’t either, but they did.
Trump is, as I have repeatedly said, a paid stalking horse for Hillary. He is being promised something, perhaps exclusive rights to develop in the Northeast corridor, when she is elected. In return he’s a hand grenade among the Repubs. One down, 16 to go.
When Hillary is indicted and drops out, Trump will too.
Just about everyone acknowledges that Carly was the alpha on that stage. The nomination is hers to lose as long as she continues to project leadership.
Who can unseat her?
Trump will give it a go, but his party-wide influence is limited, and he knows that Carly will embarrass him in a head to head challenge.
Christie might challenge her, but he’ll have to shed the “it’s not about me” persona that worked so well for him last night. Counterproductive.
Kasich? Swing and a miss.
Cruz? Challenging Carly from the right will only strengthen her among the GOP establishment.
Rubio’s talents will assure that he gains popularity, but she’ll make him look like a prep school kid if he dares to challenge her leadership and experience.
Jeb? Too polite. But, Jeb! + $$$ could be trouble if the rest of the party fails to unify behind Carly. T
Are any of the others likely to even mount a serious challenge?
Jeb! and Trump seem to be the Yin and Yang of the (R) primaries and the world will be a better place when both are yanked and yanged out.
I agree with Troy’s analysis, but I also found myself nodding along with Mark Levin tonight. Levin’s point: Christie, Fiorina and others correctly joined in criticizing Boehner and McConnell for failing to do much of anything in Congress to oppose President Obama’s agenda, but where were they in 2013 when Ted Cruz and Mike Lee were trying to stop Obamacare?
Fiorina gave an impressive performance last night as an articulate, full-spectrum conservative, but she last ran for office as a quintessential moderate California Republican. There is also her tumultuous tenure at HP to consider.
Rubio has impressive gifts and tea party bona fides, but jumped aboard the amnesty-first-security-never Gang of Eight bill, providing conservative cover for Chuck Schumer. Not exactly reassuring.
Christie sounded great–a full-throated conservative. Too bad about the contrary record in New Jersey.
In short, I’m going to take my time and watch events unfold.
The shutdown strategy was controversial, even among conservatives. Fiorina didn’t support it, but she actively spoke out against Obamacare.
How else could one have a chance at winning statewide office in California?
Her HP tenure will be attacked, and she will have to defend it. So far, there doesn’t seem to be much ‘there’ there, but I’ll admit that it is a wildcard.