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).

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:

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.

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?