Last night 24 million of our fellow Americans tuned in to a premier performance any sane person could only describe as a mindless cacophony of know-nothing crazy.
The screeching dissonance ranged from threatening to bolts of lightning, misogynistic Trumpeted thunderclaps to barely audible Bushian whispers pleading for the asylum inmates to quiet down so as not to expose their madness and scare off the few remaining voices of reason.
As for maestro Hillary Clinton, she must have been composing her harmonious melody hoping her conductors’ coat-tails might be long enough for sanity to win back Congress thereby assuring a progressive legacy for the next generation securing a nullifying Citizens United Supreme Court.
Oh, how ironic that on the very night America’s comic genius, Jon Stewart, gracefully danced off stage to the moving sounds of the Boss’ ‘Born to Run’, the bombastic lunatic fringe stumbled on.
Fred Rich LaRiccia
…while most of his audiences wishes he would close his mouth and sit down. Instead everybody focuses on the few people who say, “oh yes such a wonderful voice,” when actually he’s completely unable to stay on any pitch other than a shrieking child saying how wonderful he is.
My neighborhood has several cats who similarly “sing” outside our windows from time to time. Our four cats generally walk away in apparent embarrassment. On the other hand, we assume that the “singer” is appreciated by his or her audience.
Donald Trump has a particularly shrill and penetrating caterwaul. Frankly, though, they’re all pretty much the same.
I disagreed vehemently with the candidates on that stage, but it was a robust and engaging debate. Some took positions that were outside the Republican orthodoxy (e.g. Kasich’s answer on Medicaid, Trump noting that single payer would be good for business and Paul’s answer on foreign military aid). In general it was less of an echo chamber than I expected. The only area where they were outright terrible was on foreign policy, which Slate’s Fred Kaplan skewered. I suspect those on the right like their options better than they did before the debate and some swing voters might want to hear more from certain candidates.
My quick take on all 10:
Did Well
Marco Rubio – I thought he won the night. He made the best case for why him instead of Hillary Clinton. He poked a hole in Trump’s Mexicans tirade, noting most of the folks coming over the border aren’t Mexican. He generally sounded like he was answering the question, not reciting campaign lines. IMO, he’s the one Hillary Clinton least wants to face. Bright, young, Latino, probably wins Florida. Fortunately the GOP eschews youth, energy and talent.
Chris Christie – Defended his record in New Jersey, probably won his homeland security dust up with Paul on style points and scored adult-in-the-room cred for taking on the subject of entitlements. Good showing for a guy on the fringe.
John Kasich – Grabbed the compassionate conservative mantle. Seemed like a reasonable enough fellow. Probably auditioning for a VP nod, but (like Christie) likely helped his cause.
Mike Huckabee – Got kind of populist on Social Security and taxation. Though I disagree with every word he said on abortion, he made the best argument for the right wing stance.
Rand Paul – Stood out as the guy who won’t spend any amount of money on defense and a surveillance state. Too bad he’s chucked his more libertarian leanings on social issues, or he could really stir up this field.
Scott Walker – Played the role of a generic Republican, but he’s doing well enough in the polls where he has that luxury. Ultimately a generic Republican might be the party nominee. His job was to come across as confident and amiable. Did both.
X-Factor
Donald Trump – Actually gave a brilliant answer on declaring bankruptcy four times (don’t cry for those investors). Refusing not to rule out an independent run turned into a plus for him. Why give away your leverage? Completely bombed on the question of being a jerk toward women, then made it worse after the debate.
Bad Night in Cleveland
Jeb Bush – Unfocused, incoherent and unconvincing. Not sure that he’s offering anything beyond the brand name. I hope like hell they nominate this guy. If/when he climbs to the top of the polls, he’s going to get pounded like a pinata.
Ted Cruz – Tone deaf and buffoonish. Had an awful night. Answered the charge that perhaps he’s too intransigent with a fusillade of intransigence. Gave a laughable answer answer on foreign policy that amounted to “act like a jerk and you’ll get your way.” I’m sure that philosophy has taken him this far, but it will take him no further. He’s the new Santorum.
Ben Carson – Deer in the headlights. Came across as that boring guy you got unlucky enough to sit next to at conference luncheon. My vote as most likely to evaporate in the polls.
I agree with your analysis — to the extent that any “analysis” can be done on positions that are, well, disconnected from reality.
They still sound like my neighborhood cats on a warm night. Each cat emits a sound that varies in both pitch and time. They perform together in an ensemble. It is certainly possible to perform a musical analysis of it, and identify themes, counterpoint, call-and-response, rhythms, homages to other performers, and so on.
I’m not sure it’s worth the effort.
And I largely agree. Walker was my dark horse, but I largely got the ‘deer in headlights’ vibe from him as well. Sincerely socially moderate and libertarian Republicans I know are disappointed as hell in Paul, and actually gravitating to Kasich for some reason, even though he is proudly a ‘big government’ conservative, but they feel he will make a bigger tent. Paul really screwed up opposing the Iran deal, and walking back his sensible positions on drugs and social questions. He thumbed his nose at his father’s constituency while giving folks attracted to Cruz or Santorum no reason to vote for him instead. He might be the biggest disappointment of 2016, considering the expectations people had.
I will also disagree with this
There were more minorities, more people under 50, and more energy and talent on that stage then there will be on ours. We have Webb who is just sleepy and sonorous, even if he has some good ideas, O’Malley who is running as a generic Democrat like Walker, Sanders who is old even if he has energy and talent, and Hillary who is running the safest campaign. I think swing voters genuinely looking for an exchange of ideas came away from this debate happier than they will from ours, and it could be troublign.
The demographics point to a ceiling of Obama 08 and a floor of Obama 12 for anyone we nominate, even Bernie, but I sometimes get worried that we have no bench for Congressional races, statehouse races, or the presidency down the road since too many folks are waiting in place instead of challenging Hillary now.
The Dems in this race do no exactly exude youth and vigor. It would be nice to see some Gen X (turning 50 now) challengers pushing Clinton.
No way Booker, Deval (recent headaches notwithstanding), Gillibrand, Klobuchar, Bennett, Hickenlooper, or even a guy like Chris Murphy sit out of a race like that. Cuomo would definitely ‘in’ if Hillary was out. It would at least elevate their exposure, and many of those names would be credible nominees and candidates (even if I wouldn’t support some of them), and many of them might be too old or overshadowed by other exciting candidates (Kamala Harris!) by the time 2024 rolls around.
both are progressive champions with loyal supporters who ARE the foundation for developing a cohesive national bench up and down the ballot from Congress to every state house.
All progressives should focus their fire on our mutual enemy —Know-Nothing Republicans — and avoid the circular firing squad fratricide that will destroy them.
Fred Rich LaRiccia
How inspiring was it to listen to the old folks talk about Adlai back then?
N/T
Not from a policy standpoint, since he may be more centrist than I would like, but more younger folks willing to challenge long time incumbents, particularly at the local level where so many state legislators are DINO detritus from the Finneran era.
I give the right a tremendous amount of credit for having YAF, YAL, CPAC style events, and being unafraid to challenge incumbents to get a younger and more interesting bench. Cantor voted the wrong way on the export/import bank and got primaried, Schumer voted the wrong way on a decidedly more important issue and we have no idea if we can stop him from becoming leader, let alone, if a viable primary challenger can emerge.
To their credit, Hillary and Bernie have been engaged in a civil and issues based campaign, it’s their supporters that need to be careful. I’m a Sanders supporter engaged to a Hillary supporter and working with many Hillary supporters on Massachusetts issues, I got no problem with this. But the BLM protestors and Bernie supporters getting into shoutfests on twitter only helps Republicans, ditto the Hillary and Bernie supporters going at it on Kos. Fortunately, BMG doesn’t seem to see either as much, and I am very hopeful on the local level that we are developing a good bench and farm team.