In my mind, Carly Fiorina won them both. (Please see these videos from my Thursday post for reference.)
Overall, Carly Fiorina won the so-called “Happy Hour” debate — and — she managed to overshadow some of the other candidates on the second major debate. Fiorina spoke about Iran along with Rick Perry, and her video was seen in the second debate itself.
Here, directly following the Happy Hour debate, Carly Fiorina eats Chris Matthews’s lunch:
In the first debate on Thursday, some of her quotes included:
“I started as a secretary and became ultimately the chief executive of the largest technology company in the world. I know personally how extraordinary and unique this nation is.”
“We need a leader who will lead the resurgence of this great nation and unlock its great potential once again.”
About Donald Trump: “Well, I don’t know. I didn’t get a phone call from Bill Clinton before I jumped into the race. Did any of you get a phone call from Bill Clinton? I didn’t. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t given money to the foundation or donated to his wife’s Senate campaign.”
“Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi, she lies about emails. She still defends Planned Parenthood and she’s still her party’s front-runner. 2016 is going to be a fight between conservatism and a Democratic Party that is undermining the very character of this nation.”
Fiorina comes off looking presidential as opposed to Donald Trump, who came off looking the blockhead and with no specifics to support his various ideas. Just how are you going to force Mexico to build a wall, Mr Trump? You refuse to say. I believe it’s because you truly don’t know.
From July 26th, a few days ago, on Fox News Sunday:
Fiorina speaks plainly, clearly, truthfully, quite frankly, with maturity and poise. She is a bit of Trump without the bombast. She is well equipped to handle Hillary Clinton and is useful in pointing out the obvious with regard to Clinton. As “only Nixon could go to China,” only Fiorina can poke Clinton with the least about of feminist blowback.
This is only the second debate of roughly 10 more to come. The schedule is here.
Hugh Hewitt fans please take note:
The next debate is scheduled for September 16th at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, where I visited last Tuesday the 4th (a post will be forthcoming for same). This debate will be moderated by Hugh Hewitt and Jake Tapper. Here, I suspect the questions asked will be much more pointed and likely involve actual policy, past practices, history and facts. CNN will air the debate as well as Salem Radio.
Look, it’s only August. GOP debates are tentatively scheduled, so far, out to March 10th of 2016.
There will be dropouts. Clearly, 17 candidates is an unwieldy number and the crowd will thin.
The first to go should be Lindsay Graham, Jim Gilmore, George Pataki — the crowd of Old Staid GOP members who just won’t change. They’ll glad-hand the Demorats just as John Boehner does now. That’s not what American Conservatives want or need. I wouldn’t piss on any of them if they were on fire, Boehner included. Bobby Jindal just isn’t a strong candidate. Give him time.
In the “top ten,” Huckabee needs to leave, Christie needs to leave, as does Rand Paul and Rick Santorum. Dr Ben Carson means well and has some good ideas, but his persona is too weak; he is not a “presence” and strength, true or perceived, is vital. Carson is steady but not ready for prime time.
Then there is Donald Trump. He continues to entertain and simultaneously prove what a buffoon he truly is. Potentially a dangerous buffoon if he runs a third party. His usefulness is over.
In the meantime, Fiorina’s star will only rise.
BZ
P.S.
Who do you think won the “Happy Hour” debate, and who won the Top 10 debate?
President Obama rejected the notion that the IRS’ targeting of Tea Party groups was illegal — or even improper — during his interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Thursday.
Obama was at American University to sell his flailing healthcare law to the young people upon which the insurance exchanges heavily rely. As promised, Matthews allowed him to make his pitch with no tough questions or pushback.
But the interview became interesting when the Hardball host asked why Americans were growing increasingly skeptical of government. Obama noted that the media never seems interested in government success stories. “When we do things right, they don’t get a lot of attention,” he said.
A wonderful little dismissive comment in the last paragraph:
President Obama later passed blame for his failures onto his cabinet agencies — claiming that “somebody somewhere at this very moment is screwing something up” — and repeated the nauseating platitude that “government’s not somebody else. Government’s us.”
With Mr Obama it’s always the same: seldom is he ever responsible for any failures within his administration. But more importantly: if the IRS’s purposeful targeting of Conservative groups was a non-issue, then why did this occur:
Lois G. Lerner, the woman at the center of the IRS tea party targeting scandal, retired from the agency Monday morning after an internal investigation found she was guilty of “neglect of duties” and was going to call for her ouster, according to congressional staff.
And why did the interim IRS commissioner get fired?
President Obama “obviously likes giving speeches more than he does running the executive branch,” Chris Matthews said tonight.
“What part of the presidency does Obama like? He doesn’t like dealing with other politicians — that means his own cabinet, that means members of the congress, either party. He doesn’t particularly like the press…. He likes to write the speeches, likes to rewrite what Favreau and the others wrote for the first draft,” Matthews said.
“So what part does he like? He likes going on the road, campaigning, visiting businesses like he does every couple days somewhere in Ohio or somewhere,” Matthews continued. “But what part does he like? He doesn’t like lobbying for the bills he cares about. He doesn’t like selling to the press. He doesn’t like giving orders or giving somebody the power to give orders. He doesn’t seem to like being an executive.”
Hmm. Not the same words of the formerly-ebullient Chris Matthews who absolutely adored Mr Obama not too terribly long ago.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: He does run the IRS. He runs the Treasury Department. He runs the United States government, and he is accountable for it, and this is nonsensical.
AG Holder is continuing, however, to ensure that Obama’s and Clinton’s collective asses are covered as, below, he refuses to appoint a Special Counsel for Benghazi:
According to Mr Obama’s thoughts and actions, he is clearly an uninvolved third party. He is not responsible. He campaigns, he speaks, he pontificates, he scowls, he reads from a TelePrompter. He believes, however, that to be expected to labor in any significant way in the White House is beneath him. It should be sufficient to appear at work daily, place his feet on any number of valued and historic White House pieces of furniture, and have praise bestowed upon him (peace be upon him).
Obama is classless, tasteless, an empty egomaniacal suit. And I have always believed that Mr Obama has NPD.
The train is approaching a switch; it is up to the American Media Maggots to align it properly for the Obama Train. Will they?
