Jeb Bush could pull nothing more than a single digit in South Carolina.
Hillary Clinton has won Nevada but it wasn’t a thrashing.
Bush is a nice and kind man, I am sure. But people were like me: not another Bush. I am done with Bushes and Clintons.
Now, Kasich and Carson need to leave.
BZ
I liked Carly Fiorina and, as she used to say, I would have paid money to see her debate Hillary Clinton just so she could eviscerate the bitch.
But now she’s out.
Chris Christie is going next.
Jeb Bush isn’t. He hasn’t gotten the message yet. Ben Carson needs to exit the stage as well.
I thought Carly Fiorina did extremely well at the debates. She could hold her own with the bulk of ’em. But I suspect the final blow was being shunned at last Saturday’s GOP debate. In my opinion ABC could easily have made room for her at a podium.
In terms of breaks, it seems Fiorina couldn’t catch even one. She has a name recognition problem, a cash problem and a poor management problem.
Fiorina was the recipient of cheap personal shots from Donald Trump and fielded them professionally and with easy aplomb. Still and all, that wasn’t enough.
Carly says she’ll continue to stump for the GOP and isn’t going away. That’s good to hear. She is much more intelligent and adept than Sarah Palin will ever be, with proven business and economic chops behind her.
I also enjoyed many aspects of Chris Christie. He seemed to be the Unifier and Re-focuser in the GOP debates, reminding the GOP candidates that the real adversaries were not each other but Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
On the GOP side, the race is down to six candidates: Ben Carson, John Kasich, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush.
Sad.
But after all, politics is a blood sport.
BZ
For the first time ever, all the Republican candidates for president are gathered upon one stage in New Hampshire, including Donald Trump. He eschewed Iowa now decides to partake of New Hampshire. Did his loss to Ted Cruz possibly have something to do with it?
You can see by the above photograph who is where in terms of the New Hampshire polls.
Seven candidates appeared on stage, to include Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush. Carly Fiorina was not included.
The Debate Begins.
What was the deal with Ben Carson and Donald Trump waiting behind for everyone else? The introduction procedure was terrible and uncoordinated.
Ted Cruz is humble with regard to faux pas regarding Ben Carson and apologized then explained.
Rubio was asked to explain his accomplishments as senator, then charged off with vigor and focused on Barack Obama.
Christie came out swinging for Marco Rubio as senator and accused him of truancy. Christie was making the difference between a senator and a governor in terms of critical decisions. A nice dust-up between the two.
Cruz made a nice point about North Korea and a potential orbiting satellite kicking off an EMP over the United States. I’m glad to see that the EMP issue is on the table in public.
John Kasich stepped in on North Korea, and Bush said he’d consider a preemptive strike against a North Korean missile launch.
Rubio nailed it with regard to Obama believing that the US is an arrogant global power that needs to be cut down to size, is too powerful, and creates problems for the rest of the world. That Obama thinks if we create separation from Israel it will help our relations in the Islamic world. And the same with the Asia-Pacific region with concessions to North Korea.
Christie understands the paradigm between hostage and paying ransom as in, you don’t do it. At all. Ever.
Kasich thinks it is, however, okay for 11.5 million illegals to “pay back taxes and a fine,” and be left in place. Illegals will not pay back taxes nor will they pay a fine nor will courts hold them to that. That is why Kasich is wrong on illegal immigration.
Like Cruz said, you build a wall, end sanctuary cities, build a wall and stop business from being able to employ illegals. That is only logical.
Standard Trump: “let me talk, quiet.” Boos for Trump. And eminent domain.
Rubio brought up essentially the 10th Amendment with regard to enumerated powers and all other areas of power belonging to the states. I like and want to hear that.
Christie made an excellent point about raising taxes on millionaires and people then fleeing New Jersey, taking their money with them. As in: it won’t work.
Cruz espoused my ideals with waging war: kill people, break shit, don’t nation-build and then get out. Yes. Precisely, Ted.
Rubio showed a good understanding of the war in the Middle East, ISIS, and the differences between Sunni and Shia.
Frankly, I’m tired of Carson’s “underdog” shtick. “I’m not up here just to add beauty to the stage.” If you want to make a point, Carson, step in. Bully in. Show some huevos. You can’t complain about no recognition and not be assertive. That speaks much about you, Dr Carson. You’re a nice man and a good man but you are not cut out for the presidency.
Points to Rubio about Guantanamo.
To this point ABC News is presenting the debate as the Rise of the Governors. I have to admit that it appeared Kasich was doing better. Christie made good points as he normally does, in my estimation.
A side note. I very much dislike Martha Radish and her condescending smirk.
An interesting notation: “none of you on stage tonight have served in the military.” Excellent point. I hadn’t realized that.
Once again the Leftist panel tried to trap Republicans with the “ransom” question, such as involved James and Diane Foley, They wish to portray Republicans as cold and cruel. Luckily Cruz and Trump stuck to their ransom guns.
So who won?
Kasich sounded a bit better but his immigration stance is wrong. I always enjoy Christie, who did very well tonight. Carson was completely unimpressive. Jeb Bush was likewise unimpressive. Too little too late. There were no real flame wars as expected. Trump was Trump, much generality but little detail. “We will win, we will win and we will win.” Rubio came off well and Cruz not so abrasive. The boos tonight, I noted, were for Trump. I’d still go:
This, I do not believe, was much of a game-changer for any single political candidate.
BZ
We’ve seen some strange things in politics. We’ve cringed when various politicians made bizangingly-wacky statements. But I cannot think of anything more awkward or, truly — pathetic — than what occurs below with Jeb Bush.
This is what you get, however, when a Perfect Storm of factors comes into confluence, mixed liberally (sorry) with high expectations on one side and low results, the direct product of said Perfect Storm.
Jeb Bush it was assumed, when this melee started in earnest last year, was going to be The One for the Republican Party. He was “it” by dint of his name and the fact that a number of people and fiscal backers proclaimed him so. Establishment all the way, if you will. Bush, however, resoundingly pissed me off with his “act of love” comments regarding illegal immigrants.
In general I am done with dynasties, both Clinton and Bush.
Following Monday’s Iowa caucuses, Jeb isn’t doing well. Iowa’s results were:
Ted Cruz beat Donald Trump, 28% to 24%.
Marco Rubio: 23%.
Ben Carson 9%.
Rand Paul 5%.
Jeb Bush 3%.
John Kasich 2%.
Carly Fiorina 2%.
Mike Huckabee 2%
Chris Christie 2%.
Post-results, Mike Huckabee pulled out of the campaign. Rand Paul and Rick Santorum then exited the road march Wednesday.
(Thanks for CLA for the graphic.)
That leaves a much smoother line-up which will be more manageable on many levels and allow consolidation and greater focus.
Here comes Saturday.
We’ll see who’s left standing.
BZ
P.S.
Jeb Bush says he hates to be compared to his brother or his father, then most recently trots out George W and, Thursday, his mother. Jeb is hurting and he won’t be here for much longer. I couldn’t be happier. Okay; well, I could be happier.
1. Small Table Debate:
The small table debate, held first, was moderated by Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum and consisted of Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Jim Gilmore.
There is only one clear winner: Carly Fiorina. Period. The three others simply need to go away as rapidly as possible. I think that may be a self-fulfilling prophecy within, say, two weeks max. None of them are going to pull Iowa.
2. Main Debate:
In the second debate, Bret Baier, Chris Wallace and Megyn Kelly moderated, and the big table cast included Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Rand Paul and Jim Gilmore. Who?
As expected, Gilmore was entirely unimpressive. One must also question his sanity as, at this late stage, he somehow thinks he has a chance at becoming the GOP nominee for president.
Kasich was acidic and unlikeable. Carson was likeable but vastly over his pate. Paul is going nowhere. His fans are even more annoying than he is. All three need to go away.
Christie was the healing assembler he’s tended to be in the past. I could live with Christie. “The days of the Clintons in public housing are over.” “That is why you need the Washinton-to-English converter.”
The focus this time around revolved around the nascent sorting-out of Cruz and Rubio. Both made points. Both were confronted by Megyn Kelly with prior statements in conflict with their current positions. Both stammered and both came through. Conventional wisdom is that Rubio is ascending. I go along with that.
Jeb Bush did well overall; certainly better than previous debates. But Bush is still who he is, a squish. I will not put another Bush in the White House as I will never put another Clinton in the White House.
I am biased. I just like Cruz. He’s extremely smart and even pisses off Republicans because he is single-minded. Yes, Cruz got bopped, Cruz got testy, Cruz got booed. Cruz had his opportunity to shine more, but didn’t quite pull that off. Call me wacky. I am biased.
My top three descend in this order:
Statistics from a current Drudge Report poll post-debate.
Cruz #2, Rubio #3.
Finally, did Trump leaving the debate affect the results? In terms of the debaters themselves, not so much. Ted Cruz got the insults out of the way early. However, for Fox News, they now state Thursday’s FNC debate was the second highest rated telecast in the channel’s history with 12.5 million viewers. Conventional wisdom said this wouldn’t occur. Though not present, the moderators and debaters still mentioned him. And people say the “entertainment” factor of Trump was missed.
But one thing most definitely: Trump would not have cared for the way Megyn Kelly would have gone after him, if her tenacity with Rubio and Cruz was any indicator. Megyn Kelly can indeed shred.
Did Trump pull off his tactic? In a word, yes. I don’t think he “lost” anything by not attending. But I still enjoyed the debate because it was substantial and topic-driven for the most part.
BZ