JANUARY 29, 2016
Such drama.
Earlier in the week, Donald Trump was bitching about Megyn Kelly, the FOX News anchor who asked him an uncomfortable question at a previous debate about his history of publicly deriding women for their looks. His response to her question implied that she was having her period when she asked it. So the time comes around for FOX News to host another Republican debate, and she’s named as one of the questioners. Trump throws a fit and demands that she be booted or else he won’t come to the debate. FOX News quite rightly defends their employee, but when Trump sends out a tweet (which he often does) asking his followers whether or not he should show up at the debate, FOX News responds with a snarky tweet speculating whether Trump, if he becomes President, would determine whether or not he meets with Putin based on the votes of his Twitter followers. That was it for Trump. He announces that he’s skipping the debate and will hold a fundraiser for veterans groups instead.
Trump proves true to his word, and the debate goes on without him.
The result was kinda like going to a Broadway show, and the star isn’t there, so the understudy goes on. The understudy gives it his all, but it’s not the same as seeing the star. In many ways, though, it provided an opportunity for the other contenders to shine. There’s breathing space. Unfortunately, some of the candidates didn’t make use of it. Let’s check it out.
WINNERS:
Donald Trump — Enough said. It was a bold gamble, and it paid off big time. He took on FOX News and won, and, by his absence, made his chief rival, Ted Cruz, the target of all his competitors in tonight’s debate. Like it or not, Trump is in total control of this race.
Jeb Bush — Seriously. It seemed that the former FL governor seemed to be so worried in previous debates that Trump would call him “low energy” that he seemed to cower. But last night, this was the Jeb Bush that his supporters wanted to see, and when Rubio accused Bush of favoring a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, Bush simply responded, “So did you.” Boom.
Marco Rubio — Other than the Bush immigration encounter, Rubio, a skilled debater, had a pretty good night. His best moment was when he responded to Cruz, saying that Cruz would say anything to get elected. Rubio’s goal is to place third in Iowa as the Establishment alternative and finish second in New Hampshire, making it clear to the party that he’s the only pathway to stopping Trump. He made a good case for that last night.
LOSERS:
The Republican Party — They seem to have lost control of their own debate agenda.
Ted Cruz — Boy, what an opportunity he had to shake up this race without Trump’s presence, and Cruz, usually the best debater on the stage, frittered it away. His opening statement, mocking Trump’s previous charges that he’s a “maniac” and that everyone else on the stage is “stupid, fat and ugly,” and that Ben Carson is a “terrible surgeon” was right on the money in mocking Trump. That was his high point. Every other moment he was in the spotlight, he was on defense, and Cruz doesn’t do defense well. He was snippy, and snippy doesn’t go over well with voters in any state.
Kasich/Paul/Christie — Eh.
Ben Carson — zzzzzzzzz
The next GOP debate is scheduled on February 6, just before the New Hampshire primary, in Manchester, NH. Be there or be square!
