GOP NH Debate, 2/6/16

* I suspect Rubio came in with the goal of not going after anyone else, in order to limit any reprisals, and he did well in that regard. But his verbatim repetition of his attack on Obama -- which he repeated a third time immediately after Christie called him on it -- left such a strong impression, I wonder if it will be the only thing people remember about his performance. HAL 9000 seemed more spontaneous.

* Cruz was terrible -- either utterly boring or strangely unsure of himself. Blaming CNN for his Iowa sneak attack on Carson was lame, and the long anecdote about his late sister was just plain weird.

* Trump was out of the line of fire virtually all night (except when Bush went after him on eminent domain), and got to repeat all his familiar applause lines for the first time in a debate in a while. However, he did lose his composure when he decided to attack the audience as a bunch of rich donors. Dude, that's your party's base!

* Bush was OK, though it's probably too late. Weirdest moment was his bragging about having the support of a 93-year-old who was mistakenly declared dead.

* Christie had a good debate, avoiding jerk-ass moments. Also too late, in all likelihood.

* As for Carson, it's pretty clear he comes in having memorized a few things to say, and finds the time in the debate to say them regardless of what the topic at the time is. A non-factor, and his hanging back in the wings at the beginning of the debate made him look like a complete dope.

* Kasich got good applause almost every time he spoke in the latter half of the debate, but the moderators seemed to forget he existed for long stretches -- they almost forgot to introduce him. It doesn't help him that Christie, who he's in close competition with, made a strong impression.


Best malaprops:

Cruz referring to a "love member," which almost made mine retreat into my body

Christie: "Heroin-addicted drug girl"

Yep, we watched the same debate (I had to do considerable research to find it), except that I thought the "dead" veteran who said he was voting for Bush was 86.

Both Trump and Carson didn't come on stage when called because they didn't hear they'd been announced. Carson apparently never did realize that. I hope someone eventually told him that he had, indeed, been announced and didn't come on. The failure to announce Kasich was the moderator's gaff. The "digital" commentators weren't too swift, so, at the opening, I thought it was going to be a fiasco. It settled down, though--at least in format--but it almost got strangled by its own rule of anyone being mentioned having the right to respond. I thought maybe the moderators weren't going to get control of that ever.

Rubio melted on the repeated canned speech, especially amusing as that was exactly what Christie was accusing him of doing--sticking to canned speeches. I'm glad the governors brought up the point about a governorship being better preparation for the president's job than a senator's (unless it's someone like LBJ, who had been there long enough to move legislation). I'm waiting for the governors to add that the Congress has been Republican controlled and still hasn't gotten anything done--even though Cruz and Rubio have been in Congress (neither very long). It was amusing that they were identified as first termers just like Obama was when he got elected and doesn't seem to have to ready for the job.

I watched about the first 15 minutes and had to get away. It became clear to me that none of them have read any actual history of the last fifty years and have no ideas that haven't come from RNC focus group development. Though it did sound like Kacish and Christy may be able to get back into the top tier now that the Iowa bible belt is behind them.

Does support for waterboarding come from the RNC?

Best Charactization!

Rubio is really unfortunate that this debate was only three days before the primary. Today all the Sunday shows took their shots at "Marco Roboto," and tomorrow you get the late night hosts weighing in. There won't be any time for a new story to take root before everyone votes, unless Trump says something dumb today (certainly a possibility).

It's the sort of "gaffe," like the Dean Scream, that lends itself to constant ridicule and invites continual reairings.

He can still finish second in New Hampshire. But I suspect some GOP bigshots are going to be questioning the mostly-so-far-unquestioned belief that Rubio is clearly the strongest Republican candidate in November. Leaving aside that he looks and sounds like someone who got lost on the way to a Cub Scout meeting, he has to show he can handle a debate without curling up in a ball.

Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed this debate more than any GOP debate in memory.

Isn't it ironic that the only people commenting on the debates are folks who wouldn't be caught dead ever supporting a conservative view?

mark_j said:

Isn't it ironic that the only people commenting on the debates are folks who wouldn't be caught dead ever supporting a conservative view?

Click to expand...

Well conservatives don't seem to have much to say about their, ehmm, Inspiring Leadership.

Can't say as I blame them really.

JackLuis said:

Well conservatives don't seem to have much to say about their, ehmm, Inspiring Leadership.

Can't say as I blame them really.

Click to expand...

Much better to see Mom Jeans vs. The Crypt Keeper

mark_j said:

Isn't it ironic that the only people commenting on the debates are folks who wouldn't be caught dead ever supporting a conservative view?

Click to expand...

Well, most of the righties on Lit find this forum a personal affront, so they wouldn't be in this thread anyway, and I think a few of them have me on Ignore.

It's not like any of them have anything interesting to add.

mark_j said:

Isn't it ironic that the only people commenting on the debates are folks who wouldn't be caught dead ever supporting a conservative view?

Click to expand...

So, you claim to know ALL of the views on EVERYTHING that those who have commented hold(?) That's a little dumb, isn't it?

mark_j said:

Isn't it ironic that the only people commenting on the debates are folks who wouldn't be caught dead ever supporting a conservative view?

Click to expand...

Maybe they're the the overwhelming majority in America.

sr71plt said:

So, you claim to know ALL of the views on EVERYTHING that those who have commented hold(?) That's a little dumb, isn't it?

Click to expand...

Never claimed I did.. Even if I did, what difference does that make to you?

mark_j said:

Never claimed I did..

Click to expand...

Sure you did. Or did someone else write your original post (or can't you understand what you wrote)? I don't fall in the liberal column on everything as opposed to conservative, and I was one of the ones commenting on the Republican debate. That alone makes your original post a pile of backbiting crap.

Which, in view of your followup post makes me turn your question back on you--why did you bother to post at all? What difference did it make to you who commented on the debate, which is something you didn't bother to do?

Someone threw water on Hillary, and she's melting. Its over for the Democrats.

NOIRTRASH said:

Someone threw water on Hillary, and she's melting. Its over for the Democrats.

Click to expand...

In your dreams Jimmy. She's the Teflon shill from Arkansas.

JackLuis said:

In your dreams Jimmy. She's the Teflon shill from Arkansas.

Click to expand...

That brought up a question for me the other day. Anyone know what state Hillary is claiming to be from? She hasn't been in Arkansas for some time. Raised in Illinois, senator from New York, I think she functionally lives in Washington, D.C., and Bill Clinton in New York.

First debate I watched this election. I liked all the candidates except for Kasich and Christie. Didn't get this negative impression of Rubio at all. I liked him, thought he did well.

I hope Kasich is voted out in the next Ohio gubernatorial election. Maybe the Tea Party can organize something against him. He's bad news.

I would be happy with either Trump, Rubio, or Cruz being President.

phrodeau said:

Maybe they're the the overwhelming majority in America.

Click to expand...

In fact, the overwhelming majority are conservative. Clearly whites are overwhelmingly conservative as evidenced by their voting patterns. When you factor that most non-whites vote based on ethnic ties to the Democrats and aren't necessarily across the board liberals at all, liberals are basically just damn lucky to still be a part of the political landscape.

Few people are actually liberals. Its a fringe that wins by dividing people into groups. It would be wiped out on actual issues without demographic group votes. That's how they dominate major cities, not because all people in cities are liberal. Same with states like California. They dominate because of the ethnic block vote.

Wrong Element said:

...It's the sort of "gaffe," like the Dean Scream, that lends itself to constant ridicule and invites continual reairings...

Click to expand...

So you're saying Obama is incompetent?

Even I give him more credit than that.