DEBATE FIRST RESPONSE: "Not Exactly The Avengers"
The Debate was a Motley, Clumsy Affair with a Broad Spectrum of Medocrity; This Group is Lost with No Direction, and No Leaders Among Them.
If you were expecting a grand, impressive breakthrough at the Milwaukee debate on Wednesday, boy were you sorely disappointed. The candidates and their teams will no doubt spin their side as the “only one who can take on Trump and Biden” but in reality, you saw a lot of B-League players on the stage tonight. Some had their moments, but nobody stood out. Earlier this week “BrewerBritt”1 referred to this circus as “not exactly the Avengers”; that paraphrasing seems more than apt. I’d say they look more like the group in marketing commandeering a conference room and groupthinking what catchphrase sounds best to sell cologne that smells like dead fish.
And now Trump will dominate the news cycle today as he gets booked (again) in Georgia and the press goes all “O.J. in the White Bronco” again. It would be a depressing 24 hour news cycle if it weren’t so fricking sad and pathetic. 2
The Biggest Winner of the Debate
Ugh. I so wanted it to be someone else. Nonetheless, the absence of the Orange One was felt on the stage and in the Fiserv Forum tonight and none of the others really even seemed to want to try to fill that vacuum. Trump really had nothing to lose by not showing up since he’s up by 30+ points and had he been there he would have been a lightning rod.
If he were there though he would have made mincemeat out of this crew. More likely they would have licked his boots right there on the stage.
You’d think the other candidates would have taken advantage, but nobody really took the opportunity. Pence took a soft approach, talking up his handling of 1/6 and characterizing the insurrection as some sort of “Electoral misunderstanding of the law” by Orange Jesus; but he cowered and refused to contradict the current GOP frontrunner in any serious way. These hacks are so desperate to appeal to the MAGA nitwits that they can’t ever say anything controversial about their god-king.
When the question was asked, would you support Trump if he was the nominee, at first only Vivek Ramaswamy raised his hand. Then, one by one, they all did. I can think of no more apt metaphor for today’s GOP than that, falling in line, going along with the crowd. So much for standing athwart history yelling “Stop.”
This is the same party that always brags to itself that it is the party of personal responsibility, the party of parents, not government. Here is a tip all— start by stressing what Trump IS responsible for3, and that he should pay consequences for his actions. Start by LEADING and providing a moment of toughlove, like a parent would do, instead of coddling a bunch of hateful people whose only goal is to piss off others. The GOP seems more each day like the kind of parents who get calls from the police about their delinquent kids committing crimes, and instead of trying to straighten them out, pay the bail, give the kids a pat on the back and then blame the cops for doing their job. These candidates want it both ways; they want the Republican establishment to get on board with them but they REALLY don’t want to alienate the worst of the worst because they need those votes. This constant groveling for imbeciles and malcontents has GOT to STOP.
Had the candidates on stage collectively done that, had they all said in unison, “TRUMP BROKE THE LAW AND MUST PAY,” then the news tonight would have a different tone and feel. Instead, when Trump gets booked, it’s going to feel like the morning after Obama gave a superb acceptance speech at a perfect Dem Convention in 2008, and the media wasn’t mentioning it at all because they were too busy googling “Sarah Palin.”
The Biggest Loser of the Debate
Being in the middle of the debate stage means you are in the lead and should command the most attention; you’re basically in every camera shot. You need to be prepared and on top of your game if you are in the middle of a primary debate.
It also means you should always in the crossfire. Nobody engaged with DeSantis at all. They just talked around him and engaged with everyone else on stage. Even Asa Hutchinson got a shoutout from other candidates. Ron was like he wasn’t there.
DeSantis was just robotic. He had the most to gain or lose tonight and it’s clear he lost just by sharing time with his competitors and getting lost in the background most the time. His responses seemed programmed (the first answer was as scripted as it comes) and hollow. He barked and cookie cuttered his typical stump speech into every response, including COVID and Dr. Fauci.(?) I mean, really? When he wanted to chime in on Ukraine and Israel, he tried to pivot to our border policy and just seemed confused. He took the initiative to answer a question on climate change and then refused to answer it. He was so eager to appear tough and assertive he looked more like that brown chicken hawk going after Foghorn Leghorn.
He had more of the feel of a befuddled Rick Perry than any viable alternative to Trump.
None of the other candidates were great, Tim Scott in particular, who barely spoke and when he did, failed to convince. But whereas the others have nowhere to go but up, DeSantis needed something and didn’t deliver.
The Best Lines of the Debate
It’s hard to pick out lines that weren’t scripted B.S. but there were a few highlights here and there.
“Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt…Its time for an accountant in the White House”— Nikki Haley
“I’ll go slower this time…Now is not the time for on the job training.” Pence ripping on Vivek for an ignorant policy response.
“I think I took it a little more literally when they said ‘Go to Milwaukee and break a leg.’”- Doug Borgum, regarding pulling his achilles in a pick up game this morning.
“I’ve had enough of this guy who sounds like ChatGPT.”—Chris Christie on Vivek
“Well, I think it might not be so bad to have everyone in Washington take a mental test.”- Pence
The Most Interesting Moment of the Debate
The question kicking off the second hour regarding Trump and the “pledge.” At first, only Vivek raised his hand and then one by one they all fell into line to do it.
Nothing describes the GOP better than that one moment.
Christie’s follow up with Vivek Ramaswamy on Trump’s normalization of malcontents was great. I wish the moderators would have let that go a little longer because it was the single most important issue in the GOP, and you were actually starting to get some good contrast. Of course Fox, immediately shut it down.
I liked Pence bringing up whether everyone else thinks Pence upheld the Constitution on 1/6. Asa Hutchinson getting booed for saying Trump should be disqualified under the 14th Amendment was a sight too.
Finally, Christie stopping the debate to praise Pence for what he did on 1/6 was well deserved and a good coda to the question.
Grading the Moderators
This back and forth between the two moderators and mixing in voter questions on a single question was absurd and all over the place.
They tried to keep it ongoing, interesting and deliberate, but it was like corralling pigs in the sty. WTF was that plug for “Rich Men North of Richmond?” Every question was a non sequitur to the lead in. It was painfully awful. Every question was like “Climate change is burning Hawaii and Bidenflation is crippling people, what are your thoughts on Abortion?” I didn’t get it.
Completely lost control of the conversation in the second hour.
Grade: D+
“Where Do We Go Now”
When Guns ‘n Roses recorded “Sweet Child O Mine,” at the end of the song Axl Rose didn’t have lyrics yet for the outro, so he just kept repeating “Where do we go, where do we go now? Where do we go?” The producer was tired of dealing with Axl and decided to just go with that. It was a pretty passive resignation that they couldn’t think of anything better and that they just didn’t want to have to deal with it any more.
I can think of no better metaphor for this lackluster group of also-rans. I genuinely despise Trump, but looking out at the stage and watching this for a couple of hours made me wish for SOMETHING to stand out. Instead, it was a shallow imitation of what could’ve been, like how “Marvel’s Secret Invasion” or “Kenobi” turned out; flat and mediocre, with a lackluster script and actors just going through the motions for a paycheck. None of them knew what to say and do and so they are just gyrating on stage droning, “Where do we go? Where do we go now, Where do we go?”
Here’s hoping things change. Fast. Or the only thing the GOP will be talking about 14 months from now is “November Rain.”
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
OK. Final Grades:
DeSantis— D+ It was like he had a programmed answer for anything but would never engage.
Ramaswamy— Class clown who should stand in the corner with a dunce cap. D-
Pence—Actually appeared strong and in command. Not bad. B+
Christie—He should be the moderator, he controlled the debate better. B+
Haley— Hit and miss. Would make a good statement and then the next one was iffy. B-
Scott— Just seemed lost. D
Borgum— OK I guess, but not really a presence. C-
Hutchinson— Easy to forget he was even on stage. D.
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
Thanks Britt for your insights in Milwaukee this week. Starbucks gift card on its way.
And the previous 24 hours haven’t lacked for news, considering Rudy Giuliani et.al. were booked in Georgia, complete with mugshots, and Putin seems to have offed his one time loyalist mercenary Prighozin.
Nikki Haley had a great line criticizing Trump on his profligate spending. More of that PLEASE.