Republican Debate

[audiophile]

The moderators are doing a good job. Not overbearing, letting the candidates finish their thought, but not letting them go on forever either.

[audiophile]

Chris Christie just called one of the candidates Obama. Kind of had a racist overtone to it. Boo.

[audiophile]

I like Mike.

[audiophile]

No mention of Trump, even from Christie.

[audiophile]

The hosts just brought up Trump going to booked tomorrow. Let the fireworks fly.

[audiophile]

Wow. They asked if Mike Pence did the right thing. All agreed.

[Honeyman]

I'm watching this clusterfuck. Pence is coming across better than anyone. Whoever the ND guy is, gets the silver. Ravekschwani is an idiot.

[Matt]

Ramaswamy is a clown.

Haley, Pence, and Christie have all had high points. I like Burgum too, but this is too much of a step. Pence is over the top with the religion.

[bmw]

I've never been less excited about watching a Republican debate than I was tonight. Without Trump there, this was pretty much the equivalent of watching the 3rd quarter of a pre-season football game. I was bored after 10 minutes and stopped watching.

[Rate This]

I've never been less excited about watching a Republican debate than I was tonight. Without Trump there, this was pretty much the equivalent of watching the 3rd quarter of a pre-season football game. I was bored after 10 minutes and stopped watching.

While there is no upside to Trump debating there is entertainment value to be had…

[Matt]

I've never been less excited about watching a Republican debate than I was tonight. Without Trump there, this was pretty much the equivalent of watching the 3rd quarter of a pre-season football game. I was bored after 10 minutes and stopped watching.

Boring? I think you mean it was refreshing to see actual issues discussed WITHOUT a low character clown (although Ramaswamy tried really hard to replicate his hero) who has no business being there throwing third grade insults around. Don't respond with the bullshit poll numbers. FIRED President Trump has no business near the Oval Office ever again. He's a disgrace.

[Matt]

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opini ... 665567007/

But since there was a debate, the temptation to treat it as if it mattered is irresistible. And who knows, there's a possibility Republican voters will come to the realization that, as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said, "Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We can't win a general election that way."

Haley, Trump's former U.N. ambassador, was the night's clear winner. She was forceful, informed and in command. On the scale of presidential gravitas, Haley scored the highest among the eight debaters.

At the bottom was young entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, who has been surging in the polls on the strength of vapid sound bites that touch on every conservative talking point.

[audiophile]

I'm watching this clusterfuck. Pence is coming across better than anyone. Whoever the ND guy is, gets the silver. Ravekschwani is an idiot.

I have to believe that many of Trump's policies were Pence's brainchild.

Trump is all over the map. When Trump handed Covid to Pence, he should have stayed back. Pence handled reporter's questions like a pro, but then Trump would jump in and make a confusing mess of things.

I think Trump would be lost without Pence.

[audiophile]

I've never been less excited about watching a Republican debate than I was tonight. Without Trump there, this was pretty much the equivalent of watching the 3rd quarter of a pre-season football game. I was bored after 10 minutes and stopped watching.

Boring? I think you mean it was refreshing to see actual issues discussed WITHOUT a low character clown (although Ramaswamy tried really hard to replicate his hero) who has no business being there throwing third grade insults around. Don't respond with the bullshit poll numbers. FIRED President Trump has no business near the Oval Office ever again. He's a disgrace.

BMW: It was pretty calm at first. It was fairly good debate, overall.

[MWmetalhead]

I largely agree with Matt. I enjoyed the debate. Didn't have to deal with Trump interrupting and shouting over the other candidates, which was nice.

I think Nikki Haley was the big winner. She came across as likable, knowledgeable, and electable! She did not hesitate to lock horns with Ramaswamey around 10:10p. She chewed his ass out. She was one of only a couple candidates who directly answered the climate change question, and I liked her response on the abortion question.

I agree with audiophile that Christie had a bad moment when he said Ramaswamey, who was young, thin and had a hard-to-pronounce name, shared those traits with Obama. (Barack Obama is hard to pronounce? Since when?). That said, didn't Vivek vote for Obama at least once?

As for Vivek himself, he came across as smarmy, self-absorbed, and very over-caffeinated. He has some bizarre views on certain matters that weren't discussed in the debate. A guy who was eligible to vote in five Presidential elections but actually only voted in two (at least one of those votes was for a Democrat) ought not seek the Republican nomination for President.

Mike Pence did really well. I thought he was the runner-up performance wise last night. His strong moments included discussing January 6, answering the question about a possible Trump pardon, and discussing economic strength during the Trump years.

DeSantis, I thought, did better than most are giving him credit for. He did a very good job citing his actions as Florida governor in supporting his responses to moderator questions. I thought his citing of kicking two D.A.'s out of office who refused to enforce laws as written was a strong point for him. He also refrained from saying "woke" during the entire debate. His Ukraine comments about Europe needing to contribute their fair share monetarily to Ukraine's defense was good. I thought his answer about dealing with border security was perhaps unreasonable, though.

Asa Hutchinson came across as the adult in the room, and in my opinion, looked and sounded Presidential at times. He cited his experience as head of the DEA and as a U.S. Attorney on multiple occasions. In an earlier era, he may have been a very viable candidate. His anti-Trump stance, which I personally admire, will make him very difficult to elect in a GOP primary. He also has the "old white man" look, which is a hindrance these days. His son is a bad drug addict, by the way, in a twist of unfortunate irony.

I think the biggest loser in the debate was Tim Scott. He had a couple moments where he looked good (citing detailed statistics), but his articulation skills were lacking last night. He had no lines or position issues that made himself stand out from the other candidates. His debate performance was largely forgettable. I think Haley and perhaps Pence will draw support away from him.

My preferred candidates for the nomination, in order, as things stand today:
Haley
Pence
Christie
Hutchinson
DeSantis
Scott

Before the debate, my list was:
Christie
Scott
Pence
Haley
DeSantis
Hutchinson