Frank Capra’s classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, tells the story of George Bailey, a man who gets a chance to see what the world would be like if he had never been born. He sees, to his dismay, that the bland small town he lives in would have become a hedonistic dystopia under the rule of his nemesis, Mr. Potter and everyone is miserable all the time. Last night, we were treated to a form of this, except one that worked in reverse. Although none of us were visited by our guardian angel, Clarence, we were given a chance to glimpse an alternative reality that can be causally linked to the presence of one individual, Donald Trump. Mr. Trump, who has openly feuded with FOX News’ Megyn Kelly for months now (a feud that appears to be completely one-sided), elected to skip the debate and attend some charity event for veterans, instead. Because of his absence, viewers were treated to the most substantive and least petty GOP debate of the entire presidential cycle. Instead of sophomoric insults and endless discussion of poll numbers, we were able to watch and listen to a rather civil and informative debate. Instead of getting me to appreciate the actual election cycle, this glimpse into an alternate reality made me yearn for the alternate reality.
Strong Performances
For Rand Paul, last night was far and away his strongest performance. Last night, the Rand Paul we expected to see in this election finally showed up. Without having to waste time focusing on attacking Trump, he was able to present his visions for foreign policy, national security, and criminal justice reform that set him apart from the other candidates in the field. Unfortunately for Senator Paul, it was probably too little, too late, but his strong performance last night could pay dividends in a future run for president.
Last night was also Jeb Bush’s strongest performance. Without Trump bullying him, he seemed far more confident, relaxed, and presidential than he has at any point so far in the contest. His joke about Donald Trump being a teddy bear came off as awkward and forced, but he did well after that. As with Rand, however, I doubt it will be enough to resurrect his sunken campaign.
Solid Performances
As usual, Marco Rubio had a fairly good debate last night, even if it was not quite up to his usual standard of blowing the competition away. He had some rough patches last night, but if the focus group is any indication, he positioned himself to do well in the caucuses, come Monday. *Disclaimer*- Rubio is the candidate I have publicly endorsed. That said, I thought he had a good, but not spectacular, debate performance last night.
Chris Christie delivered the best line of the night last night when he denounced the “Washington bull.” After Rubio and Cruz argued endlessly about the technicalities of the “amnesty” bill of 2013, Christie rightly pointed out that executives cannot hide behind the ambiguities and nuances of bills the way legislators can (for instance, Ted Cruz trying to explain away plain statements of support for legalization of immigrations with a series of double negatives regarding clauses of bills and amendments). Aside from that, however, it was more of the same from him. While attacking Hillary Clinton is a safe and advisable tactic for a Republican debate, he overused it and caused people to zone him out, at times.
Weak Performances
John Kasich did little last night that could change the opinions of conservative Republicans who are tuning him out and believe him to be the embodiment of the “establishment.” The “Kasich Lane” analogy fell flat, as did his attempts to make people believe he is not “establishment” by pointing out his credentials as a reformer. I still believe he would do well in a general election matchup against Clinton or Sanders, but I do not see him advancing to that stage given the current mood of the GOP base.
In Trump’s absence, Ted Cruz had the target on his back. He had some good moments, to be sure, but the tag-team of Rand, Rubio, and Christie effectively defeated him on the matter of his past support for amnesty. His best moment of the night came when he refused to bow to Terry Branstad on the matter of ethanol subsidies. He may have cost himself some votes in Iowa for that, but it probably will help him in the long run by more firmly establishing a reputation for fearlessness. That said, he neutralized that great stance by pandering to Iowans by repeatedly name-dropping Steve King. Based on how many times Cruz invoked King, you would have thought King was the God of Iowa. He also repeatedly name-dropped Jeff Sessions, a senator who is appears likely to endorse Trump. Had he not name-dropped so much, I would have given him a “solid” rating for his performance.
Disastrous Performances
What was probably Ben Carson’s swan song was more like an uninspiring quack from a duck. I think most people were in agreement with him that he did not have the most polished policy speeches, and it went downhill from there. He had, by far, the least amount of speaking time and seemed to have no idea of what to do with it. He finished the night by reciting the Preamble to the Constitution, and he did not even get that right. I have to think that he will end his campaign shortly after the Caucuses on Monday. Between his precipitous fall in the polls and his staffers abandoning ship, it is hard to see him staying in the race any longer.
The worst performance of all, however, had to be Donald Trump. As the old saying goes, “you can’t win, if you don’t play.” Although last night’s debate drew the second-lowest ratings for a GOP debate, so far, I think Trump expected the audience to be half of what it was last night. Now, while it may be true that Trump had nothing to gain by debating last night (as Charles Krauthammer argued last night), it is also true that he opened himself up to ridicule and charges of cowardice by not participating, especially in light of the interview he gave four years ago when he not only denounced candidates who would not participate in his debate, but also praised Megyn Kelly’s moderating skills. Moreover, the event he attended instead of the debate opened him up to charges of using vets as political props and possibly not even donating to vets (his foundation apparently has a checkered, if almost non-existent, record of donating to veterans.) As usual, though, none of this will matter to his supporters who, as Trump reminded us, would not stop supporting him even if he starting shooting people on 5th Avenue.
But thanks anyway, to Donald Trump for giving us one night where intelligent debate among some of the party’s sharpest minds could reign, rather than the circus of petty insults his campaign has inspired. For one night only, we had a wonderful debate.
Strong Performances
For Rand Paul, last night was far and away his strongest performance. Last night, the Rand Paul we expected to see in this election finally showed up. Without having to waste time focusing on attacking Trump, he was able to present his visions for foreign policy, national security, and criminal justice reform that set him apart from the other candidates in the field. Unfortunately for Senator Paul, it was probably too little, too late, but his strong performance last night could pay dividends in a future run for president.
Last night was also Jeb Bush’s strongest performance. Without Trump bullying him, he seemed far more confident, relaxed, and presidential than he has at any point so far in the contest. His joke about Donald Trump being a teddy bear came off as awkward and forced, but he did well after that. As with Rand, however, I doubt it will be enough to resurrect his sunken campaign.
Solid Performances
As usual, Marco Rubio had a fairly good debate last night, even if it was not quite up to his usual standard of blowing the competition away. He had some rough patches last night, but if the focus group is any indication, he positioned himself to do well in the caucuses, come Monday. *Disclaimer*- Rubio is the candidate I have publicly endorsed. That said, I thought he had a good, but not spectacular, debate performance last night.
Chris Christie delivered the best line of the night last night when he denounced the “Washington bull.” After Rubio and Cruz argued endlessly about the technicalities of the “amnesty” bill of 2013, Christie rightly pointed out that executives cannot hide behind the ambiguities and nuances of bills the way legislators can (for instance, Ted Cruz trying to explain away plain statements of support for legalization of immigrations with a series of double negatives regarding clauses of bills and amendments). Aside from that, however, it was more of the same from him. While attacking Hillary Clinton is a safe and advisable tactic for a Republican debate, he overused it and caused people to zone him out, at times.
Weak Performances
John Kasich did little last night that could change the opinions of conservative Republicans who are tuning him out and believe him to be the embodiment of the “establishment.” The “Kasich Lane” analogy fell flat, as did his attempts to make people believe he is not “establishment” by pointing out his credentials as a reformer. I still believe he would do well in a general election matchup against Clinton or Sanders, but I do not see him advancing to that stage given the current mood of the GOP base.
In Trump’s absence, Ted Cruz had the target on his back. He had some good moments, to be sure, but the tag-team of Rand, Rubio, and Christie effectively defeated him on the matter of his past support for amnesty. His best moment of the night came when he refused to bow to Terry Branstad on the matter of ethanol subsidies. He may have cost himself some votes in Iowa for that, but it probably will help him in the long run by more firmly establishing a reputation for fearlessness. That said, he neutralized that great stance by pandering to Iowans by repeatedly name-dropping Steve King. Based on how many times Cruz invoked King, you would have thought King was the God of Iowa. He also repeatedly name-dropped Jeff Sessions, a senator who is appears likely to endorse Trump. Had he not name-dropped so much, I would have given him a “solid” rating for his performance.
Disastrous Performances
What was probably Ben Carson’s swan song was more like an uninspiring quack from a duck. I think most people were in agreement with him that he did not have the most polished policy speeches, and it went downhill from there. He had, by far, the least amount of speaking time and seemed to have no idea of what to do with it. He finished the night by reciting the Preamble to the Constitution, and he did not even get that right. I have to think that he will end his campaign shortly after the Caucuses on Monday. Between his precipitous fall in the polls and his staffers abandoning ship, it is hard to see him staying in the race any longer.
The worst performance of all, however, had to be Donald Trump. As the old saying goes, “you can’t win, if you don’t play.” Although last night’s debate drew the second-lowest ratings for a GOP debate, so far, I think Trump expected the audience to be half of what it was last night. Now, while it may be true that Trump had nothing to gain by debating last night (as Charles Krauthammer argued last night), it is also true that he opened himself up to ridicule and charges of cowardice by not participating, especially in light of the interview he gave four years ago when he not only denounced candidates who would not participate in his debate, but also praised Megyn Kelly’s moderating skills. Moreover, the event he attended instead of the debate opened him up to charges of using vets as political props and possibly not even donating to vets (his foundation apparently has a checkered, if almost non-existent, record of donating to veterans.) As usual, though, none of this will matter to his supporters who, as Trump reminded us, would not stop supporting him even if he starting shooting people on 5th Avenue.
But thanks anyway, to Donald Trump for giving us one night where intelligent debate among some of the party’s sharpest minds could reign, rather than the circus of petty insults his campaign has inspired. For one night only, we had a wonderful debate.
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