Posted on 08/07/2015 11:58:16 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
He pleased fans with his blustery defiance, but others saw anger and ego.
Much like the past two months of the presidential campaign, the first Republican debate on Thursday night featured all the hallmarks of a Donald Trump production. But after two hours of blustery denunciation and defiance from the former “Apprentice” star, voters may be inching closer to changing the channel.
From the opening bell, the Fox News moderators and his Republican rivals made Trump the center of attention, hammering him with contentious questions — which he would complain afterward were “not nice” — and frontal attacks. So far, the real estate mogul has thrived on the attention, positive or negative, and he made no catastrophic mistakes on Thursday. But the debate raised the question of whether exposure alone can keep propelling his candidacy.
“Those that supported him found much to like in his forcefulness, conviction and disdain for political correctness,” said Bruce Haynes, a South Carolina Republican strategist and co-founder of the moderate political consulting firm Purple Strategies. “Those who dislike him were reminded why.”
What about the undecideds? “He hurt himself with people who are still forming an opinion,” said Haynes. “They probably had a very visceral reaction to his bombast, his negativity, his pessimism. It stood in real contrast to folks like [Marco] Rubio and [Chris] Christie.”
“I don’t think it’s going to play real well with the voters who haven’t taken a good look at him, so the question is whether he starts to lose voters,” said Patrick Murray, a Monmouth University pollster. “But of course we’ve been wrong about this before.”
The debate began with a moment of high drama when Fox moderators asked any candidate who was not ready to pledge his support for the eventual Republican nominee to raise his hand, a question aimed squarely at Trump, who has held out the possibility of a third-party run. He was the only candidate whose hand went up. Trump’s answer prompted boos from his audience in Cleveland, which in turn prompted an exaggerated shrug from Trump.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul then tore into the mogul before any questions had been asked, saying “He buys and sells politicians of all stripes … He’s already hedging his bet on the Clintons.”
But for Trump’s sizable group of supporters, many of whom flocked to the hotel and golf course magnate out of disenchantment with their party, his show of disloyalty may have mattered little. “Not every conservative is a flag-waving Republican and many of them related strongly to that answer,” said Haynes.
Moderator Megyn Kelley then confronted Trump about comments he has made about women he dislikes, calling them “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals,” to which Trump cracked, “Only Rosie O’Donnell.” The retort drew laughter from the audience and a rebuke from Kelly, who responded, “No it wasn’t.”
Trump pivoted to his standard theme of “I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness,” which played well with the audience.
The moment was reminiscent of Trump’s performance last month in Iowa at the Family Leader Summit, a conservative Christian confab in Iowa, when he was booed by many attendees for his attack on Sen. John McCain’s war hero status but quickly had them laughing and cheering again at his one-liners. Many predicted Trump’s support would collapse after those comments drew almost universal anger, but his lead in national polls and key early states only increased.
This time, said Murray, Trump could lose some support among women, a group he is currently winning by a slimmer margin than men. At times, Trump appeared to be pitted more against the Fox News moderators — Kelly in particular — than against his rival candidates.
After Kelly asked him about his negative comments about women, he told her, “I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me.”
Later, Kelly came after him again, confronting him about his prior liberal positions on abortion rights and gun control, and asking him, “When did you actually become a Republican?” He compared himself to Ronald Reagan, saying “I’ve evolved.” (After the debate, in the spin room, Trump complained that “Megyn behaved very nasty to me,” and that “the questions to me were not nice.”)
“You’re living in the world of make believe,” he told Chris Wallace after the Fox reporter confronted him about his use of strategic bankruptcies for his businesses.
Wallace for his part, asked Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Rubio to address Trump’s comments about immigration, and his allegation that the Mexican government was actively encouraging illegal immigration to the U.S. by its undesirable elements. But both candidates opted to focus more on their own messages than attacking the front-runner.
“We need to take lessons from Donald Trump … Donald Trump is hitting a nerve in this country,” said Kasich, prompting Wallace to try to get a rise out of Rubio. “Let me see if I can do better with you,” he said.
Trump’s shadow loomed over the debate until the end.
In his closing statement, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee addressed the businessman’s inescapable presence with his trademark humor. “It seems like this election has been a whole lot about a person who’s very high in the polls, that doesn’t have a clue about how to govern. A person who has been filled with scandals, and who could not lead,” said Huckabee. “And, of course, I’m talking about Hillary Clinton.”
At the conclusion of the debate, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican candidate who has done the most to defend Trump in recent weeks, embraced the billionaire on stage.
Following the debate, Republican messaging guru Frank Luntz — who was interviewing Trump last month when the mogul disparaged McCain in Iowa and predicted Trump’s candidacy would collapse if he didn’t immediately apologize — went on Fox to showcase a focus group that had turned sharply against Trump during the debate, citing his refusal to pledge support for the eventual nominee and his contentious interactions with Kelly. One man on the panel called him “angry,” “mean” and “bombastic.” A woman called him a “narcissist.”
Haynes, though, was skeptical that Luntz’s focus group would prove representative of Republican voters. He said that such groups, if conducted in a certain way and by a charismatic moderator like Luntz, could be open to suggestion. “We do focus groups. We have a big research division, and I can get 20 people in a focus group to go any place,” he said.
Even if there appears to be little political upside left to be gained from this latest round of free publicity, it appears even more unlikely that he will implode imminently.
“Every time you think one of his comments or performances will be the end of the ride, it’s proven wrong,” said Matt Strawn, a former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party who is staying neutral at this stage of the primary. “So I think we’re going to have to find out together whether tonight’s performance has had any effect.”
Yeah Cruz is smart.
The thing that is pi$$ing me off is that the ignorant Trump thumpers now have a new target in Fox News that they can use to divert the fact that Trump still isn’t a conservative.
And the whole argument that “We need Trump to take out Bush/GOPe” was totally and completely destroyed last night. Jeb Bush crashed and burned so poorly in last night’s debate that it’s obvious now he won’t be the nominee and the GOPe will have to start looking elsewhere soon. Bush is a non-factor now. So what is the point of continuing to prop up this conservative fraud named Trump? Had Trump not been on the stage, Bush would have still crashed and burned with those terrible responses, only Cruz, Walker, Carson, and even Huckabee would be getting even more praise for their performance.
The online votes reminds me of the Ron Paul lunatics that skewed every 08/12 poll. The only difference this time is there more people with them that just wanted to get back at Fox for the obvious hit job on Trump.
I’d love to see Fox try to pull that crap with Cruz. You know they’re much more afraid of Cruz because he’ll eat them up if they try to use those same tactics they used on Trump, which is why Fox positioned their questions in the debate for both Cruz (and Carson also) where (h)uuuuge amounts of time passed before they were heard from (Cruz got 2 quick questions in the 1st hour and wasn’t heard from again until the end, while Carson was barely heard from until the 2nd hour).
Then tonight on the “Kelly File” panel in the studio, for 45 minutes, every candidate was mentioned and talked about (except Cruz). Finally at almost the end, Megyn asked “Who here likes Ted Cruz”, nearly the entire panel’s hands went up, but before she could ask a follow-up, the guy at the bottom hijacked the last amount of time for Kasich.
Fox clearly had an agenda. Ted Cruz will still succeed because he’s that gifted.
I hope this Trump-mania has finally died down and voters start returning to real conservatives who showed last night they can handle Jebbers and the GOPe fine with one hand behind their back. That’s how bad Jebbers sucks.
Trump knows exactly he is doing, winning!
He knows most Americans hate the corrupted media.
He knows most Americans hate the bought and paid for politicians who just talk and talk and talk, too afraid to take on the establishment power.
He knows most Americans hate both corrupted political parties.
He knows most Americans hate the big political donors who own Washington and the MSM, and control most of the wealth of the nation through corrupt laws.
Trump is going up against all that like a explosive freight train, and Americans love him for.
Then we have those who continue to try and sell...”let’s be civil and just get along” while the American people’s liberty, Constitutional rights, prosperity and God given morality are destroyed. We need a hundred Donald Trumps in the Republican Party, but we only have one willing to pay the price to give us back our country. Go Donald Go!!
I’m afraid we’re stuck with him. If he doesn’t win GOP nomination, he won’t run third party.
He will endorse Hillary. And it’s over.
He’s already stated he supports politicians he can buy off. And he’s already bought her off once.
Politico
All you need to know.
I QUOTE BECK
“Megyn Kelly did a good job last night.”
LEFTIST
The new mantra of the collective MSM:
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ridiculous
CNN polls liberal biased push poll
ditto for PPP, university polls . all fake give me a break
FOX ? lol they outed themselves also as liberal/marxists
Maybe he should buy a cable channel like Zero did and run “infomercials” 24/7.
While I’m not totally sold on Trump, he is a breath of fresh air in some respects. I do wish, however, that he would stop with all the tweeting crap and name calling of everyone who opposes him. I like that he swings back when people attack him, but, I don’t like the name calling. It’s childish, spoiled and unbecoming to a man running for the office of President of the U.S. He can hit at both parties, the corruption in D.C. and the media all he wants, but, I wish he would leave the twittering and name calling alone. He needs to be studying policies and get out there on the campaign trail. He needs to lose vocabulary words such as loser, stupid, and other words that are derogatory to others. There is enough bullying and name calling in this world to last everyone a lifetime. Besides, this teaches young people that it’s okay to call other people names. He needs to be more of a role model in that aspect. He has a young son growing up and I hope he doesn’t pick up on his dad’s bad habits of name calling.
She did a superlative job of destroying herself.
maybe that’s what he meant.
:)
Trump is the only one not owned by big daddy donors
What have the others done? nothing but voted for obama trade which is a trojan horse for massive 3rd world immigration. Ditto corker bill, highway bill, horrible bills
Walker is the only one who has done anything conservative. But he’s still a politician so can we trust him?
So I’m going with Trump/Walker . the others all sounded conservative at the debate. just words . I’ve seen no actions to confirm those words
I watched the debate twice. I’m an Arizona conservative whose never voted for McCain in a primary, and who supported Russell Pearce, the author of Arizona’s SB270 through his recall, at great political cost to myself. I still support his agenda against ILLEGAL immigration, and still laud Pearce’s courage.
I’ve watched Illegal Immigration be used by progressives to destroy the rule of law in this land, which is the foundation of the republic that America used to be. The cancer of lawlessness has metastasized and spread such that it is slowly killing America’s ability to recover our constitutional basis. The competition of illegal interests has driven out law-abiding and principled business in so many areas of our economy.
Enter johnny-come-lately “the Donald” Trump. His wedge issue, which has propelled him as a “conservative” seeker of the Presidency, has been his critique of the lawlessness and calamities surrounding illegal immigration. Do we know what his view on illegal Immigration was 2 years ago, or 4 years ago. Have his businesses benefitted from illegal immigration at any time? Has he spent money on politicians who supported increasingly lax enforcement on a national scale? Has he sided with the US Chamber of Commerce and international business interests, who don’t seem to care for US border enforcement?
If he wins the nomination and becomes the GOP’s candidate for President, can we really trust his recently assumed positions on so many social issues. Can we trust his position on illegal immigration to continue if he is elected? We only get one shot and can’t redo what the primary election in Feb and March of 2016 will create.
The most lasting impact of a President are his choices for the Supreme Court. If elected, who will Trump pick? What will be his legislative agenda? Will he try to bypass Congress like Obama has, because he he’s used to making command decisions and ego drives his ethics? Will he move to consolidate processes the Obama has used to become an imperial President?
As an aside, if facial expressions and demeanor are any indication of what one is thinking or how one will process relationships with others or an agenda, you might want to compare the facial expressions of Mussolini with those of Trump as they posture before crowds.
I don’t know much about Trump right now, but before I drink any Trump Kool-Aid, or listen to the siren songs of “conservative” Trump supporters, who are likely more anti-establishment (not an unjustified position) than really pro-Trump, I will try to find out a whole lot more about him, where he’s put his money in the past, and who he will select as leaders in his government. By the way, there are some 100K people who will eventually be tapped to become part of a Trump administration as high level administrators and managers. Eventually some million people will be become part of the Trump administration. As President, by law, by practice and by sheer inertia within the bureaucracy, Trump will not be able to involve himself in the negotiations he claims will be his role. And he will have to divest himself of control of his current financial “empire”. Is he enough of a public servant to do so righteously (no tricks, no slight of hand)? Are his core values, which will drive his administration, strong enough to benevolently provide for the people, as Reagan did?
Let’s all take a deep breath, stand back and honestly answer these questions before we choose Trump over all the other really good and trustworthy conservatives now running. To my mind, those who pass as consistent conservatives, are Cruz, Walker, Kasich (he was a great congressman in addition to being a good governor), maybe Huckabee, maybe Fiorina, and less so Rubio, (I have yet to forgive him for siding with Flake and McCain as part of the gang of eight. Thank heaven their “comprehensive immigration” package didn’t pass the House.) All those I’ve mentioned have been significantly tested regarding their principles and have a passed the test as acceptably conservative. What tests have Trump passed to gain our Trust and support?
Trump is the only one not owned by big daddy donors
What have the others done? nothing but voted for obama trade which is a trojan horse for massive 3rd world immigration. Ditto corker bill, highway bill, horrible bills
Walker is the only one who has done anything conservative. But he’s still a politician so can we trust him?
So I’m going with Trump/Walker . the others all sounded conservative at the debate. just words . I’ve seen no actions to confirm those words
What have the other politicians done as a Senator or Governor . I’m talking legislation. What ? Obama trade? yes they did that but that’s the worst thing ever and not conservative not pro America as it is a trojan horse for more immigration. What have they done ? Can you anti trumps Answer?
I never got an answer . all i get is attacks on me. What that’s not logical to demand results ,actions, not just speeches?Anyone can say words and they all did at the debate sounding so conservative.
Glenn Beck and his moronic giggling buddies are trying to end Trump.
Too bad. Trump is a breath of fresh air.
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