Posted on 01/14/2016 8:15:34 AM PST by mandaladon
Washington (AFP) - Republicans square off in their latest US presidential debate Thursday, just 18 days before all-important first votes are cast in the nominations race, after a rising party star delivered an extraordinary rebuke to frontrunner Donald Trump.
Seven candidates will take the main stage in South Carolina, with six focused on how to knock the real-estate tycoon off his perch and finally bring the 2016 campaign to a debate about issues rather than obsession over Trump's celebrity bombast.
South Carolina's young, charismatic governor Nikki Haley, considered by some a potential vice presidential pick, essentially cleared the way for Trump's rivals by attacking the rhetoric of the celebrity billionaire.
Her remarks -- "During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation" -- were all the more potent as they came in the official Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday
"Some people think that you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. That is just not true," she said pointedly.
The message marked political shots fired in the civil war roiling the Republican Party, specifically Trump's outsider populism versus his rivals in the conservative establishment.
By picking Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, GOP leaders -- who reportedly cleared the speech before she addressed the nation -- were effectively announcing they had had it with Trump's toxic brand of ethno-nationalism.
But Trump, who has relentlessly proven his savvy in the campaign, sought to deflect the criticism and turn Haley's hammering into a positive.
"As far as I'm concerned, anger is OK. Anger and energy is what this country needs," Trump told CNN in reacting to Haley's remarks.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
LOL!
Perfect!
They are sardines that look in the mirror and see themselves as sharks.
Especially when they stand on their tippy-toes, which is not easy for a sardine to do.
Spell checkers make us lazy.
[By picking Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants]
Who either parent just may have never been a naturalized citizens.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3383535/posts
Establishment Republicans never cornered the market on intelligence. They were just BOUGHT by businessmen who are more intelligent, and have tons of cash : )
Establishment Republicans never, ever learn. Bush “41” was elected by the public as what they thought would be, in essence, Reagan’s third term. THEN, at his Inaugural Address, “41” cast the seeds of his own defeat four years later with his “kinder, gentler” (I’m a sucker) language.
Wasn’t it Tip O’Neill who said “politics ain’t beanbag?” It ain’t!
Perhaps, instead, Nikki Haley, made a fool of herself by aligning with the Democrats in attacking Trump. The SOTU and the Republican response, were about Trump!
I, for one, was not impressed with the GOPe and their self-destructive attacks on their base.
Trump should get ‘airplane trouble’ and have to divert before he gets to where the debate is to be held..
Then he arrives late for the debate...lol
The lineup of losers put on a boring hour long spectacle and look totally lost because the target of their anger is missing...lol
Trump comes in in the middle and instantly becomes the life of the party and cuts them all off at the knees.
The contrast between the first half of the debate and the second half would show everyone who the big alpha dog is.
I’d love it!
In fact, when it came to Haley's speech, there was a brief moment in which I wondered if she knew (or, at least, if her GOP handlers knew) her speech would drive more fed up voters to Trump.
Having had 3 Republican presidents and 2 Democrat presidents in the last 36 years, I’d say the liberal track record ain’t nothing to brag about or imitate.
I agree
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