They all sank...
Posted on 08/29/2015 1:30:36 PM PDT by Steelfish
The GOP Field That Failed By RICH LOWRY August 28, 2015
The rise of Donald Trump is, in part, a function of a vacuum. He is thriving in a Republican field that is large, talented, and, so far, underwhelming. To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen, there’s 17 candidates and nothing on. Except Donald Trump. Now, this has much to do with the media, and with Trump’s unique qualities as a showman. He has the advantage of not caring about anything, apparently — the facts, his reputation, or, ultimately, winning the presidency. In consequence, he is a free man. Yet no speech, no policy proposal, no argument, nothing from the other candidates has come close to capturing the imagination of voters, giving Trump the space to loom all the larger.
The weakness starts at the top, or what was supposed to be the top. Jeb Bush’s “shock and awe” has turned into getting sand kicked on him at the beach by a loudmouth and bully. It’s not just that Bush is trailing Trump badly in the polls; he has acceded to the terms of the debate being set by the mogul. In the argument with Trump over mass deportation, clearly Bush is right. But the split screen with Trump doesn’t necessarily do him any favors. Trump is such a forceful communicator that he comes off as some sort of throwback alpha male, whereas Bush is such an earnest wonk, he looks and sounds like a sensitive dad from a contemporary sitcom. It’s like watching a WWE wrestler get a stern talking-to from Ned Flanders.
Bush is not a natural performer to begin with, and he believes his contribution to the race is to be the non-threatening Republican, which is often indistinguishable from the uninteresting Republican. So while Bush has methodically built the superstructure of an impressive campaign — with fundraising, organization, and policy proposals — he has so far barely warmed up an ember among voters. Scott Walker, in contrast, had a surge early in the campaign. It dissipated over time when his limited preparation on national issues didn’t match his outsized early press exposure. A so-so debate performance and the rise of Trump have continued his long fade to middle of the pack in the latest early-state polling (tied for fourth in New Hampshire and tied for seventh in South Carolina). The rules of gravity say Trump will come back down to earth.
Walker’s ability to appeal to both the establishment and the activist wings of the party had looked like a strength, but now it seems a precarious balancing act, made all the more difficult by a panicky reaction to Trump. No sooner had Walker pronounced himself “aggressively normal” in the debate than he seemed to opt for just “aggressive” in an attempt to play to the passions tapped by Trump. Who could have predicted that the Midwestern candidate who tells stories about buying shirts for $1 at Kohl’s would have to play populist catch-up with the New York billionaire who travels by eponymous helicopter? As for Marco Rubio, for whom expectations have been so high, he has been the least reactive to Trump. His campaign is still betting on the long game. It believes his talent will tell over time, but he doesn’t have a natural geographic or ideological base.
Ted Cruz may be benefiting most from the Trump surge in his strategic positioning. He has a cogent theory of the case, which is that if he is nice to Trump — and the other outsider candidates — he eventually can inherit his supporters. This makes intuitive sense, although Cruz — exceedingly careful in crafting his words and in calculating his interest — is hardly a natural anti-politician. It is still August, of course. The rules of gravity say Trump will come back down to earth. The media interest that is so intense now could burn out. His lack of seriousness should be a drag over time. Even if he fades, though, someone else will have to fill the screen. To this point, no one else has been big or vivid enough to do it.
I'd say that National Review has sunk to a new low but that would be incorrect. Recall reading the NR puff piece written for "conservative" Bush '41 when he ran for Congress in the '60s.
Walker still hasn’t made up his mind if he’s with the cititzens and the rule of law or the illegal aliens and their employers. His waffling on illegal aliens is what sank him.
“Rich Lowry is a jerk.”
I second that thought. NR has lost it big time. I MAY end up NOT renewing my subscription
Girly boy Lowery is such a well, girly boy.
No "real" conservative candidate can survive the Alinsky attacks of the combined communist fronts of the Democrats, GOPe, and media.
Trump is doing what must be done, first.
Wharton MBA. Billionaire, largely self made. Wrote the best selling business book ever.
He is a serious man, who makes his own way, and isn't afraid of what losers and hangers-on say or do.
I still want Cruz, but Trump has changed the landscape. Pushed the GOPe to the bottom of the heap.
Ho hum!
More BS from the beltway pinduts!
The media is so surface that they don’t have the ability to see past the surface level Trump down into to the deadly serious businessman that plays to win and knows what he is doing.
It’s like being a boat in the middle of the ocean after an earthquake and not sensing the tsunami that just ran past you and is about to hit the shore.
I think I’m tired of the “All Trump all the time shows and reruns” Maybe that is the media’s plan; to make voters sick about hearing about trump all the time.
I cancelled years ago.
The GOP isn’t like the DNC. Voting for someone because of their skin color or because they have mammary glands is something that only low I.Q. morons do.
This is it in a nutshell. It's what will keep Trump's poll numbers stratospheric. He is our response to this invasion and the GOP's inability or unwillingness to stop it. In our fight against the Capital The Donald is our Mockingjay.
Rich needs to go back to the drawing board.
He misses the point totally.
Rich will figure it all out when he is ready to be honest with himself.
Until then, he is is la la land.
Why is it that these people are so unable to grasp reality?
Frankly, I wish they would stop writing these pieces because all they do is SHOW how out of reality they really are.
I am no longer angry, I have just given up on them.
They can connive and they can deny, and they can machinate Trumps demise all they like.
One thing they cannot do is to make me vote for people who they want me to vote for because they know better than I do what is good for me.
They do not, and until they get it, I am not interested.
GOP, as currently structured is and has been a failure for a long, long time.
You sure about that? Differentiate for me the actions of Mitch McConnell and, say, Harry Reid.
I guess I should have said, GOP voters aren’t like DNC voters. Yeah, sometimes we don’t have much of a choice who the GOP puts up but I’d never vote for an America-hating DemocRAT. Never.
Bush garners all the enthusiasm of a wet noodle.
Nice to see Lowry coming around to the “acceptance” phase. His best option now is to try to make nice, so maybe Trump throws some crumbs to the Republican Establishment (like jobs cleaning the toilets in Air Force One).
Crap. I thought this was another George “inert granade” Will vomitous belch.
They all sank...
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