Posted on 08/08/2015 10:49:31 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
On Friday night I swung by Sean Hannity's show on Fox News to chew over Thursday's GOP debates. You can see the video here.
We discussed Hillary Clinton's weakness re Bernie Sanders, and then moved on to the Republican side of things. The debate attracted an audience of 24 million people, the highest cable-news rating of all time, versus an audience of three-and-a-half million for the allegedly iconic Jon Stewart's farewell show (his second highest audience ever) and the highest non-sport cable rating in history.
Much of it was generated, presumably, by non-political types tuning in to check out frontrunner Donald Trump. Of course, much of the party doesn't accept him as a genuine "frontrunner". On Thursday, a lackluster Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, the Number 2 and 3, seemed to see themselves as the real frontrunners, playing it safe. I don't think that was a smart move, as I said to Sean:
"Donald Trump — you would have to drive a stake through him. So simply because no one did drive a stake through him, he survived, and therefore, he won. So he's still in the game and he's still locking down whatever it is, 25 percent, 32 percent I think it is in South Carolina now. So he's the guy to beat. I thought most of the others did well within their own terms, although they're actually quite narrow terms. And the disappointment, I think, was with the number two and number three because I think Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, in a sense, were both sitting on their non-leads. They both of them, I think, took a sort of conscious decision to kind of do a low-key don't-frighten-the-horses thing and hope that when Trump implodes, that they're still in the number two or number three slot....
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
The two main things I learned from the debate was that Walker & Bush will never be POTUS. Both were Bo-ring. And Trump needs to do his home work. Some of his answers to important questions like Iran had no substance. He needs to do better.
Look, this Trump ‘thing’ has disrupted the normal insider game where the lobbyists and special agenda people talk money, positions, and get their guy in line with their agenda. Trump won’t be dictated to, or led around by these guys. Fox News is being used to hustle Trump out, but apparently their ‘Fair and Balanced’ routine isn’t being bought by apparently half of the Fox viewers (we got smart over the past six years).
Trump is going to be around for the remainder of 2015, and put a severe ‘hurt’ on Iowa and New Hampshire. He might actually be able to hustle up fifteen state wins during the primary. But don’t worry....convention rules allow almost one unassigned delegate for each sent by state primaries....which means that the VIP guys will ensure that Trump can’t win at the convention.
I think a quarter of all Republicans will be disgusted with the convention outcome, and vow not to support who wins. And no, I don’t think it works for Hillary because she’s likely in legal trouble and some unknown character will emerge by Iowa to reshape the whole Democratic contender thing.
And, really, what does it matter how a Canadian thinks? If he's oh-so-very “concerned” about America, why doesn't he become a real American instead of just living here and pontificating. I realize that Mark Steyn is wildly popular here so flame away on that latter point.
I do like Trump. I haven’t decided whether or not I would vote for him, but, I agree with you. He needs to buckle down and confront the issues that face this great nation, as well as lose some words from his vocabulary, such as loser, stupid, etc. I cringe when I hear him talk this way.
As with most small-minded people, you attack the messenger and ignore the message.
I wish people would listen to you. I remember in 2012, there were many people who warned GOP leadership that a Romney nomination would cause many people to vote third party. Of course, party leaders didn't listen. Then, during the last weeks of the campaign (in October) we heard the pitch that a third party vote was a vote for Obama. It didn't matter. A lot of folks voted 3rd party and a lot of folks just stayed home.
NOW WE ARE SEEING A REPEAT OF THE SAME PROCESS. Once again, party leaders are planning to "Push Bush" and sabotage every conservative candidate. They are becoming frightened because their plan to "Dump Trump" is taking longer than they expected and they know that even after they get rid of Trump, they will then have to sabotage Cruz. Bush may be worthless as a candidate by the time they get rid of first Trump and then Cruz. Fox, Rove, et al. are getting desperate.
If they succeed in nominating Bush, there will be a repeat of 2012. They will spend October warning that a 3rd party vote will be a vote for Hillary, etc. and that we have no choice but to vote for Bush. But, we will have a choice and Bush will go the way of Romney.
The leadership should get it through their heads NOW that BUSH IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO TOO MANY PEOPLE.
Those who tell us what to do ought to have a stake in the Republic. He opposes dual citizenship. Fine, I get that. So renounce your Canadian citizenship, Mark, and become an American.
Nailed it.
The issue isn’t trump. The issue is this statist loser Republican Party.
“I am myself a legal immigrant and I fretted, while completing the bazillion pages of “comprehensive” immigration forms, about whether it was strictly necessary to declare that unpaid parking ticket from Saskatoon in 1987 or the unsolved string of prostitute murders at the Port of Amsterdam in the late Seventies. And at one point, while I was agonizing, my lawyer said to me that the examiner who would decide my case spent six minutes on each application, at the end of which he said yea or nay. So he wouldn’t have time to read all the forms, never mind check anything in them.”
http://www.steynonline.com/section/13/steyn-on-america
Mark Steyn is writing what I’m thinking just all the more elegantly and with a British accent. The GOP-E just don’t get it. They aren’t even close to the Gingrich or Delay levels. They are just rolling over trying to look like they are “governing” aka not being confrontational in any real way so as not to get anyone thinking that they might really be going to upset the Obama apple cart of crap once he’s gone. If we aren’t going to have leaders that present a real opposition party what is the value of voting Republican? We get justices like Kennedy and Roberts who both should be impeached both for different reasons.
There is the feeling that we are at the Rubicon. Obama has nearly wiped out all that had been accomplished by Reagan and even by the Gingrich congress post 1994 prior to GW Bush. Culturally we’ve gained on the issue of abortion while losing the battle through Obamacare. We have real strongholds in some states but they are increasingly threatened by the ever encroaching federal beast which now even controls how states license marriage.
Anyone who thinks there is an incremental way back from this is fooling themselves. Its like playing a game knowing you are being cheated and just accepting it. Look at how many GOP candidates just accept political correctness defined in left wing terms as if it is the only natural way things can be and the worst of them not only accept it but they feed it and rush out to declare “I’m not a bigot like that guy!”, “I’m not a sexist like that guy!” and on and one like pathetic wimps hoping to curry some advantage in the eyes of the ever sanctimonious and duplicitous media.
Steyn’s analysis is brilliant, and I’m fine with Steyn not being American, because if he was, he would be less intelligent than he is.
And the reason that you did not hear about Ted Cruz, is because Ted Cruz did not stand out. I am not saying he did poorly, but I am saying that he is basically just a face in the crowd. He did not distinguish himself in any significant way. He did not inspire. He did not capture the attention of enough people in this country to be able to win.
I am not saying he can’t, but so far he hasn’t. If a Republican is to win this race, then he is going to have to CATCH FIRE, and I capitalized that, because it’s going to need to be a big damn fire.
At this time, Trump has done exactly that. He is front and center, and people are flat paying attention to him.
Whether or not that endures and whether or not he is actually a conservative remains to be seen, but if any of those other people in that stage intend to take the spotlight off of Trump, they had best come to life quickly.
Most Boring Steen Commentary Ever Award.
The GOP thinks the issue is Trump; much of the base thinks the issue is the GOP.
First rounds in Civil War 2 here, IMO. Team Beltway vs. Main Street.
No flame, that comment just wasn’t very bright.
Who is telling you what to do?
Opinions and perceptions do and will always differ in the incendiary world of politics. I thought that Senator Ted Cruz clearly soared above the rest of the other nine onstage. Having an unapologetic faith in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is a must with me. To that point, I thought he proclaimed his unwavering Belief in an impressive manner and that was my takeaway. YMMV.
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