Posted on 01/27/2016 8:21:05 PM PST by Helicondelta
Tomorrow night, Republican front-runner Donald Trump might become the first presidential candidate ever to win a debate he didn't show up for. The other candidates will show up like they're supposed to, and they'll stand at their podiums answering questions. Some opinion writers will spin theories like, "Trump doesn't really want to win" or "This will be what finally does Trump in."
Some anti-Trump Republicans will believe this is the other candidates' chance to shine. They'll talk about their first-month-in-office goals. They'll talk about their policies and tax plans. Nobody will mention that Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are on the ends because they barely got in, but there may be some old-school prepackaged zingers. Someone will unleash one of those zingers and think it will make a great sound bite for the media to play over and over. He won't understand that "the zinger" is a dead art; a relic for future archaeologists. They'll dust it off and discover Trump's teeth marks on it.
Trump won't miss making news by skipping the debate. Trump is the news. I wrote last week in The Hill that the Republican Party and the media don't pull Trump's strings; he pulls theirs. This is what I meant. This is Trump pulling the media's strings. After the debate, the big story isn't going to be what former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio argued civilly about or whose flat tax proposal The Wall Street Journal likes best.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
The last paragraph from the article above nails it. Exactly how I felt.
I hope someone counts how many times each candidate’s name is spoken. It would be funny if Trump had the highest count.
Shot Caller
750 to 150k. If I weren’t on my mobile, I’d put up that Muttley .gif...
Wow! Go Trump!
Cruz is running along the same pathway as Trump, but behind. His real opponents also are the media, and to a limited degree he also has an opportunity to seize the initiative here. Were he to abandon the debate the thing would fall apart. He also would set himself, with Trump, apart from the rest of the field. Against that he has to weigh the real enmity he would receive from Fox - not much of a factor, really, but it counts - and whatever boost from them he might otherwise get from gratitude for not slam-dunking the debate. He is, after Trump, the only obvious leader even on stage with the others, who six months from now we'll all be struggling to remember, and on stage with them he'll be unmistakably alpha, at least in that pool. It's an "optic" that's hard to beat.
Abandoning the debate, however, unless the other candidates do too, turns the thing into a two-man race which it probably really is at the moment anyway. That's also a pretty powerful optic. Both the media and the GOPe would be apoplectic. But it's definitely an all-in move, and he may regard it as too early for that yet. And although it might boost his image to parity with Trump's, it isn't certain if it will boost his poll numbers enough to justify the risk. Tough call, really.
The media might like Trump because he is a good story, but his act will get real old, real fast; and the media will turn against him.
While the media may not like Cruz as much, Cruz has not been rude to them and he’s much easier to get along with.
The media constantly states that most people have not made up their minds.I have not believed that in the last 4 presidential elections.The media are the ones that benefit from a continued campaign soaking up as much possible advert dollars.You always hear pundits say it.
One of the tree stooges is a Sanders supporter.
Why would the GOP allow a Sanders support in a GOP debate?
A Trump set up. That’s why.
The point of this is that it may not matter what the media think. That’s the end game for both men, and it’s what makes this such an interesting campaign.
Good synopsis. Bill O’Reilly was pleading with Trump tonight. Nobody is going to pay much attention to the debate tomorrow night but afterward everyone will be desperate to interview Trump.
It would be a great laugh if Drudge kept Trump in the “who won the debate” poll.
I just want to know if the middle podium is going to be empty or will Cruz be in it? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!
Just change the question to: Who won the night?
One of the lead staff for Trump said that some of the other candidates are considering leaving the Debate also because of this latest revelation that Megyn had planned a massive attack on trump, using several internet bloggers (ladies).
Now, that would be interesting.
Is it going to be on a channel? Or is it just streaming? I can do both but just wondering if you had any info. Thanks.
Ronald Reagan didn’t win the Iowan Caucus because he didn’t attend the last debate but won New Hampshire and from there on and beat George Herbert Walker Bush...
Trump is Trump, let Trump be Trump....every time he does something that ‘other’ candidate don’t say or do, a few days later, bingo, Trump was right on the mark, and he will be that way over this also...
GO.TRUMP.GO!!!
Where was Rinse Prius the GOP RNC chairman to make sure the hosting network Fox treated of all people the GOP frontrunner and likely nominee fairly?
The media has taken out our best like Herman Cain, Nute Gingrich before and the RNC did nothing. Why even have an RNC, why give them money. They certainly only cared to make Donald J. Trump sign a Loyalty pledge. Loyalty goes both ways in my book. RNC is a POS. Not worth writing a check to any ore.
I haven't read about this anywhere else. Has anybody posted a link to such a story?
Two hours less of watching Meg, Chris and Bret is a bit of a victory. How incompetent is Fox Snooze?
Pray America wakes
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