Posted on 02/26/2016 1:10:17 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Over the course of the last 48 hours, the Rubio campaign pulled one of the great head-fakes in recent political history by telegraphing that they weren't at all interested in attacking Donald Trump at tonight's debate.
Technically, this wasn't a ruse because Rubio didn't just attack Trump. He went after him with a chainsaw. And Ted Cruz brought a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.
If the normal laws of politics applied to the 2016 race, it would have been a catastrophic night for Trump. By any reasonable measure, Trump had a meltdown. He was exposed as a policy lightweight on a host of issues: A health care repeal plan which consists entirely of "removing the lines." He defended Planned Parenthood (again!) by claiming that abortions are only a small part of what the organization does. Most amazingly, he claimed that his sister, who is a judge, "signed a bill" with Judge Sam Alito. Two judges ... "signed a bill." It's enough to make you wonder: If a single exchange between Rubio and Chris Christie two weeks ago cost him several spots in New Hampshire, how could this two-hour demolition not cost Trump a great deal?
But will it hurt him? Probably not by itself. But if tonight's debate is the beginning of a sustained counterattack against Trump-by Cruz and Rubio themselves on the stump, by their campaigns on the air, and by reluctant donors who now see that there's a blueprint for dismantling the orange menace-then it could mark the beginning of the end for Trump.
What's the blueprint? Stylistically, Rubio showed that you don't need to out-argue Trump. You can mock him. And over the course of the debate, Rubio and Cruz put into play a number of issues that are real problems for Trump:
* His fishy tax returns, which he falsely insists he can't release because he's being audited.
* His total lack of a plan for replacing Obamacare.
* His lies about supporting/opposing both Iraq and Libya (which he repeated during the debate).
* The continuing charges of fraud (and lawsuit) concerning Trump university.
* Trump's use of illegal immigrant labor to build Trump Tower.
Why are these problems? Because the average voters doesn't know about most of them. Because they go to the heart of Trump's appeal. And because some of them-such as the tax returns and Trump University-are ongoing stories in which there are plenty of details still to be reported. The Cruz and Rubio campaigns ought to push these issues relentlessly at campaign stops, through surrogates, and in ads because their attacks will, in turn, force the media to finally confront (rather than enable) Trump.
Trump's rise has been powered by his dominance of earned media-and not just his perpetual access to it, but the obsequious toadying of TV hosts who don't want to lose their ratings chum. But a sustained campaign which focuses on these specific and detailed charges about Trump will force the media to start actually asking questions and pushing back against Trump when he dissembles or evades. In short, a real campaign against Trump will force the media to start treating him like a real candidate. And once that starts happening, Trump will be much less eager to submit himself to real questioning.
The final step to beating Trump is that his rivals have to tie their attacks to a central idea of what Trump really is. As effective as Rubio was in torching Trump at the debate, Cruz did a better job of this tonight. Cruz used all of Trump's problems to support the argument that Trump is a liar and a negotiator who is going to sell out his supporters the first chance he gets. (And believe it or not, that's the most charitable interpretation. Throw in his squeezing grandmothers to build casino parking lots, his penchant for bedding married women, and his four bankruptcies and you can grope your way to much worse characterizations.)
Yet Trump cannot be destroyed in a day. No matter how disastrous tonight's debate was, defeating him will require time, resources, discipline, and initiative. Cruz and Rubio have, finally, shown how it can be done.
But if this debate isn't followed by a pro-longed counter-offensive, then it will serve as nothing except a preview of what the Democrats will do to Trump in July.
“Majestic herds of salamanders once thundered across the unspoiled plains....”
Yeah, okay, that works.
: D
"Where seldom was heard a conspiratorial word and congress was not cloudy all day."
*Win*!
Excellent post.
Please post often.
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