Posted on 08/13/2015 6:17:34 AM PDT by Kaslin
While the Republican National Committee might have limited the number of debates in this season's primary process, the candidates' performances during the first debate ensured that they would still carry great weight. With Donald Trump as the current leader of the field, this might be considered the first reality-TV primary.
The first Republican debate for the 2016 nominee was held last week on Fox News. Moderated by Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer, it featured Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki and Jim Gilmore, and drew 6.1 million viewers.
The prime-time debate, moderated by Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace, included Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie and John Kasich, and drew 24 million viewers.
Four years ago, according to CNNMoney, the first GOP debate drew 3.2 million viewers, and the most-watched debate (on ABC) drew 7.6 million viewers. So while this cycle may include fewer debates overall, it has already elicited more interest from potential voters. For that, we can presumably thank the fact that the current field includes some interesting candidates.
Among the most interesting -- and in my mind the clear winner of the first debate -- was Carly Fiorina. She was optimistic overall, assertive without being aggressive, knowledgeable without being wonky, and clearly articulated the vast difference between progressivism and conservatism.
Fiorina, echoing Ronald Reagan and Jeane Kirkpatrick, was firm on foreign policy and articulated her understanding of the importance of American leadership: "When America does not lead, the world is a dangerous and a tragic place."
Channeling Margaret Thatcher, and her rise from a grocery girl, Fiorina talked about her background as a secretary, then translated the policy of conservatism into human rather than economic terms. "I am a conservative because I believe no one of us is any better than any other one of us," she said. "Progressives don't believe that. They believe some are smarter than others, some are better than others, so some are going to need to take care of others."
Finally, she laid out clearly the problem of too much government and the reality versus the intent of large government institutions. "We have arrived at a point in our nation's history where the potential of this nation and too many Americans is being crushed by the weight, the power, the cost, the complexity, the ineptitude, the corruption of the federal government."
The second debate, while dominated by Trump, provided Rubio a time to shine, and allowed Paul's acts of desperation to overshadow his libertarian leanings. Jeb Bush, the lead fundraiser in the race, intelligently flew under the cover of Trump's ego and managed to answer questions without misspeaking, which was all he needed to do.
A Rasmussen Reports survey, released this Tuesday, backs up what was seen on stage. The results: "Trump with 17 percent support among Likely Republican Primary Voters, down from 26 percent in late July before the first GOP debate." Rubio and Bush were in second place with 10 percent; Fiorina and Walker each earned 9 percent; and Carson and Cruz each earned 7 percent.
It will be interesting to see if the next debate, to be held September 16 on CNN, draws as large a crowd and provides as much drama. Again, the candidates will be split into two groups. The top group will be composed of the top 10 candidates -- as determined by an average of all qualifying polls released between July 16 and September 10.
Note that the time frame for qualification in the top 10 began before the last debate. This might help moderate the impact of large swings in the polls, but the shorter tiebreaker time frame might help those -- such as Fiorina -- who have recently gained momentum.
As always, as a candidate's poll numbers go up, so increases the pressure and scrutiny from the news media. It will be interesting to see if Fiorina can withstand the heat while using her new momentum to raise money and inspire others to join her on her quest to unlock the potential of America. Or perhaps Trump -- the man who thinks so much of himself that he has affixed his name to 268 businesses -- will continue to draw the lion's share of the attention by treating the debate as reality politics.
Yay, a pro-amnesty environmentalist radical talks well! Let’s vote for her!
Unfortunately Carly’s campaign rhetoric, like certain others in this race, doesn’t necessarily match past comments she’s made.
No to Carly. She is a GOPE - people just don’t realize she’s playing a role. I can’t prove it, but I think she had the questions ahead of time. Her answers were too canned and rehearsed. She worked with the Clinton Foundation and was/is a Fox Business News contributor. She’s got pull at Fox - so, I have my suspicions.
Can we imagine, for a moment, a Trump/Fiorina ticket? Kind of reminds me of Clinton/Gore.
No, I can’t imagine a Trump/Fiorina ticket.
The second debate, while dominated by Trump, provided Rubio a time to shineThis article is about Carly because she dumped on Hillary. I take it that she didn’t have to fight to get a word in edgewise to do it. Was Megyn Kelly giving Trump - or Cruz - that opportunity? I don’t think so.
(With Donald Trump as the current leader of the field, this might be considered the first reality-TV primary)
Don’t conservative writers know that when they write crap like that, conservatives who have years of practice detecting bias would immediately start disregarding the rest of their article?
You nailed...she’s a ‘phoney’ thru and thru...she should be carrying shillary’s water...
Not 100% correct. She supports the DREAM Act, but is against amnesty. She supports Arizona’s recent legislation making it a crime to be in the country illegally.
Her stance on the DREAM act is extremely disappointing though.
MORE GOPe pimping of the new anti-Trump distraction to clear the way for Jeb
MORE GOPe pimping of the new anti-Trump distraction to clear the way for Jeb
MORE GOPe pimping of the new anti-Trump distraction to clear the way for Jeb
Yikes! Sorry about that...new mouse.
Fiorina is a rino
1) it WAS the happy hour debate, and the moderators were softer than Megyn Kelly and her cronies. Certainly there was no "gotcha" question for her---especially one right out of the gate---the way there was for Trump, and the only "let's you-and-him-fight" question she got was directed toward Trump---not on the stage.
2) She's an unknown, probably more than anyone there except Gilmore, with nowhere to go but up.
3) Her answers WERE cogent, often deep, and she was the only candidate (including Trump or Cruz) who showed an appreciation for Chinese/Russian e-warfare. Of course, that's here baliwick. I doubt she could talk real estate implications like The Donald or legal implications like Cruz.
4) As a woman, she's going to get some slack, especially since she isn't Sarah Palin. I think the drive-bys have to to some small (emphasize small) degree have to "be nice to the woman" for a while to make up for the Palin hit-job they did.
5) More than anyone but Trump, she has that wrestling move called the "reverse gotcha" in place. When they tried to pin her down on late-night talk shows about her web domain that a disgruntled employee took to bash her, she announced she had BOUGHT the web domains of the idiots asking her the questions. That is one of the most perfect Reverse Gotcha's in recent history.
6) Many in the GOPe know Bush is a loser and are desperate for a fall back. I think Rubio is their #1, Walker their #2, but I think they are grooming Carly to be #3.
Carly is way more liberal than Trump.
No, I don’t think she’s that far off as I’ve argued elsewhere and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Culture HAS changed. Reality TV, celebrity culture IS the dominant thing. We can fight it and lose again (Obama figured this out in 08, among other things), or we can respond with our own celebrity, which at the moment seems to be working.
Just another “Campaign Conservative”.
iCarly and Jackie—Sisters hangin’ together.
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