Last Republican Debate of 2015 Open Thread
I skipped last night’s GOP debate in favor of a Christmas party with my students.
The news accounts seem to indicate that it was mostly a series of one-liners. Did anything happen that would make people rethink Trump? Bring one of the single-digit candidates into the mix?
I skipped it in favor of an episode of “Booze Traveler” I had on my DVR. Learned some interesting things about cocktail culture in Argentina. Also there’s a place in the Andes that was settled by Germans and if you didn’t know it was in Argentina you’d swear it was the Bavarian Alps.
Doug has done a yoeman’s task of reporting on the catfight. Sounds like those of us who found something else to do didn’t miss anything. The only interesting point is the continued bromance between Trump and Cruz.
Jeb! seemed more in the fight last night, but I don’t know that he’s not too far over the hill for it to matter. The troubling thing to me is that if national security and the ISIS threat to the shores of Miami and San Pedro stays the issue that motivates the voters, we were probably looking at the next POTUS somewhere on that stage.
Are you unaware of the war on christmas????
The winning GOP candidate must earn 40% of the Hispanic vote to even have a chance. Trump polled at -51% net approval before the Univision ejection. Who does the best? Jeb at +13% net.
This is just one of the many communities the Grand Outreach Party has yet to reach.
The reckless, unprofessional rhetoric from last night’s debate didn’t move the needle so much as 1 EV.
I am surprised that none of the candidates tried to stand out from the herd. It seems that all of them think that ISIS is the largest threat to the US and requires drastic countermeasures including bombings of anything visible and open ended committent of American soldiers. I would have thought that one of them would have seized the spotlight by pointing out that Islamic terror is actually not particularly effective at killing Americans. After all, in 2013 influenza killed more than 9/11, and drunk drivers killed three 9/11’s worth. There are ten or so candidates each with single digit poll numbers, and saying the same stuff won’t get any of them any traction. Rand Paul came closest.