Republican Debate #3
I previously commented on the first Republican debate. I was blessed to be in Rome for the second debate which afforded me the opportunity to miss that exercise. Instead I had a lovely day at Villa Medici. We have now returned to Miami Beach and I reluctantly decided to don my good citizen hat and watch the third Republican debate –actually being held at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. I have enjoyed the Miami Ballet there on multiple occasions and recommend you attend the ballet during your next trip to the Magic City. The debate did not measure up to my ballet experience.
NBC moderated the debate. They did a good job on the questions, controlled the audience and generally kept the candidates within the rules. Kudos! Vivek Ramaswamy expressed strong objections to NBC as a debate host and moderator– suggesting they were the enemy of all that was good and pure in the world. He explicitly stated only MAGA friendly networks should host Republican debates. He then blamed the current Republican National Chairman for the string of recent Republican defeats in state and local elections and demanded she resign immediately. What an ass! A total grandstander who doesn’t wear well. Let’s review the candidates-sans Trump obviously!
1) Tim Scott : The purpose of Scott’s candidacy continues to escape me. I assume some pollster opined that he would serve as the guy with a sweet demeanour and positive personality who would express appropriately nihilistic Trumpian policy views with a smile on his face. A user friendly candidate! He was awful. He is a lightweight. His answers are a series of cliches. He loves America. He loves economic opportunity. None of his answers are spontaneous. He did volunteer that he would authorise a pre-emptive first strike United States military attack on Iran! Not a confidence builder! His donations will dry up. His campaign is over. Goodbye Tim! He was so mediocre he probably removed himself from consideration as Trump’s Vice Presidential running mate.
2) Vivek Ramaswamy: if Ramaswamy is the avatar of the new generation of Republicans, the country is in deep trouble. He remains facile with language, articulate and rapid fire in his responses. He is ultra confident, but the substance is alarmingly offensive and irresponsible. He clearly disrespects the other candidates and they up the ante by despising him in return. Nikki Haley may put out a contract on him after he gratuitously inserted her daughter into the debate and criticised Mrs Haley's parental skills. He also suggested she is a Tic Tok addict and a tool of the Chinese. He doesn't like Ukrainians and would not give them any further support. I actually think he would send them a bill for services rendered. He is very focused on the southern border and I continue to wrestle with why Republicans are so afraid of destitute Honduran, Guatemalan and Haitian people. They are desperate souls, broke and homeless–hardly an existential threat to the number one super power in the world. We need a solution on immigration, policy but it should not be based on fear mongering and demagoguery. Vivek is an extremely irritating person who will probably get a primetime gig on Fox shortly. He is toast in this campaign. His polls will drop like a rock! His 30 seconds of fame are coming to an unceremonious end!
3) Chris Christie: Christie is a good debater. He expresses his themes concisely. He is a good counter puncher. He physically projects as a leader. His answers on Israel/Palestinian and Ukraine were excellent. He understands America’s role in the world. He's not nuts! He criticises Trump’s behaviour with intelligence, passion and reason. He is crystal clear on why Trump is manifestly unfit and unqualified to be President. He also points out that Trump is a bad candidate and a loser! Christie would have been a strong candidate in 2012 and 2016. He has zero chance in the Trump cult Republican party. Hopefully, he drops out soon so the anti Trump Republicans can unite behind one alternative. Christie’s most likely future is as a highly compensated conservative voice on one of the major networks, probably MSNBC.
4) Ron DeSantis: The bar was low. DeSantis was barely breathing in the first debate and as Mitt Romney says "Mr DeSantis always looks like he has a toothache when responding to questions.” He is flat in the polls and the major donors are getting queasy. Given that context, he was better in this session. He had more energy and gave his canned answers with greater conviction. He actually sparred with Nikki Haley on which of them was more of a sellout to the Chinese Communist Party. On issues, he is an anti-woke talking head. Gays, transgender people, books, etc are not his thing because they undermine the American dream. He aggressively avoids criticising Trump in any meaningful way –only suggesting that he will be more effective in imposing crazy and bad policy on the country since he has a greater attention to detail than Mr Trump. His Ukraine policy answers are spineless and divorced from reality. He will however invade Mexico! Governor DeSantis is NOT a prime time player! No evidence of any political courage.
5) Nikki Haley: Nikki Haley had a good debate. She won under any rational analysis. Solid appearance, good stage presence, articulate, coherent on foreign policy, acknowledges the complexity of abortion policy and genuinely appears to have a general election strategy that could bring the Republicans a Presidential election victory in 2024. The argument for the necessity of an alternative to Trump was undermined this week by polling that shows him leading Biden in five key swing states. Logic says - if Trump can win - why do we need a less strident version of him. Heck - go with the real thing! Haley’s only mistake at the debate was failing to highlight that the same polls showed her beating Biden by a greater margin than Trump in those same battleground states. She must emphasise that she is the only candidate likely to win the general election. Republicans need to be reminded that they have only won the popular vote ONCE in a Presidential election since 1988. Not an impressive record. She needs to consolidate the anti-Trump faction of the party, including major donors. To accomplish that goal, she needs to finish at least second in Iowa and New Hampshire and win South Carolina. She then needs good timing on a Trump conviction in the federal January 6 false elector- insurrection trial. She has a pathway on paper but it is exceedingly narrow.
