Tonight’s debate
I’ll be watching, at least that’s the plan. Every now and then I might even write something.
You can, too.
9:30 PM: Boy, did Cruz just give a good answer on the birther issue. And Trump’s response is incredibly petty, small, and narcissistic. I would imagine the Trump people will see it quite differently.
Legally, Cruz can’t get a declaratory judgment, as Trump suggests, as far as I know. Nor can the Democrats sue. That’s not the way the courts and the law work.
And Cruz just made a great joke—he might offer Trump the VP slot, and if Trump is right and Cruz is disqualified, then Trump will be president. Any time Cruz makes a successful joke, it helps him, because he is widely seen as humorless (he’s not).
9:42 PM: Carson speaks movingly of Republicans needing to stick together to support whoever is nominated, and cites the likelihood of appointing of Supreme Court justices next term as one major reason.
9:56 PM: Rubio: “Terrorists don’t get their guns from a gun show.”
10:00 PM: Cruz on the subject of evidence that Obama is against guns—Cruz just rattles off point after point after point. Makes me wonder what it would be like to have a president who’s really brilliant.
10:31 PM: For a while at least, on the subject of fighting terrorists and of immigration from Middle Eastern countries, all the candidates were on the attack against the one they should be attacking—Obama.
10:50 PM: I can’t imagine that Jeb Bush has helped himself at all this evening. But he’ll keep limping on, as long as his money holds out.
The potent poison quite o’ercrows my spirit.
I cannot live to hear the news from South Carolina.
But I do prophesy the election nights
On Tumpencruzbio. He has my dying vote.
So tell him, with th’ occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.
O, O, O, O. (dies)
But not quite…. evidently this debate is so compelling I just spent 10 minutes guiding my 101 year old mother to the Fox Business Network station so she could watch it.
I can’t wait to get her impressions.
I love it when Cruz is smart and funny!
Trump, is he just an older whiter less cool Obama? I’m hearing a lot of me, me, me from him.
The Cruz missile aimed at New York blew up in his face.
KL Smith,
What took you so long? 😉
And for others who will not be named in order to protect their presumed innocence, how does it feel to be a running dog lackey for messiah 2.0?
Because I saw Obama in Omaha this week, the contrast with this great field is stark.
Ted and Marco won.
Jeb, John and Ben are finished. Jeb was really bad.
I actually had the opportunity to watch part of the debate this time. Trump is good when he is talking but when he is listening to someone else talk he makes funny faces. I’m not sure that will work well when he is in a debate with the Democrat candidate.
Trump’s close was good. The idea that we will be sending $150b to Iran this week knowing full well what they will do with the money and that they will have nukes in two years drives me NUTS.
And also interesting that the amount of crude Iran is bringing to the market next week matches the amount of production we have cut also drives me wild.
To watch that arrogant prick brag in Omaha made me sick.
I had to leave the room when Cavuto turned the Fox network over to Trump for his ignorant, nasty, and long winded diatribe about Cruz’s citizenship status. I have a history of cardiac issues.
Before I left, I believe I understood Trump to say that if you were not born on American soil, you were not a natural citizen. Moderators let that pass.
There is nothing new about Trump’s antics when others are speaking. I don’t know if the various networks are trying to help him, or hurt him, by focusing split screen when others have the floor–before he interrupts.
There is a similarity between the way the media is conducing itself in this campaign and its behavior in 2008. Admittedly, they are not as adoring, but air time is is the breath of life for a candidate.
Cruz by a slim margin.
Rubio second because of his passion and command of the issues.
Trump third – I liked his discourse on New York and the way they rose to the occasion on 9/11. It was almost statesman-like. One of his best moments that I have seen.
Carly was fourth even though she wasn’t on the big stage. I hope she is available for VP.
I thought Jeb actually had some good moments compared with previous debates, but he can’t quite deliver the “kill shot” when taking on Trump.
Christie had a couple of good moments, but nothing to elevate him.
Carson is just too nice to be President. I love the man, but POTUS has to be far more ruthless than he seems.
Kasich is running in the wrong era. He keeps touting his government experience and doesn’t seem to realize that people are not looking for long term government experience. They want fresh, they want new. (The same applies to Jeb)
However, any one of them would be superior to Hillary or Bernie. (Talk about candidates with well-worn, long term government experience. Sheesh!)
We’re getting close to the real polls that count now. Things could be dramatically different by the end of March. Let the voting begin!
@Oldflyer:
Cruz has a problem. While he is probably qualified, it is not certain and the case law is not yet established for his situation. Trump cited Lawrence Tribe as an authority. Cruz responded saying Tribe had represented Gore in the infamous Gore vs Bush case that was ultimately resolved by the Supreme Court on partisan lines. What Cruz seems not to understand is that Tribe and his ilk will be doing their best to invalidate a Cruz victory.
Obviously, Trump has a dog in this race, but Cruz needs to put this issue to rest before the leftist legal tribe descends upon him. Remember, that tribe rules the roost all the way up to SCOTUS, where one aging Justice holds the balance of power.
I didn’t watch much of it but I thought Jeb did better this time. He seemed informed on Cyber Security in a way that other candidates weren’t. Here’s an odd thought. Would he take a VP slot? His father did.
I won’t be voting for the man in the primary, but Trump won the debate hands down, maybe not on points, but on substance. His quick answer of “NO” when asked if he would reconsider a temporary ban on Muslim immigration, and his brilliant rebuttal to Cruz’ insulting “New York values” monologue, were the highlights of the evening. Give the devil his due.
As to Ted Cruz, Neo, he is obviously the most intelligent, most conservative, and the best debater. Given all that, why did he let Rubio mop up the floor with him without countering the allegations that he had been for increased immigration in the amount of 500,000 a year, and had also been for a pathway to citizenship? The reason is that the statements were true. And why did such a skilled man decide to hit Trump by attacking New Yorkers and walk into an ambush of his own making?
Cruz is clever, too clever by half. He may not be the chest pounding egotist of a Donald Trump, but he’s nevertheless got the arrogance of high achievers.
They all have huge egos or they wouldn’t be running for POTUS.
Dennis,
Someone should compile a video of Trump’s facial expressions and then come up wih some captions like, Do you want to look at this for the next 4 years? or Do you think this will help him negotiate with leaders of our allies? I for one can’t stand looking at him.
@expat: Obama is an instant channel change on our TV. When he flounces off his tax-payer provided transportation, we flip channels instantly. If he had anything useful to say, we’ll find it on the blogs.
The cameras focus on Trump hoping he’ll do something stupid. He shows some expressions as he hears stuff. Maybe that is from his reality show experience. I wouldn’t know since I never watched it. I don’t bother with reality crap.
But he does know how to negotiate. Unlike Obama and Kerry and Clinton.
expat said above:
“Someone should compile a video of Trump’s facial expressions and then come up with some captions like, Do you want to look at this for the next 4 years?”
Oh Lord do I agree.
I watched for a while. The split-screen drove me crazy and seemed bizarre. Trump’s constant mugging is just not something I can stand. He also looks older every time I see him.
Cruz, meanwhile, suffers from not having a very handsome or immediately likable face. This factor is real, unfortunately.
All of them sounded VASTLY better than the Leftist Clown Show known as Hillary and Bernie.
Hillary is now whining, in an email to her supporters (I get ’em all) that Bernie! is outspending her! so please, pretty please, could you send them a dollar? $1?
Dear Lord, on your Throne of Justice, please put Your mighty thumb on our side of the scale, ever so slightly…. spare us the third Marxist term in a row.
The Ace of Spades HQ just posted this today:
Source: Washington Free Beacon. http://freebeacon.com/national-security/obama-admin-blocked-visa-waiver-reforms-upsetting-iran/
Watched the entire debate. I can no longer vote in CT’s primary as I dropped my GOP affiliation several years ago, but if I could here’s my present ranking after last night: Cruz, Christie, Rubio, Trump… out of the race are Carson (too weak), Kaisich (the “I’ve done all this before as governor” line is getting old fast), and Bush ( I don’t think he really wants to be in the race and is going through the motions).
Rubio’s tax policy bothers me, and I’m starting to forgive Christie a bit for past indiscretions. I will vote for Trump if it comes down to that over The Beast or the loonytoon from Vermont.
Neo:
You mentioned Jeb staying in until the bucks run out, which raises a question I’ve always wondered about: what happens to any campaign money not spent when it’s over? It can’t be attributed to a given donor or donors so they can’t give it back.
I seem to recall a court case a long time ago that said a candidate can pay himself (or herself) a salary during the campaign. Is that correct? I’ve seen lots of stories about candidates hiring everyone in their extended family, including minor children, to work on the campaign, at salaries I, as a CPA with 35 years in corporate accounting, would be envious of.
I’ve also heard that they can personally take any unused campaign funds with them when they retire from public office. True?
So is it possible that some of these people make a nice living campaigning, interspersed with periods when they actually get elected to something? You know, saving up unused campaign funds to live on when they lose, like a certain cute little rodent burying nuts for the winter.
How does someone like Santorum support his family during and between campaigns?
Any other lawyers out there who can enlighten me? Cornhead? Neo?
I’m not a huge fan of Trump, But from what I saw he destroyed Cruz with his NewYork state of mind bit.Cruz walked into this prepared hit piece.
Cruz’ comment about New York, though accurate, and possibly worth a couple of points in the upcoming Iowa primary, came across as petty and pointless. Perhaps he is playing to the Iowa voter, but I lost a little respect when he said it.
The Cruz birth issue is nothing. The people raising it now opposed similar issues surrounding Obama’s birth, parentage and birth certificate.
As for New York values, as someone born and raised in New York City note that NYC is a deep, deep, deep, deep blue city, with a communist Mayor.
So New York values are crap, un-American, not something to admire.
People outside New York loathe New York and with justification. The elites are all radical.
In Chaos Theory, the butterfly effect is the name given to the sensitive connection between initial conditions in which an insignificant event in one state in non-linear systems, can result in sometimes catastrophic events in the universal state
In other words, although unlikely, it is possible for a butterfly flapping its wings in Texas to cause a typhoon in the Japanese Sea.
Case in point, in mid-20th Century America, an 18 year old hippie freshman in a Honolulu college had sex with an older, alcoholic Kenyan on a student visa, who had a wife and child back in Africa. And this less than significant event started the collapse and dissolution of the United States of America.
_________________________
May this country find a candidate who is able to reverse the incredible damage caused over these past 7 years and thensome.
I am going to disagree with most on here. Yes, Cruz needs to absolutely tie up the ‘birther’ issue. You may not think it is anything, but other people do. That is the problem, and Trump was right to point it out. The Democrats will use this to make people believe that Cruz is not qualified and distract him with lawsuits.
Neo – If you have seen the news this morning, a Democrat in Houston just sued Cruz over this very matter. Trump was right. It’s not settled for most people. Needs to be. Cruz should have this cleared up ASAP so that we can leave it behind and the Democrats can’t use it against him.
I very much enjoyed this debate. It was much livelier than past debates and everyone (even people I dislike) did better than I’ve ever seen them in the past. I told my husband that Bush finally seemed confident and cool…but too late for him, he should’ve appeared like this on the first debate. Kasich less angry, but I still don’t like him.
Anyway, great fun. Loved the sparring. I also thought the moderators had great questions and let the debate take its own pace, rather than over use the buzzer.
K-E
Federal judge will dismiss. No standing. Not ripe. Political question. 12(b)(6).
Order will issue in 30 days, but that may be too late.
Harold:
Glad to hear your take on NYC values.
Trump’s answer as a non-sequitur. 9-11 was an attack on America; not NY. It touched every corner of America. We fully supported NY on 9-11. Heck, even New Yorkers supported GWB after 9-11. George’s first pitch strike – from the mound – was his best moment as President.
May this country find a candidate who is able to reverse the incredible damage caused over these past 7 years and then some.
When your country is stuck on the solution of needing a Hero King to sacrifice a lot of stuff to save the entire country, that country may no longer deserve to be saved.
King Arthur did not save the Celts in England, although he gave them a lot of time. The Celts just weren’t capable of withstanding the Saxon and Picts, culturally, given their luxurious civilized lifestyle under the Romans.
Only strong civilizations deserve to survive. The rest, can’t be saved, not in the long term, even by a Hero King.
Cornhead, I am no attorney, but I never said this guy is Houston was going to succeed in his case. I only said that Cruz needs to take care of the issue or else more than just this Houston guy will rattle his cage. And that is the last thing Cruz needs going into the primary race and/or the presidential race. It would be very very smart for him to put this to rest. Do whatever he needs to do. Just pretending it’s no big deal and all is well, is not convincing enough for some…and the Democrats will jump all over this issue.
Even lawsuits that go nowhere get in the news, start a conversation, etc.
Cruz needs to do what some indeterminate nobody tells him to do. Yes?
No. Cruz needs to do what he understands he needs to do. His understanding may differ from that of many people who are less informed about his situation then he himself is, not the least the understanding or lack of understanding which Donald Trump pretends to hold. But how like such a one as Donald Trump — in the finest top-down imperious manner — to pretend to know what is best for others.
“then” should have been “than”, apologies for the typo.
K-E
My key point is that Ted can’t clear up the birther thing in court. Not enough time and even if a trial court decided quickly, uncertainty would still be there due to appeals. Trump knows all of this.
I think Ted is handling this right. Actually following Obama’s example is the right thing. And laugh it off.
There seems to be something about Donald Trump that brings out the inner 5-year old in moderators and candidates alike.
“He called you a potato-head!”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Well, he’s a fatso!”
“Is not!”
“Is too!”
“Oh, yeah! Well, your mother is ugly!”
“Your mother is even uglier!”
Really? Is that the best we can do?
At least, some of the candidates stayed focused on the main issues: 1) beating Hillary; and 2) overturning Barry O’s “legacy.”
Trump did very well for himself. Cruz’s “New York values” bit was a mistake — even if it’s true. Trump also made a very good point that got lost in the sanctimony over the “banning Muslims” issue — it’s not just that the San Bernardino jihadis got into the US, but that there were pipe bombs, explosives and other bomb-making materials, and ammunition all over their house, and none of their friends and relatives called the police. THAT’S what “has to be figured out.”
Kasich and Bush are just too whiney. They have to go. Ben Carson, much as I love him, is just too nice to be President. Rubio was better last night, but still looks like a kid to me. (Maybe because I’m old.)
Cruz is certainly the best debater, and probably the most intellectually brilliant, but does that mean he would be a great President?
As before, the undercard was a better debate — the questions were better and there was no “he said, she said” nonsense.
Carly seems to me to be the only candidate who has given any thought as to what the next President should DO, beyond repealing all of Onederboy’s executive actions and Obamacare.
I can’t figure out why she hasn’t gotten more traction (although she is repeating her catch phrases too often – she needs a little variation in phraseology).
“Carson is just too nice to be President. I love the man, but POTUS has to be far more ruthless than he seems.”
I listened to Carson’s answers in the previous debate, about ISIS particularly, and I think he can be quite tough if needed.
Brain surgery is not for the faint of heart.
clarityseeker Says:
January 15th, 2016 at 11:03 am
In Chaos Theory, the butterfly effect is the name given to the sensitive connection between initial conditions in which an insignificant event in one state in non-linear systems, can result in sometimes catastrophic events in the universal state
In other words, although unlikely, it is possible for a butterfly flapping its wings in Texas to cause a typhoon in the Japanese Sea.
Case in point, in mid-20th Century America, an 18 year old hippie freshman in a Honolulu college had sex with an older, alcoholic Kenyan on a student visa, who had a wife and child back in Africa. And this less than significant event started the collapse and dissolution of the United States of America.
* * *
Interesting metaphor –