Posted on 08/07/2015 5:58:06 AM PDT by Jeff Head
Last night the debate made a few things very clear to me.
First: The Fox News moderators were on one of several missions, and the first was to try and make Trump as uncomfortable as possible and try and make a point of it to the people watching the debate. The second, IMHO, was to not give or allow much time to a few of the other candidates. They seemed to want to focus on Trump, give Bush plenty of time, and to then focus on disagreements and infighting like that occurred between Christie and Paul the bulk of the time, and then allocate minimal time to the other candidates.
Second: Trump will not back down, and is not made "uncomfortable," by their attempts. He fires back and is clearly the anti-Republican Establishment candidate. Think what you will of him, but he is taking the fight to the establishment and any one he perceives as supporting it and willing to attack him, and he does not care about what others think is politically correct or not in the process.
Third: Ted Cruz, IMHO, was clearly IMHO, the most presidential man on that stage last night. He articulated (when given the chance), not only the right conservative plans and message, but the temperament to be the nation's leader.
Fourth: Ben Carsen accounted well for himself. He did not get much time, but he came across very reasoned and very capable, despite his lack of political experience...which I do not necessarily hold against him. He's just going to need to be a great organizer and surround himself with the right people in order to get through this race.
Fifth: Scott Walker also accounted well for himself, but IMHO, needs a little more fire in the belly and assertiveness in that environment. But I liked his answers and thoughts, and feel he too would be a very strong leader if given the chance, despite whatever other disagreements some may have with him.
Sixth: Bush did not do well IMHO. He is clearly capable of leading, and did so in Florida. But he is an establishement candidate...in fact the establishyment candidate...and his efforts to try and reach out to the base and strong conservatives, IMHO, were weak. On stage, he was also not, IMHO a commanding presence. He did little to either upstage the furor over Trupmp...despite his one comment about Trumps demeanor...or to postion himself against others like Cruz.
My Summary:
IMHO, Cruz won this debate. If given the chance, I believe he articulates a imminently strong conservative message, is very difficult for other candidates to debate, and does so with a very Presidential demeanor. Trump absolutely held his own and fired right back at his detractors.
Fox and crew...and the MSM.just cannot understand Trump. They want him to behave they way they think he should...and their attempts to corral him and try and force him to do so are going to backfire every time with him.
Face it, many Americans, particularly conservatives, want and are happy to see someone stand up to and fire full broadsides back at the media, the establishment, and on some point issues to this point, the liberal/progressives. Trump has tapped into that and has the demeanor to continue doing so as long as he is in the race.
Thanks for that!
It pretty much sums it up.
Living here in Ohio, Kasich as Gov is just another big govt liberal.
I SAW THAT! Disgusting.
Great to see you back, Jeff. You’ve been missed.
Click the link I provided and look at the image/graphic. It shows responses
by time invervals. Example Trump had 20 responses as opposed to others
who had seven, Cruz/Huckabee.
Great to cyber see you my friend!
How are you doing?
As to the debate, I believe Cruz is the best of the lot at this point. I like Carson, but I am not sure he is ready organizationally for the job, and we simply do not know enough to guage whther he is able to surround himself with the team necessary to successfully bring his ideas and thoughts into reality and actual legislation and policy.
Walker is another person I could support if he made the grade and became the candidate. Yes he has some issues...ultimately all of them will...but he actually accomplished some very good things in an environment that was very difficult, and persevered through to make Wisconsin much better. We could use the same on the National stage and I think he could make those things happen.
Trump is Trump. I like the way he is rattling the establishment types and going head on against the media.
I worry about his disposition. Personally, if he is true to what he is saying right now (and I have some question about that), he will enact numerous things that I agree with 100%, and will seek to get the financial house in order, and will stand strong internationally too.
But my real fear with Trump is this...
I believe his disposition is such that if he thinks he cannot get things done through the Congress and Constitutional methods allowed for him...he will violate the Constitution to push his agenda forward.
Even if it is something I agree with, I cannot countenance anyone who will do that type of thing. On either side.
Anyone who will do so ultimately will use the power in ways that hurt us all. Such actions are enigma to the constitution and mark one as an enemy of the Republic in my opinion.
That’s my fear with Trump, even presuming his positions are genuine.
Well said wita.
I pretty much agree with everything you said.
But I am hoping that we get a candidate who is NOT a RINO and who is committed to restoring America. See some of my other posts (particularly the last one to Noumenon) to see some of my thoughts directly for a few of the candidates.
I agree. it was not a real debate.
And if they ever have a real debate, IMHO, I believe Cruz will clean the floor with most of the rest of the candidates there.
Thanks for you thoughts!
See my post to Noumenon to sum up my concerns with Trump.
-PJ
I do not think these type of tactics are going to hurt Trump in the least.
To the contrary, unless he stumbles in a very dramatic and major way...they are only going to help him.
Everybody knows who Trump is and his poll numbers indicate they are willing to accept him just the same.
Trying to score point against him by highlighting his basic nature is has already failed. He is well known enough that people already accept that about him and what he is tapping into is people dissatisfaction with politics in general and the media and who want someone who will get in their face and fight back.
My friend...you are exactly right and I intend to do the same.
I may not be happy about it, but in the end, any one of them on that stage would be better than Hillary, or Sanders, or anyone the Dems will put up there.
Some admittedly worse than others.
I will be working and praying that we get someone like Cruz as the candidate.
Excellent commentary. Thanks for sharing it.
I pretty much agree with all of it.
Trump is really stirring the pot and he is good for that. I shared with Noumenon in a post above my real concerns with him in the long run.
At this stage I believe Cruz is by far the most presidential and the most capable of articulating the conservative position...and ultimately in executing it.,
Thanks.
I lurk quite a bit and do post on occasion.
I post a lot more on FB these days...to the FR on FB.
No. He didn’t.
I don't know that he falls neatly on that spectrum. I think there are some issues that he feels strongly about where he aligns more with conservatives, like immigration. On other issues, I think his position is more fluid depending upon what benefits Donald the most. Those positions may flow from liberal to conservative and back again, depending upon the circumstances.
I guess that is my biggest problem with Trump - I have this gut feeling that Donald takes whatever position benefits him the most at the time. I think if he thought he had a better chance at the nomination by running as a moderate Democrat, he would do that. I just don't get the feeling his positions are grounded in constitutional principles, so those positions, even the ones conservatives like, could change over time if they cease to be of benefit to Trump.
Not exactly. You should read Reagan's autobiography to get a better understanding of his conversion from a "New Deal" Democrat to a conservative Republican. He wasn't considering a run for office when he decided to change.
Jeff, I’d like to call your attention to Tom Sowell’s analysis of the Trump problem.
Sowell rightly calls attention to Trump’s probable 3rd party direction, since he is far less than likely to become the GOP candidate with his greater than 50% unfavorable score among likely GOP voters.
The title of Sowell’s article, “Donald likely to be Hillary’s Trump Card,” points out the real issue nicely; this appears to definitely be a repeat of the Perot fiasco.
.
It is what it is……..
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