02-14-2016, 01:32 PM
The 9th Republican Debate, South Carolina
Last night's Republican debate was something else; much of the time was spent calling each other liars and arguing over who REALLY meant what in statements made years ago.
All of the candidates agreed that the Republican Senate should block any attempt by Obama to appoint a Supreme Court Justice to replace Scalia. Trump acknowledged that he would nominate someone were he president, but that Mitch McConnell and the Republicans should "delay, delay, delay." All agreed it's a hugely significant development that will likely affect the future of the country for many years. Kasich said that he thinks Obama should either not nominate anyone, or nominate someone who would appeal to both sides (I don't know if that person exists), but he acknowledged he didn't expect that from Obama and the Democrats and the issue will add to the divisiveness already plaguing the country.
Jeb! has gotten much better at holding his own against Donald Trump. Trump knows (I'm sure) that George W. is all over South Carolina, where he's very popular with Republicans, campaigning for Jeb! So, Trump revived his "9 / 11 is all Bush's fault; not only the war in Iraq, but the fact that the Twin Towers came down on his watch" bit. Bush defended what his brother was doing to keep the country safe while "Donald Trump was working on a reality show." Bush also defended his family in general and praised his mom, at which point Trump said, "SHE should be running." The audience booed, I laughed.
Ted Cruz reminds me so much of a corrupt televangelist who used to be a used car salesman. The shit his campaign pulled in Iowa against Carson was shady as hell (I think he would have easily won Iowa anyway, but still...). Last week, he was running an ad about values with a woman telling the viewers why she supports Cruz. Well, turns out Mr. Evangelical's staff had hired the actress without knowing that she had starred in several porn films, including lesbian porn. Ads pulled pronto! Then, last night, Trump called Cruz a nasty guy several times and told the audience how Cruz's team in South Carolina is robo-calling potential primary voters and telling them that Trump isn't really running (I don't know if that's true, but it wouldn't surprise me).
I agreed with Kasich when he said that if the Republicans on the stage didn't stop fighting like kids all the time that they'd be responsible for handing the presidency to Hillary Clinton. I also agree with Kasich and Bush when it comes to illegal immigration; Cruz and Trump are wrong about deporting 11 million people outright, in my opinion. Rubio, well, who the hell knows where he stands on the issue anymore -- Cruz has done a good job spinning Rubio in circles regarding his past bi-partisan work to develop a path to citizenship. Rubio should own it and make it an asset -- instead, he's backpedaling and trying to distort his record, in my opinion.
Cruz discussed his 16% flat tax plan. Rubio defended his 35% tax plan, designed to benefit working families with children, whom he considers the backbone of America. Kasich defended his expansion of Medicaid, which Bush misleadingly (in my opinion) characterized as an expansion of Obamacare, and Kasich reminded Bush that Ronald Reagan had successfully expanded the program five times for some of the same reasons. Kasich and Bush agreed that more money needs to be invested in addressing mental illness and addiction.
Bush called Trump ludicrous for believing that Putin is a friend to the U.S. who isn't fighting in Syria in order to bolster Assad and isn't attacking coalition-backed troops along with ISIS. Trump shot back that "we're supporting troops who we don't even know who they are!" -- I think they're both right, to a degree.
Trump defended his use of profanity in his speeches and claimed it's been blown out of proportion. He promised not to cuss anymore, though, and said that it was easy to refrain.
Carson stayed awake, didn't say anything too batshit, and came on to the stage at the right time -- his best debate performance since the first one.
^ Those are just my observations. Here are the highlights.
Last night's Republican debate was something else; much of the time was spent calling each other liars and arguing over who REALLY meant what in statements made years ago.
All of the candidates agreed that the Republican Senate should block any attempt by Obama to appoint a Supreme Court Justice to replace Scalia. Trump acknowledged that he would nominate someone were he president, but that Mitch McConnell and the Republicans should "delay, delay, delay." All agreed it's a hugely significant development that will likely affect the future of the country for many years. Kasich said that he thinks Obama should either not nominate anyone, or nominate someone who would appeal to both sides (I don't know if that person exists), but he acknowledged he didn't expect that from Obama and the Democrats and the issue will add to the divisiveness already plaguing the country.
Jeb! has gotten much better at holding his own against Donald Trump. Trump knows (I'm sure) that George W. is all over South Carolina, where he's very popular with Republicans, campaigning for Jeb! So, Trump revived his "9 / 11 is all Bush's fault; not only the war in Iraq, but the fact that the Twin Towers came down on his watch" bit. Bush defended what his brother was doing to keep the country safe while "Donald Trump was working on a reality show." Bush also defended his family in general and praised his mom, at which point Trump said, "SHE should be running." The audience booed, I laughed.
Ted Cruz reminds me so much of a corrupt televangelist who used to be a used car salesman. The shit his campaign pulled in Iowa against Carson was shady as hell (I think he would have easily won Iowa anyway, but still...). Last week, he was running an ad about values with a woman telling the viewers why she supports Cruz. Well, turns out Mr. Evangelical's staff had hired the actress without knowing that she had starred in several porn films, including lesbian porn. Ads pulled pronto! Then, last night, Trump called Cruz a nasty guy several times and told the audience how Cruz's team in South Carolina is robo-calling potential primary voters and telling them that Trump isn't really running (I don't know if that's true, but it wouldn't surprise me).
I agreed with Kasich when he said that if the Republicans on the stage didn't stop fighting like kids all the time that they'd be responsible for handing the presidency to Hillary Clinton. I also agree with Kasich and Bush when it comes to illegal immigration; Cruz and Trump are wrong about deporting 11 million people outright, in my opinion. Rubio, well, who the hell knows where he stands on the issue anymore -- Cruz has done a good job spinning Rubio in circles regarding his past bi-partisan work to develop a path to citizenship. Rubio should own it and make it an asset -- instead, he's backpedaling and trying to distort his record, in my opinion.
Cruz discussed his 16% flat tax plan. Rubio defended his 35% tax plan, designed to benefit working families with children, whom he considers the backbone of America. Kasich defended his expansion of Medicaid, which Bush misleadingly (in my opinion) characterized as an expansion of Obamacare, and Kasich reminded Bush that Ronald Reagan had successfully expanded the program five times for some of the same reasons. Kasich and Bush agreed that more money needs to be invested in addressing mental illness and addiction.
Bush called Trump ludicrous for believing that Putin is a friend to the U.S. who isn't fighting in Syria in order to bolster Assad and isn't attacking coalition-backed troops along with ISIS. Trump shot back that "we're supporting troops who we don't even know who they are!" -- I think they're both right, to a degree.
Trump defended his use of profanity in his speeches and claimed it's been blown out of proportion. He promised not to cuss anymore, though, and said that it was easy to refrain.
Carson stayed awake, didn't say anything too batshit, and came on to the stage at the right time -- his best debate performance since the first one.
^ Those are just my observations. Here are the highlights.