The Republican Debate
By Dr. Henry Flores, NewsTaco
Bueno, the gun has sounded, the gates have opened and the horses have bolted onto the racetrack! The first Republican presidential debate was conducted on the evening of August 6th and all pundits are attempting to measure who won, who lost, who gained, who dropped in the polls, and who didn’t make a fool of themselves. There were so many candidates, seventeen, that FOX News, who sponsored and televised the debate, had two events. Only those candidates who registered in the top ten of the last five national polls were allowed to participate in the main debate. The other seven were relegated to what some have called the “kiddie-table” or the “junior varsity (jv)” debate. Candidates in both sessions helped and hindered themselves, some important global and national issues were completely ignored, and a great deal of borla was exchanged among all present.
[pullquote]Of this group only Ms. Fiorina stood out and I will promote her to the varsity squad for the time being. [/pullquote]The Kiddie Table
The Kiddie Table participants included Governor Bobbie Jindal of Louisiana, Ms. Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Rick Santorum former senator from Pennsylvania, former Governor “Good Hair” Perry from Texas, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jim Gilmore former governor of Virginia, and George Pataki former governor of New York. Of this group only Ms. Fiorina stood out and I will promote her to the varsity squad for the time being. Governor “Good Hair” made a credible showing mostly attacking Donald “The Hair Job” Trump so I’ll place him on the cusp of promotion. The remainder of the field needs to ask themselves why they are running and seriously contemplate not wasting any more money on campaigning because they were terrible. Only Fiorina appeared to have a Republican-grasp on issues.
The Varsity
Wow! If this is the varsity squad they will be beaten on the field of play by the junior varsity of the Little Sisters of Lost Hope Elementary School! With the exception of Marco Rubio this bunch was just awful. The losers included Mr. Trump, Senators Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, well the remainder. Rubio for all his financial and integrity foibles was the only one who had a sincere grasp of issues, although he has changed his tune on some such as immigration, and he spoke to the generation of voters Republicans dearly need to win, the young and immigrants. He used the proper vocabulary and spoke to issues of the present and future. He spoke of student loan debt the single most important issue to the millennials and of the real-life struggles of immigrants trying to make it in this country.
[pullquote]It appears that the debate was set up to showcase Jeb Bush and he fell flat on his face.[/pullquote]The remainder of the candidates looked like, well, “old, washed out, white guys!” Donald couldn’t speak substantively on any issue spending most of his allotted time, which was the most given to any candidate, defending his “mouth.” Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich, the Governor of Ohio, were the only ones who tried to speak about policy but came across as bland wonks and Republican stalwarts do not want to hear wonks. Nevertheless, Kasich’s response to the gay marriage questions set him above the remainder of the field and won him new support. So, I see Trump and Bush coming down in the polls a little and Kasich moving up.
The remainder of the field, Christie, Paul, Walker, Carson, Cruz and Huckabee need to decide how much further they will go. Ted Cruz did make a passioned appeal to evangelicals at the end, referencing the bible in a rather “Baptist preacher” moment so he may have cornered this market.
Final Analysis
It appears that the debate was set up to showcase Jeb Bush and he fell flat on his face while at the same time the debate was organized to take Donald down and it failed in this regard. “The Bad Hair Job Guy” performed as expected. His comments on women may be his undoing but it will only cost him marginally among the Republican faithful. Trump’s disinvitation to the RedState convention may be a harbinger of things to come in this regard. Republican’s don’t want Trump at the top of their ticket because they feel it will mean another eight years of Democratic control of the White House. Finally, there is one last suspicion about the debate. Was Donald a Clinton plant? Is he an undercover agent embedded to disrupt the Republican machinery? Hmmm.
Henry Flores, PhD, is the Distinguished University Research Professor, Institute of Public Administration and Public Service; Director, Masters in Public Administration (MPA); Professor of International Relations and Political Science at St. Mary’s University. He is the author of Latinos and the Voting Rights Act: The Search for Racial Purpose.
Latinos and the Voting Rights Act: The Search for Racial Purpose.
