It’s highly questionable whether anyone emerged as the winner in Thursday’s Republican presidential debate in Detroit, though the candidates’ spinmeisters would all quibble with that. There was one clear loser: the Grand Old Party.
The 11th debate of the Republican campaign tested the patience and the limits of viewers and voters. Insults and interruptions overwhelmed sober discussion. The raucous audience, now a staple of the GOP debates, only added to the sense of game-show politics.
Can anyone credibly suggest that the Republicans put their collective best face forward on Thursday night? At a time when the party is in crisis over the possibility that Donald Trump will become the nominee, the debate did next-to-nothing to make Trump or his three remaining candidates look or sound presidential.
Designed to define candidates’ differences, the debates have become tedious and repetitious rather than enlightening or illuminating. No new information was imparted, no truly new arguments advanced. Even the insults were tiresome.
At what point are they going to stop with these debates? The GOP is going to run itself into the ground. The debate was boring, exhausting, and accomplished nothing.
The audience was raucous. The booing, hissing, sounded like they were attending a professional wrestling match rather than a debate to inform the American people. The only winners seemed to be Gov. Kasich and the Fox News anchors.
Katich at least tried to discuss substance and act like he wasn’t on a third grade playground. The Fox News anchors asked well-thought out, substantive questions–that the candidates basically ignored.
I never thought I would be praising the Foxies. Today I am. Its like someone assigned them the worst class in the world to manage and then left town.
It was perfectly awful. I found myself wishing like Hell the event was over and yet scared to turn it off just in case I missed the most horrible behavior to ever occur. These events cannot continue to go on. Is there anything that can stop it? Obviously Romney was not such a hot idea.
Any political event that starts off dealing with the penis size of one of the candidates (make no mistake, that is EXACTLY what Trump was talking about!) has no chance of being anything but a cheap circus. After that, intro, there was no hope for anything better. How could “short-fingered vulgarian” have sunk so far?
The story behind the short-fingered fight
Embarrassing. The only adult in the room is Kasich.
No wonder why no one who has credibility wants to be President. It is childish – and there was no control on the audience – waving to camera, booing, etc. Is it the job of the moderator to fact check? It is the First time I have seen a debate moderator pop up graphics to dispute specific points. I do not know, but finally, this BS myth about cutting DOE ($78 Billion) and EPA ($8 Billion) and fixing the deficit has come to life. This was the 2012 platform. I am laughing that the RNC Establishment has even gotten Fox to contribute to their futile effort to stop what they created – Mr. Trump!
I sit here in amazement that Rubio and Cruz attack Trump for legally hiring foreigners – using a legal program that both Cruz and Rubio have expanded. It is legal – why should he apologize for using a program that they have expanded? THEY have the power to reduce it – yet knock him for using it – Hypocrites.
I haven’t watched a single one, on either side…and feel I am better off for it.
Steve, you are so much better off. If you watch, you feel like you have split and slime all over you. Seriously.
I couldn’t take my eyes away. It was sick and I was disgusted with myself for watching.
I don’t watch the Democratic debates either. They aren’t spitty or slimy and they do focus on policy, but for me, they are boring.
Kasich was the only adult in the room. Policy wise, he is far too conservative for me but he isn’t grubby and slimy like the others.
I felt sorry for him. I would like to see him prevail. He is presidential.
The others, not so much.
House of cards started off about the same as the Republican debate. Yuck.
I watched the first two seasons. Loved it. Lost interest after the 3rd episode of season 3. Basically, if it doesn’t involve the zombie apocalypse or vikings, I’m pretty much over it.
I am getting ready to kick back for a long, bingey weekend. Tell me your viking source. I would like that.
We are past the gross part on House but I haven’t settled in yet. Had to go out.
I tuned in near the end of whatever that was last night (let’s not confuse anyone by calling it a debate). It was, honestly, horrifying – not just for the GOP but for our nation. When the people who are asking to be elected leader of the free world and keeper of the nuclear codes stoop to a discussion of penis size on a national stage where they are supposed to be demonstrating why they should lead us, I have to believe that all hope is lost. I can’t even joke about it anymore, it just makes me so sad.
Wombat, you are right. It was horrifying. I was speechless through a lot of it.
Definitely third grade or locker room. Nothing else.
I have this image of Rubio jumping up and down – addressing the nation – having a temper tantrum – yelling – ‘but Putin called me Little Marco he did it first, no one calls me Little Marco…’.
Snicker. I wish he hadn’t gotten down in the mud, tempting though it was.
Vikings…a drama on the History Channel. Like House of Cards, except with swords and shields. Current season streaming on hulu, or the History Channel ap.
Ah, ok. I saw the first season. Are the past seasons on Netflix yet?
I will be through with House by Monday. I have already given the general order—don’t look at me or talk to me.
Justified is another good one. I really enjoyed that series.
I think so. Hard to keep track with content bouncing between Hulu Amazon Prime and Netflix
Never thought I’d see the day when Moon, Mark Levin and Glenn Beck were in complete agreement as to the quality of the debate. Even more happy that I have refrained from watching any of them.
Some time ago, I placed self-imposed 4 hr/wk limit on tv watching. Glad I’m not burning up my time with the debate nonsense. Better off watching funny cat vids or something else.
We threw the whole TV out a long time ago. Books, music, fine arts, history, grandkids, talking to each other, the beauty of the night sky — There’s a whole world out there free of the Kardashians and everything else which robs one of sanity.
I have never watched the Kardashians on TV.
Some TV is great. Most, not so great.
The moderators did a good job and Kasich stood out. The Republican Party is in complete disarray.
@Wolve
How absolutely marvelously intellectual !
As for me, I wouldn’t want to miss any hockey games.
Interesting how we’re not really getting any comments on the actual topic from some of our more devoted conservative participants. These GOP candidates are the logical outcome from the protracted harping on how evil the government is and dog-whistle pandering to our more unfortunate tendancies by the Republican Party over the past eight years. The GOP has convinced a lot of people that you have to completely overturn the status quo and only an outsider with no experience can do it (constant reference to “Washington elites” by the GOP).
So this is what it looks like, and no one should be surprised. Now we’ll see if the majority of the American people vote for someone who outlines policy and programs or someone who wants to be a dictator (if they refuse to support me, “they’re gonna have a big problem”) with no plan or policy other than ridiculous claims.
Unfortunately everyone with a TV who knows there is a Faux News thinks he or she is an expert on how to run things. The masses are asses.
I posit that you are a bit off course, there, Middleman. The GOP hasn’t convinced a lot of people to completely overturn the status quo. The “GOP” is now viewed by many as part of that status quo and is, in my opinion, in danger of going down with the current political ship if it doesn’t wise up to that fact. And it’s not just the GOP causing all the anger out there. I would say it’s rub-a-dub dub, three things in a tub..the GOP and the Democrats and the MSM. And that tub is leaking.
I don’t think the Democrats are too out of hand–no more than any other election year where different factions within the party square off until the majority wins. I don’t think they are out of what I would call the norm.
I think the Democrats went nuts in 68. Now its 2016, are the Republicans going nuts? It sure looks like it.
Wolve, it’s the GOP establishment that has pushed the xenophobia and “big bad government” buttons for years in order to be sure their largely white, lower income, less educated base comes out in droves for elections. Since they haven’t delivered on their promises to that part of their base, they’ve become “the enemy” along with all the other demons. The chickens have come home to roost, to quote an extremist from another time- Malcolm X.
I do agree with you that the Democrats have done their share of anger-mongering but certainly not to the same degree and not necessarily coordinated by the party, although they did benefit from it. The reaction to scattered police issues is one example, and the war on rich people is another.
When you add up all the negativity that the GOP has pushed over the past 7 years you get a straight line to these two guys- Trump and Cruz.
I should add that neither party has done a credible job reaching the largely white, older, less skilled folks that have been left behind by NAFTA and mechanization. Instead of fanning the flames of anger, some party should come up with policy that actually helps these folks, and thereby eliminate the appeal of guys like Trump and Cruz…
Excellent point, Middleman.