A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S REPUBLICAN DEBATE

Today’s Republican Debate was complete chaos.  Entertaining but completely unserious.  The moderator comment “Do I have to turn this car around?” was very telling.  On the level of Honey Boo Boo as far as entertainment goes.  A few thoughts….

1.) Who let that audience in?  They booed such traditional Republican concerns as illegal immigration and abortion.  They clearly were an establishment audience.  Their booing and cheering does not match at all any of the polling as far as who and what they supported.  It was a disgrace for the establishment to hijack the debate in this way.

2.) What kind of world do we live in where Donald Trump is the voice of foreign policy sanity?  Not fighting two wars at once in Syria, the Iraq War was a mistake, talk to Russia, Bush didn’t keep America safe.  It’s just common sense.  I almost didn’t miss Rand Paul

3.) Trump also praised the non-abortions services offered by Planned Parenthood – very weird to hear in a Republican Debate.

4.) Not a good night for Marco Rubio despite what the pundits say.  He strikes me as an inconsequential twerp who is slow on his feet and wrong on everything.  Two examples tonight – 1.)Said that no Supreme Court justice has been confirmed in an election year in 80 years.  What about Anthony Kennedy in 1988? 2.) Attacked Ted Cruz for not speaking Spanish prompting Cruz to speak Spanish showing yes he does speak Spanish.  Also Rubio’s answers on taxes and immigration show him trying to have it both ways, trying to sound like a conservative and Bernie Sanders at the same time.

5.) Jeb Bush threw a lot of punches at Trump but the only one that landed was the attack on corporate bankruptcies.  However, considering Bush was Governor of Florida the state where bankruptcy is a cottage industry, it’s not good line of attack for him.

6.) Cruz showed the best way to attack Trump is as an insincere guy who not long ago was very liberal.  Conservatives love litmus test discussions like that and if Cruz is going to win he needs to contrast his record with Trump’s.

7.) John Kasich did a clever thing in not taking the bait and attacking Jeb Bush back.  He was also shrewd to try and draw democratic support by referencing his mailman dad and blue collar neighborhood. Not sure how far playing the moderate will take him in 2016.  He’s actually not a moderate at all when one looks at his record as Governor of Ohio on issues such as abortion and education.

8.) The quote Ben Carson attributed to Stalin in his closing comments is false.  See Snopes.