The Also Rans

​Okay, a day has passed, Trump has been arraigned, and I can finally take a brief overview of the Republican debate.  To be clear, I didn’t watch it – it wasn’t so much that I didn’t think I could handle having to bang my head against the wall all night, but more that none of those people on the stage were going to get the GOP nomination.  So, what’s the point?  (And if for some imaginable reason a miracle takes place, and someone on the stage does get nomination, Trump will burn down the party and trash the winner.)

But I watched hours of post-debate analysis, saw a lot of highlights repeated relentlessly, and spoke who people who did watch.  So, I got as much of sense of the evening as was necessary for something totally meaningless.  And a few overriding thoughts come to mind. 

There was a clear willingness by pretty much everyone on the stage to willfully ignore the political landscape reality.  Every candidate supported strict abortion restrictions.  The stricter the better.  When “15 weeks at a minimum” is the most open-minded option on stage, you know that none of these people are concerned what voters even in red states have been showing they want. 

Not one candidate was willing to acknowledge the reality of Climate Change, as if devastating, record-setting 100-degree temperatures across the country, a mass of wildfires, floods and hurricanes didn’t exist and didn’t impact hundreds of millions of people who actually vote. 

With the exception of Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, every candidate on stage happily said they’d support Trump as the nominee even if he was in prison.  That might get cheers at a GOP pep rally like the debate, but it’s going to have a hard time flying in the rest of the country you have to win over.  (That said, the question was an easy one in comparison to an even harsher version of that question that I wish had been asked– would you support Trump if he was in prison convicted of four different crime s in four separate venues.  For that matter, what wasn’t asked was – “If Trump is the nominee, how do you explain supporting him after having his day in court, defended by his own attorney, being convicted unanimously by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt of having committed what the judge wrote was the equivalence of rape?"

Ron DeSantis showed why he was plummeting in the polls, presenting a warmth, charisma and connection to the public comparable to a cardboard cutout of himself. 

Nikki Haley had a couple strong moments, notably slamming Vivek Ramaswamy for his ignorance.  But seeming “normal” on that stage is a low bar.  And conflicts with her bouncing all over the place for the past six months. 

Chris Christie is noted these days for his open, honest attacks on Trump. A very Christie-like tactic given that he helped Trump try to win reelection by “playing” Joe Biden in Trump’s 2020 debate prep.  What stood out, though, was that Christie’s most outspoken, attention-getting response came in his defense of New Jersey being associated with UFOs and Martians. 

Tim Scott didn’t seem to hurt himself in the debate, but then that’s largely because Tim Scott was pretty much surrounded by others more interested in getting the nomination.  Though, in fairness, none of them will be getting the nomination. 

And yes, that brings us to Vivek Ramaswamy.  There was a lot of post-debate discussion of Ramaswamy and how much airtime he got and energy he had.  And “just the fact that we’re talking about him means he did well.”  (Note:  most news shows yesterday were talking about Trump all day, and it was because he was being arrested and getting a mug shot.)  And so we will join in here.  The point being that more than anyone on the debate stage, Vivek Ramiswamy represents all that has become empty and bad about the Republican Party today.  A 37-year-old, tech multimillionaire who has zero experience and shows zero knowledge of government and society but is great at saying obnoxious, stupid things is in second place among all the “isn't Trump” candidates.  This is how the GOP got Trump, a multimillionaire who had zero experience, and Trump is how he and his team are getting indicted all over the place,

Analysts for the past day have been saying how much energy Ramiswamy showed, and appeals to younger voters.  Left out is them adding – “younger voters” are not a large part of the Republican base.  And however few young voters the GOP has, this is a political demographic best known for not voting.

The Republican Party is not nominating Vivek Ramiswamy for president.  And if a miracle happens, and they do – Trump will…well, you know.  See above.) 

The best line of the night did not come from a debater, but from Joy Reid on MSNBC’s post-debate coverage.  She said that Vivek Ramiswamy came across to her “like your annoying freshman roommate.”

The more clips I saw of Ramiswamy, the more I thought Reid’s description was remarkably spot on.  And standing in for them all was saying things like, “Climate Change is a hoax.  More people have died of Climate Change laws than have died of Climate Change” might play great in front of a Republican crowd that thinks science is a belief system and so will cheer infantile gobbledygook like that, but try it in front of an actual adult, and the emptiness will be so easy to eviscerate that you could do it with a plastic butter knife.  Consider:  being asked to point to one person whose life has been lost due to Climate Change laws.  Consider: pointing out the clueless heartlessness in the immediate face of 1,000 people dying in Lahaina, a town burned to the ground.  And all the lives lost in increased flooding, increased Stage 5 hurricanes, increased wildfires and record-setting 100-degree heat for weeks across the country.  Wildfires so massive in Canada, that the resulting billowing smoke has traveled down to the United States and literally obscured vision as far away as Chicago and New York City.  Consider, too, that the environment may be the top issue for young people, which is supposedly Ramaswamy’s base.  Calling it a “hoax” just show his cluelessness more than most anything.

 Unless you include the childish and clueless timing of his defense of Russia over Ukraine on the very day that Vladimir Putin was reported to have killed 10 people, just to assassinate a former top ally. 

And in the end, none of them are getting the Republican Party nomination for president.  This guy, the one who skipped the debate and instead pre-recorded an interview a week ago for Twitter with Tucker Carlson who had earlier said in emails how much he hated him, is getting the nomination.