The 10 who made the cut for the primetime debate |
Los Angeles, CA - Jeb Bush and Rick Santorum are going to mass. Afterwards Jeb intends to do a workout at a gym, and then shoot off a few emails. Guitarist Mike
Huckabee is going to a Rock and Roll Museum. Scott Walker is going to the fair
to loosen up, Ted Cruz is spending private time with his family, and Chris
Christi is holding a big dinner with his team. All of this ahead of tonight’s
9:00 PM (ET) first GOP Debate in Cleveland, Ohio.
Some of the candidates, like Jeb Bush, have no doubt been
practicing over and over and over again. But others have a different strategy,
Donald Trump saying he is totally unconcerned, and not really getting ready.
Dr. Ben Carson, former neurosurgeon, said he is not nervous; after all, it won’t
be as bad as brain surgery, he joked.
While it might not be as bad, it certainly must be nerve
racking for those candidates who have never been on a national and indeed an
international stage such as will be set tonight for the first debate of the GOP
Primary season. Some estimates, (probably exaggerated) put possible viewership
this evening at around ten million people. Even if it were half of that, there
will still be millions of people watching, critiquing, at criticizing every
move everyone on the stage makes.
Some candidates, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, Scott Walker, have
much to lose, as those three continue to poll highest. Others, like John
Kasich, whose home state the debate will take place in, have nothing to lose.
Kasich is a deep underdog, and indeed he only got into the debate by the skin
of his teeth. He can come and go wild, hoping something happens.
There are several subtleties that will be watched for in the
debate. One is whether or not Ted Cruz will actually attack Donald Trump. The
senator from Texas and the billionaire have yet to go at it, and indeed Cruz is
one of the last members of the field not to sharply criticize Trump.
Another thing that will be interesting is if whether any of
the candidates say anything of substance that is majorly different from the
others on the stage at it this point. It’s early on, but it will be interesting
to see the candidates, especially those who are as ideologically close as the
three senators Paul, Cruz, and Rubio, make distinction between themselves, and
use other than vague language.
There are several questions you can expect the candidates
will be asked. Among them will probably be something about how they would
defeat ISIS, what is their stance on gay marriage, what they think about
abortion, and probably a question about immigration. But this is a television
broadcast, made to get and keep viewers, and to make money, so you can expect
the moderators to do everything in their power to get the candidates to go at
each other. Screaming and name calling makes great television, after all. Just
ask Donald Trump over at the Celebrity Apprentice.
But the candidates do need to be careful this evening, when
they attack Trump. Every time they do that, he gets more time to respond, and
if they all go after him, his time could begin to grow very rapidly.
There have been some explosive debates in recent years;
indeed, the 2011 GOP Primary cycle saw more than one blowup, with Rick Perry
and Mitt Romney shouting at each other, Romney eventually putting his hand on
Perry’s shoulder. There was the time the buzzer went off and Santorum said
“they caught you not telling the truth, Ron (Paul).” There was some other
fireworks involving Rick Perry and government agencies, but I don’t remember
what it was.
A brain surgeon, three senators, a billionaire, and five
governors. All on one stage. That is a lot of power, a lot of opinion, a lot of
money, and a lot of hubris. They all want to be president, command the biggest
and most powerful army in the world, they all want to lead the planet’s largest
economy, and they all think they can do it better than anybody else. And the
American voter has the most complicated and difficult job, perhaps in world
history. We have to decide which one to hire.
Andrew C. Abbott
No comments:
Post a Comment