Tonight's varsity debate

[lar]

Well, it's over. Thank God. I do sort of regret that The Donald and Carly didn't end up in fisticuffs. It would have been more entertaining than anything else I saw tonight.

After watching both debates tonight and comparing the field in both it's easy for me to understand why the guys in the first debate aren't doing so well. They are over-matched, except maybe for Bush who really disappointed me. He probably should have been put at the kids table tonight.

I didn't expect to like any of the candidates and in that regard I wasn't totally disappointed. But I did like some better than I expected.

Rubio is a pretty good speaker. His thoughts were well organized and he seemed at ease in the debate setting. I thought he came off very well. And Kasich had his moments. That was a bit of a surprise.

I even thought that Cruz had a couple of decent moments.

Dr. Ben; why is he running? I'm amazed at his polling numbers. I wasn't impressed at all.

But the worst, absolutely the worst were, in descending order of "worseness" were Rand Paul, Carly and The Donald (the last two missed tying for worst by the smallest of margins).

Trump talked a lot but didn't say much of anything. Who exactly is supporting him? I can't figure out his appeal. Carly seems like the kind of person I actively try to avoid. To me, she came off as loud and mean. Carly, clothed in her Republicanism, seems to me to be a lot like Hillary clothed in her Democratism. I don't like either one of them. And for a lot of the same reasons.

My impression of the whole bunch tends to be the general impression I have of the Tea Party people; my way or the highway. I'm all for the values that they all espouse. But I'm not for having those values jammed down my throat.

The winner? Well . . . it wasn't America. But overall I thought Rubio did the best job. Doesn't mean I'd vote for him, though.

There's still a lot of time before the actual election. I think a good use of our time would be to form a grass roots movement to nominate Russell for the Democrats and Jeff for the Republicans. Regardless of which political camp you are in wouldn't you rather see one of them in the White House than anyone who is now running? The Ijams would be fabulous!

[Tamarack]

Although Russell and Jeff would be fine candidates, we really wouldn't want all those Secret Service guys at IdiotJam (they might hog all the pork tenderloins).

[millring]

I just read on Salon.com that Rubio won because the moderators fixed the debate.

::nods::

[TKennedy]

They are all so concerned about the national debt but not a single candidate from either party has addressed the massive fraud that already exists in the tax system and entitlement programs. I bet billions are lost annually in that arena

Beefing up enforcement would seem like a logical thing to think about.

If we went to a three page tax code or a flat tax would an army of unemployed accountants and lawyers reek terror and havoc?

Rubio has good looks, charisma, a bit of a sense of humor and the energy of youth. I think he's probably got it. When you get right down to it the presidential election is still not much different than the election of an eighth grade class president. Good looks, confidence, charisma, and a right or wrong never in doubt personality go a long way.

[Fingerplucked]

I didn't watch it. Not the first one or the second one. So far, this has been my favorite Republican debate.

[lar]

Nov 11, 2015 13:56:03 GMT -5 Fingerplucked said:

I didn't watch it. Not the first one or the second one. So far, this has been my favorite Republican debate.

A sound strategy.

This is the first one I've watched. I can't recall if it was because I felt it was my civic duty to watch at least one of the debates or I didn't have anything more important to do.

I wasn't educated or entertained but I do have a better take on some of the candidates than I did before.

The format and number of participants didn't lend itself to much more than sound bites from anyone. As I recall there were only two concrete proposals the entire evening.

Trump wants to round up the illegal immigrants and send them back where they came from, an idea that drew severe criticism from at least 2 of his opponents. Trump's thoughtful and carefully crafted response? "We have no choice." I guess that settles that.

The other proposal was the elimination of the IRS. This is sound bite debating so there was no time, or effort, to amplify that thought and the moderators apparently couldn't think fast enough to inquire how that was going to be possible. My thought was that we're going to need an IRS of some kind. Somebody has to review the tax returns and compare them to W-2s and 1099s. Someone has to collect the money. And someone has to go after the people who don't pay, especially if they eliminate payroll taxes. I'm thinking that since there was no time to explore this idea it's possible that the proposal included paying taxes on the honor system. But don't quote me on that.

[jdd2]

Good luck with your eventual electees, soundholers!

[dradtke]

Nov 11, 2015 23:55:59 GMT -5 lar said:

... there was no time, or effort, to amplify that thought and the moderators apparently couldn't think fast enough to inquire how that was going to be possible.

The moderators weren't supposed to ask any follow-up questions. They learned that after the spanking CNBC got from the RNC. So now they lob softballs and get back bumper stickers.

[Shannon]

My opinion is that the Republicans are at least fielding much better candidates than in the last 2 general elections. That's not to say that some of them aren't preposterous, but there are at least some candidates who seen to have some composure and intelligence. I'm no expert, but I suspect Rubio is the most likely of the bunch to compete with Clinton. (I would love to see a debate between Clinton and Fiorina, though. That would be a fight for the ages).