Fright Night: The First GOP Debate
The first Republican presidential debate of the season has now sputtered to an end at the Reagan Library here on the outskirts of L.A. and the scorecard is in.
The undisputed loser: George W. Bush.
The winner: All of the eight rival Democratic candidates.
The man who has occupied the White House for the last 6 ½ years got exactly three quick mentions by the field of ten fellow Republicans vying to succeed him.
George Bush’s middle name might as well have been Hussein judging by the manifest desire of the candidates to distance themselves from his slumping unpopularity. While the decomposing corpse of Ronald Reagan was referred to 19 times during the 90 minute debate, the word “Bush†was avoided by seven of the ten men on stage. But while the Republican field posed as Anybody But Bush, they took absolutely no efforts to propose any policies or to float ideas that strayed from the current official line.
In Spanish, it’s what called “continuismo.†In English we just call it the same-old-same-old. Which makes you wonder just exactly what is the visionary strategy any of the candidates have in their heads to overcome the overwhelming national consensus that current policy – both foreign and domestic—has failed.
About the only departure from the status quo promised tonight was a shift of the war from Iraq to Iran – that’s of course only after we actually achieve victory in the latter theater. McCain strained to corner the market on militarist bluster and we can confidently say Mission Accomplished. The 70 year old Arizona senator, swathed in an ill-fitting suit and grimacing angrily as if he was suffering from hemorrhoid flare-up, promised to “follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell.†While noting that the Iraqi war has been “terribly†mismanaged McCain then went on to affirm that thanks to the current surge of troops and the steadfast leadership of General Petraeus, the war is now “on the right track.â€
This could be the one faux pas of the debate. It’s not hard to imagine this piece of video showing up in a Democratic ad next fall, months after the surge has been forgotten.Among the trio of top tier candidates – Giuliani, McCain and Romney—a dispassionate observer would be hard-pressed to say that any of them particularly jumped out of the pack tonight. If anything, they all seemed diminished by sharing equal time with Seven Nobodies. I mean, McCain-Huckabee? Giuliani-Gilmore? Please.
Cranky Ron Paul, the uber-libertarian, came closest to earning the title of the GOP’s Mike Gravel. He was the only guy on stage to oppose the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, he also opposes the IRS, most all taxes and supports the mass arming of college students.
At least Paul wasn’t among the three candidates who publicly announced they don’t believe in evolution. And an increasingly pathetic John McCain interrupted himself to qualify and water down his just-stated acknowledgement of Darwin’s theories, sharing with us his feeling that God might have created the Grand Canyon.
The more yawning and perhaps diabolical canyon, however, is the one that stretches between what was said on the stage tonight and what seems to be the current temperament of the American people. It seems not to have occurred to any of the candidates that the country is suffering from a case of Bush Fatigue so severe that it’s simply had it with Republicanism – at least in its current form. The smartest Republican in the room was probably Arnold Schwarzenegger who sat stone-faced throughout the event, a dazed-looking Nancy Reagan at his side. The Governator, certainly no dummy, has wisely pledged himself to a “post-partisan†approach and has called upon his national party to move to the center.
After the Democrats got trounced in 1972, and again after the stinging defeats of the 1980’s, — for better or for worse (and I think for the worse)—the party undertook a conscious effort to ideologically re-position itself. I think the results were disastrous, but I have to recognize that the urge to change, to re-examine traditional positions, to try to adapt to shifting realities, was in itself a healthy one.
The Republicans on stage tonight, however, seemed stuck in permanent 2001 Mode, almost deaf and blind to the dissatisfaction that now swells around and below them. Their best hope is that undecided voters and finicky Independents find something else to do other than to watch this and the coming debate.
Nine out of ten candidates supporting repeal of Roe V. Wade and the lone dissenter of sorts, Giuliani, saying he would be “OK†with the issue either way, hardly seems the path to a new Republican majority. Double Ditto as so many of them rushed to defend Scooter Libby and to resurrect the party’s midnight defense of Teri Schiavo. The only thing missing from this Fright Night was one of these chaps stepping forward to praise Katrina.
One final note: The format tonight played out even worse than it did in last week’s Democratic debate. The barrage of disjointed questions and the 30 and 60 second limit on the answers erased all hint of narrative and comparative debate and sent the discourse into a kaleidoscopic, scattershot jumble. In the end, not a word was said about health care, education, access to college, social security or what to do about rising economic insecurity. But then again – it was probably better for these guys that this topics were left untouched.
Cross-posted at on the Campaign Matters blog at The Nation.
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:40 pm
I missed the debate live but caught some of the liveblogging over at KOS and FIREDOGLAKE. Don’t think I missed much. The commentator at KOS suggested that Paul and Gravel should tour as a tag team match. Maybe.
Before the debate Digby made a point of the canonization of Ronald Reagan. Problem for the GOP is a lack of anyone else to talk about. The two Bushs were and are failures, Ford was a non-entity and Nixon? Please!
Of course if they weren’t so right-wing they could have added Ike or even TR but I suspect they find those two to be socialists! And that leaves Cooledge or Hoover. Case closed! Its Ronnie by a mile. And, besides, he’s only 20 years ago.
Trouble is, for all their denials of George Jr there is plenty of tape from 2000, and what’s worse 2004, of the people up there praising Dubya as the second coming of Churchill. Oh well, I’m sure Frd Thompson will save them! Quick a chorus of “Someday, my Prince Will Come . . .”
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:56 pm
“a shift of the war from Iran to Iraq – that’s of course only after we actually achieve victory in the latter theater.”
Swap the “n” and the “Q”.
Aside from that little typo, thanks for listening to this so I didn’t have to.
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Strictly my pleasure.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:16 pm
I watched on line. My main reaction was that Romney seemed a programmed automaton.
Imagine a Romney vs. Hillary general election. Kind of like Brezhnev vs. Chirnomyrdin (loud and stormy applause!).
Hunter and Giuliani actually knew the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite. To paraphrase Shakespeare, they think too much. Such men are dangerous. Let us have men about us who are fat, and sleep o’nights.
I agree with Ron Paul more than the rest, but he ‘s sort of the Kucinich of the GOP, sincere and principled, but comes off as a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
I’m voting for Jordin Sparks.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Alexander Cockburn is met with approval at…..
http://tinyurl.com/ypm363
May 4th, 2007 at 3:00 am
I told ya so: and I told this blog about Alex’s corperate friendly views on global warming here months ago (and seemed to be met with general disbelief).
Anyway, McCain has painted himself into a like corner on domestic issues: he attempts to decry out of control spending but has changed his mind and supports Bush’s give aways to the uber weath- I mean tax cuts. Rudy matches him by jumping on the beat out whore of Republican con jobs: the “death tax.”
Ric, it’s not even that they have to ignore thier gallery of ghouls, but they are still getting wispy over “Morning in America”, a political party with nothing to inspire them but the poetry of a 20 year old cheesy political T.V. commecial.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:32 am
So, Alexander Cockburn is a shill for Big Oil? Seriously?
May 4th, 2007 at 6:02 am
rlc, the Republicans are the party of Abraham Lincoln. They can talk about that.
May 4th, 2007 at 6:09 am
Not Chernomyrdin. Chernenko.
How soon we forget.
May 4th, 2007 at 6:10 am
Six and a half years of Bush have evidently convinced at least 10 Republicans that literally anybody can be president, and the more mediocre the better.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:29 am
While I differ with Cockburn on global warming, his views are hardly corporate friendly. The main point of his argument – about carbon footprints and “buying” permission to have a big carbon footprint, etc., and the while racket in carbon credits – is a critique of the formula with which corporations are trying to cash in, and rich folks are trying literally, to buy salvation.
Alex also thinks recycling is a scam, and with that, I agree.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:29 am
Ron Paul opposed the war in congress before most Democrats.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:35 am
Caught CSPANs Washington Journal this morning, and this blog entry today re the Repub debate was read by the host.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:59 am
Chris Matthews with his typical softballs, and interruptions was, as usual, a horrible choice for a moderator.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:47 am
Chris Matthews asked the most stupid and irrelevant questions and often became more of a contestant thatn a moderator. Fire his Ass!
If the Demos cannnot win against these cretins, they will never win again. These flat-earthers made Barney look presidential.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:57 am
It’s too bad that so few Americans speak French, because otherwise some media outlet might have broadcast the 2 hour debate between Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy the other night. It would have been a demonstration of how political debates should be staged. The two journalist-moderators played a minimal role, asking no questions of their own and simply intervening like referees when things got out of hand or the candidates got stuck on a subject. The candidates were very well prepared, even if Royal struggled at times, and they actually had to have 2 hours’ worth of things to say–which they did. Moreover they had to deal directly with each other in real time. I would like to see any American politician who would be able to handle such a situation.
May 4th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Woody the m odern GOP DISOWNS “Honest Abe” since they’re dominated by ex-Dixiecrats who blame him for the “war of Northern Agression.”
jcummings, nice try. Read his article over at COUNTERPUNCH and Glen Beck or Jimmy Inhoffe couldn’t have been more adament. Comrade Cockburn is a denier.
May 4th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I thought the two best moments last night were Guiliani saying that during the Iranian Hostage Crisis all the Ayatollahs had to do was look in Ronnie’s eyes and they released the hostages at once. (course a few stinger missiles didn’t hurt)
And then there was “Fightin’” John McCain who would persue Osama to “The gates of Hell”. I kept waiting for him to add “And around the Norway Maelstrom” till “he rolls over and spews black blood” while nailing a Spanish 20 dollar gold piece to the lectern for the first man who spots him!
May 4th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Yeah, for someone who calls politics his life’s calling, Chris Matthews sure isn’t very substantive in his chosen profession.
May 4th, 2007 at 10:19 am
“And then there was “Fightin’†John McCain who would persue Osama to “The gates of Hellâ€. I kept waiting for him to add “And around the Norway Maelstrom†till “he rolls over and spews black blood†while nailing a Spanish 20 dollar gold piece to the lectern for the first man who spots him!”
That has to be the best literary allusion I have read in a long time. McCain even has a rolling gait like someone who might have a wooden leg.
May 4th, 2007 at 10:52 am
What’s so amusing, and ironic is all this tough guy talk about getting the terrorists at the Reagan Library. Consider Ronnie’s record with Islam nut jobs. Cut and run in Lebanon. Next stop, sell weapons to terrorists in Iran in order to buy weapons for right wing terrorists in Central America. And of course, arm the fuck out of the religious wackos in Afghanistan.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:00 am
“the gates of Hell” ? – McCain’s smartest PR move after that line would be to reveal that when he strolled through Bahgdad in his flak jacket, overseen by a half-dozen choppers and a company of infantry he was really on a secret mission to pursue bin Laden to the gates of Hell. He could call it Operation Good Intentions and declare that there’s no turning back until journey’s end.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:14 am
When asked what was best in life, McCain replied:
May 4th, 2007 at 11:17 am
“Denier” is a strong phrase. As I say, I disagree with his provocative position – though I agree with him on the degree of alarmism (a position he fleshed out a few years ago by talking about how “big green” environmentalism was a way for the establishment to channel dissent through “safe” channels – his position is not different from Earth First by the way)…but the real point is the notion of buying carbon absolution. So a millionaire can pollut e all he wants, but can counteract that pollution by pretty much atoning through philanthropy. Nonsense.
The only way to affect the environment, considering that – climate change or not – our means of economic exchange and consumption is ecologically unsustainable – is Luxembourg’s old phrase – literally “socialism or barbarism.”
May 4th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Yes, Reagan made deals….thats not too far apart from the Buchananite line on the middle east, only i think Reagan would amnetize the resulting Israeli flotilla.
What is McCain referring to about “crushing enemies”? I though he was a pilot, not an infantryman.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:36 am
He was a pilot. He dropped Napalm on people who lived in bamboo houses. A real man.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:47 am
A real man follows orders and survives POW camp. What do you think of another man who rode on a swift boat and shot a fleeing man in the back before he left for home in just three months?
—–
Do people realize that it’s a full year-and-a-half before the election? I don’t put a lot of emphasis in political posturing now, because a lot can happen between now and then, like us winning in Iraq.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:58 am
esoj1211
That’s a quote from Conan the Barbarian. It’s a joke.
What do you think of another man who rode on a swift boat and shot a fleeing man in the back before he left for home in just three months?
I think I’d believe the man who were there on the boat with him who served under his command who say the above is bullshit.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Make that the men who were there on the boat.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
As a Canadian (left leaning, but have voted for centrist to right parties on occasion) I can’t believe the lack of candidates a great country like the USA presents for public office. That’s it?!!
I am not enamoured of Hilary, Barack or Al Gore (who I think will run as well) but they look Lincoln-esque next to this motley collection of fools the Rep. offer up.
I think its going to be a smashing victory for whoever wins (or should I say pays the most money to gain” the nomination. I see the shaky coalition that Karl Rove put together starting to split down the seam and I think they are done as a real threat for a generation.
A good thing for America? I don’t know. But its certainly a good thing for the rest of the world, Canada included. This regime was so mind numbingly incompetent and clueless on the world front that they have turned the Middle East into even more of a chaotic place than before the started. Katrina (what? NO isn’t part of America..my mistake!), corporate malfeasance (Bush denied knowing “Kenny Boy”), increasing the divide between rich and poor (and further crushing the middle class), whacked out Old Testament views on morality and women and gays, triumphulism (mission accomplished!) and a return to manifest destiny, your either with us or against us ( most in Canada was against him immediately..hard to do after 24 Canadians died in the twin towers),IRAQ!!, the “fuck you we don’t need you” school of diplomacy (so take your French Fries and skedaddle), blah blah blah
And Jimmy Carter is considered an ineffectual President? He looks like Jesus incarnate next to this band of brothers.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Since my comment has been ignored, let me add that a woman who has had four children with a man she is not married to would have no chance of being elected president in the USA nor dogcatcher for that matter. But in France it just makes her more interesting.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Gosh, Rod. Just lay it on us. Like we didn’t know.
Still… Oh, to see ourselves as others see us…
May 4th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
How far do you want to go with the “real men follow orders” Woody? How about those order following guards in the Nazi camps circa 1940′s. Real men to you Woody?
May 4th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Real men aren’t Nazis.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Balter, on the French election, I just read where the woman is going nuts or getting desperate. She said:
Maybe she could borrow LBJ’s daisy/atomic bomb smear ad from the 1964 election.
Hey, didn’t Giuliani say something like that about the Democrats? At least he’s closer to being right.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Alright Woody, real men aren’t Nazis. I understand the concept of following orders in the military–I served 4 years in the USMC. I think it’s one thing for Uncle Sam to send a guy out into the jungle, in a bull shit war of choice, with a rifle to go man to man with another armed man. But that’s not what McCain did. He committed war crimes as far as I’m concerned. He’s not a hero.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
BTW welcome back Michael Balter. I hope your interlude in the land of the free (and in the Valley of the Saints) was fun.
Now, I’m expecting a full report on the French Election!
May 4th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
“I kept waiting for [McCain] to add “And around the Norway Maelstrom†till “he rolls over and spews black blood†while nailing a Spanish 20 dollar gold piece to the lectern for the first man who spots him!—–D White
Post of the week.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Oops, correction…I scrolled up and the aforementioned post of the week was authored by the nearly always right Richard Lociero.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Ann’s Bastard Son says : “I served 4 years in the USMC. I think it’s one thing for Uncle Sam to send a guy out into the jungle … with a rifle to go man to man with another armed man. But that’s not what McCain did. He committed war crimes as far as I’m concerned.”
First, from another vet (Army, ’66 – ’70): Thanks for your service.
Second: but seriously, dude: mano a mano with a rifle in the jungle is the only kind of warfare that doesn’t make you a war criminal? So Navy guys on ships firing big guns at shore positions are war criminals? Huey door gunners bringing “death from above” — war criminals? Intelligence guys pinpointing enemy positions so air strikes can be called in? You might want to think this through again.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Straight from Matt Drudge….
Maybe the Democrats need to recognize that voters think that FOX is a legitimate news source and quit ducking debates on that network.
May 4th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Bob, blind hatred of Al Gore makes strange bedfellows….
May 4th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
I went to the link where Marc had cross-posted this entry at The Nation. I cracked up when I got to the end of it and there was a big ad inviting people to sign up for emails of Ann Coulter’s latest columns. She must get a huge response from that site.
May 4th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
The Department of Defense has identified 3,350 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war. It confirmed the deaths of the following Americans this week:
BOLAR, Matthew T., 24, Specialist, Army; Montgomery, Ala.; 25th Infantry Division.
JONES, Ryan P., 23, First Lt., Army; Westminster, Mass.; First Infantry Division.
KIRK, Johnathan E., 25, Lance Cpl., Marines; Belhaven, N.C.; Second Marine Division.
SOENKSEN, Katie M., 19, Pfc., Army; Davenport, Iowa; 410th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade.
SUNSIN-PINEDA, Astor A., 20, Specialist, Army; Long Beach, Calif.; First Infantry Division.
UMBRELL, Colby J., 26, First Lt., Army; Doylestown, Pa.; 25th Infantry Division.
May 5th, 2007 at 5:07 am
“BTW welcome back Michael Balter. I hope your interlude in the land of the free (and in the Valley of the Saints) was fun.
Now, I’m expecting a full report on the French Election!”
Thanks, rlo. How great it was indeed to breathe the pure air of freedom, not to mention the steak and eggs out on Route 66 in Williams, Arizona. I didn’t do so well in Vegas, however, lost 4 dollars in the slots and a dollar to my daughter for guessing the color of her toenail varnish wrong. The start ‘em young out there.
As for the French election, watch for a Sarkozy victory on Sunday and burning cars just as Segolene predicted. But shock, shock, I agree with Woody that was a pretty lame thing to say. If you don’t want burning cars or wars in Iraq, you have to offer a candidacy that inspires the majority of people to vote for you.
May 5th, 2007 at 6:01 am
With the factor of (sarkozy favoring) LePen voters not voting and the left parties voting for (a very flawed) Segolene, doesn’t that make the race a little closer?
May 5th, 2007 at 6:17 am
Check out the fine Glen Greenwald Salon piece, dealing with “Mr. Reliable” Chris Matthews.
May 5th, 2007 at 8:26 am
“I can’t believe the lack of candidates a great country like the USA presents for public office. That’s it?!!”
Oddly, I was thinking about this just tonight. I was a little too young to notice JFK. Then we got LBJ (not much in the charisma department), Nixon (downright repellent), Ford (halfway decent but dull), Carter (had to strain to be interesting.) Then Reagan — well, he had some serious appeal as a person, just not to people like me. Bush Sr., back to normal. Clinton — some genuine charisma there. Now Dubya. — a folksy snoozemeister. These are the presidents the system has produced within my memory, even though it’s a system that’s a *popularity* contest for the most part.
I’m thinking Obama these days because he can actually be interesting, and appears to be able to deliver an earnest, thoughtful and convincing speech without notes and without gaffes. I can’t believe I’ve gotten into my 6th decade of life, and can only count two presidents so far who had anything going for them as personalities. Yes, how *does* the system produce such apparent communicative mediocrity? I read the transcript of the Russert/Biden interview after Marc referred to it, and stopped after Biden stumbled pathetically while explaining why he’s not as inarticulate as he used to be. Candidates as marginal as Kucinich and Ron Paul can at least get a hearing because they say things you can understand (never mind agree with) and make you believe that *they* actually believe what they are saying. How sad that this is the exception, not the rule.
May 5th, 2007 at 9:20 am
MB that wasn’t “Little America” by any chance?
I understand that LePen has asked his people to boycott the election. Do you think they will?
Maybe the Socialist Party ought to consider using some ideas. I mean when you’ve got a candidate that looks like Marianne that ought to be a big boost!
May 5th, 2007 at 11:37 am
I’ve thought it through BobHSays.
No intel guys pinpointing “enemy” targets are not war criminals. And Navy guys targeting shore “positions” are not war criminals. However bombing civilian targets just might be–as in what McCain once did. Remember “bomb a village to save a village”?
Had the tables been turned and commie forces bombed the stuffing out of American cities, would we consider the captured pilots war criminals? I think it’s possible.
May 6th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Interesting post and comments:
Cooper
Newsflash Marc Cooper, Bush isn’t running again, he already WON twice…
As to the whiners… ecuse me, winners in THEIR last debate Mr. Cooper said, I believe:
I might say the exact same thing for most of the comments in this thread.
Long live hyperbole, the use of which makes the left and the right look like identical twins.
As to McCain’s comment: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.” That’s what some of the folk in here advocate all the time when it comes to “crushing” the right, they just don’t use the exact same wording though for damn sure the meaning is clear enough.
As for the Democrats being better able to run the country? They are more do-nothing than the republican do-nothings, in fact, as they have shown recently they can’t even get a stop the war bill going up without enough pork to attract the blue-dog dems into voting for it. Reminds me of the old saw regarding a child so ugly a pork chop was tied around his neck to get the dog to play with him; same might actually be said about the dems, so stupid that they have to tie “pork” around their bills to get them voted for.
May 6th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Given the current administration, Lurker, I’m not sure I see this: “As for the Democrats being better able to run the country? They are more do-nothing than the republican do-nothings…” as an insult. It could be a blessed relief, considering the alternative.
May 6th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Listener, not according to what I’ve seen so far!
May 6th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
ACBS, if you will harken back to WWII, bombing villages, and cities, and hospitals, and farm yards, at least half a dozen cows, 243 windmills and countless railroads you will see the unlikelyness of your question. Captured enemy pilots were treated pretty much the same as captured enemy foot sloggers.
May 6th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
No need to “harken” back to WWII, Lurker in the shadows. Just saying, if a pilot was shot down while bombing CIVILIAN TARGETS in LA, NYC or Atlanta, that pilot would no doubt be tried for war crimes.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
How is Ron Paul cranky, he was the most positive person up there with an awsome message.
How is getting rid of the IRS unfortunate?
All we need is the US Treasury collecting taxes on corporate profits and an increased sales tax. Not the IRS mess. We might have to scale back on paying interest to China and for bombs though. Bummer.
April 5th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Great ideas, is there a place to elaborate on this all?