A Week from Today, we will be Reviewing the Disaster that Was the GOP Debate. The Question this week is,
Who Will Do You Think Will Be Considered the Winner of the First Debate?
We don't know who the Final 10 Participants are, and We don't Know Which National Polls will be Used, but the Final 10 are pretty well set with the #10 Slot, still to be determined between ex-Governor Rick Perry and Ohio Governor John Kasich.
The Most Recent Pollings suggest the Following:
Donald Trump 19.4%
Jeb Bush 13.0%
Scott Walker 11.7%
Marco Rubio 6.2%
Rand Paul 5.9%
Mike Huckabee 5.3%
Ben Carson 5.2%
Ted Cruz 5.1%
Chris Christie 3.3%
John Kasich 2.7%
Rick Perry 2.3%
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post sums up the prospects, like this:
I feel like a kid the week before Christmas. There’s just one present under the tree, but it’s all a columnist could ever hope for: the first Republican debate!
How could Thursday night in Cleveland fail to be one of the most entertaining political spectacles we’ve seen in a long time? There are, far as I can tell, 17 candidates for the GOP nomination. Nobody’s quite sure which 10 will qualify for the prime-time clash, with the rest relegated to an earlier also-rans debate. Fox News, which is organizing the festivities, says it will use an average of national polls to make the cut, but won’t say which polls.
Donald Trump has announced that there is no reason to prepare. He promises that he will be nice to the other candidates, and I am sure that he will, unless they are mean to him. Donald is doing well saying exactly what the Tea Party Republicans are used to hearing from Faux Snooze and Rush Limbaugh. The question for the Donald is how far Greed, Hatred, Bigotry and Prejudice can take him?
Does Donald Trump simply Win by Not Losing?
Jeb Bush thinks that the way to improve the economy is for people to work more hours and longer careers. Jeb does not want anybody to know that his last name is B - - -, but he claims that he met 2 future presidents the first day of his life. Jeb just can't remember their names. Jeb seems to be the Media's and the Establishment GOP favorite, but the every day GOP voters don't seem to like him very well.
Scott Walker appears to be the favorite of the Koch Brothers but the Koch Brothers have avoided a public endorsement of their boy. Walker is doing well in Iowa, bragging about shutting down public sector unions in Wisconsin and riding around on his union built Harley Davidson.
So far, Marco Rubio seems to have failed to lived up to his expectations. The Rosy Scenario projected by so many for the handsome young Cuban Senator from Florida have ended in one big Gulp. Nobody remembers anything that Rubio has said meaningful about anything.
Rand Paul has been working on the substance of the Tax Code, tearing into it with a Chain saw and a paper shredder, but he does not seem to have made any substantial changes to the actual Code. Although Paul has taken some stances against the war mongering Chickenhawks among other members of the GOP, he doesn't seem to be taking much of a position against the Iran Agreement. In April 2014, Paul said that a nuclear Iran would not be a threat to Israel, but he did sign Tom Cotton's letter encouraging Iran to cease negotiations with the USA.
Mike Huckabee has doubled down on his claims that the Iran deal will simply be opening the oven doors for the Jewish people. Huckabee has never really decided between whether he wants to be an evangelist or a political leader, but he seems to be tending toward the evangelist.
Dr. Carson has become the GOP's second most favorite black man after Clarence Thomas. Carson seems to have wilted away as Donald Trump blew his own horn and Dr. Carson has not been able to gather much media attention lately.
It's difficult to describe Ted Cruz's actions any better than Eugene Robinson did:
Will Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) help Mr. Trump with his jacket and ask if he’d like a glass of water?
Cruz actions following Mr. Trump around like a lap dog are almost as despicable as his actions in Florida, when he and John Roberts successfully prevented the recounting of votes that permitted the Supreme Court to select George W. Bush as president. Cruz may be as unpopular in the GOP as he is in the nation.
John Kasich was one of the last of the nominees to announce his candidacy, but he is one of the favorites among MSNBC commentators such as Chris Matthews for the GOP nomination. That might be fatal to his candidacy. Kasich has been a radio/television personality and a leader of the House of Representatives, before he attacked the Right to Work laws in Ohio. Kasich does have a high favorability rating in his home state and
he might perform well in the debate format.
It's not certain which polls Fox might use to disqualify which candidates and whether Fox will permit Kasich or ex-Governor Rick Perry. Governor Perry has donned a pair of glasses to make himself appear more intelligent and has not been shy about attacking Donald Trump.
Grab a bag of popcorn, can of beer or soda pop, and enjoy the Show.
Who Do you think will be Declared the Winner? It's only a Week Away!