August marked the second month in a row that the Republican Party sported its full field of 17 candidates. It was 16 months before the general election and everyone was looking forward to the first GOP debate... except Reince Priebus. The RNC Chairman had endeavored to persuade Trump to "tone it down", all to no avail of course. There was some speculation as to whether Priebus had read Trump's second favorite book,
The Art of the Deal or not. I doubt it would have done any good if he had; Priebus just doesn't have it in him to be subtle or clever. He would have been much better served had he consulted Trump's avowed first favorite book, a tome famed for providing consolation to the despairing.
The month started off badly for Reince and didn't get any better. He'd had great hopes of the Republican "deep bench" appealing to a wider range of voters as per the GOP autopsy recommendations. But that grand plan, which advocated for Republicans bonding better with minorities, was on its way from the ER to the morgue and Trump was pushing the gurney.
Claytoonz depicted Trump as a piranha leaping into the GOP pool to the horrified trepidation of the other candidates. It was an apt analogy! The other wannabes were just settling into their campaigns when Trump disrupted everything.
Trump walked and talked over the top of everyone and, by August, he was firing zingers back at his fellow candidates in direct contravention of Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment". The RNC and billionaire donors were gobsmacked.
In addition to xenophobia, Trump turned his attention to the
long-running Republican war on women. He quickly proved he could
out-general any of the GOP motley army of sergeants and corporals.
But not everyone was happy with his efforts.
Even LOLGOP was calling on serious Republicans...
In true South Carolinean style,
Lindsey Graham was mortified, just mortified!
But the Trump fans loved it!
Before long, the horde of GOP candidates were gathering for the first debate.
At the kiddies table in dime time, were the less-than-1%ers. Fiorina was feted
as having won the forum (the debate you have when the RNC says you're not
allowed to call it a debate), apparently by dint of talking more than anyone else.
On the main stage in prime time, in front of an estimated crowd, the top ten
grabbed as many minutes and as much camera time as they could. No single
winner emerged though Trump did much better than most expected, especially
given that Kelly's first question to him famously called him out for his misogyny.
Trump got everyone's attention when he attacked the billionaire backers.
They're used to exerting control over their Republican Party but Trump outwitted
them by funding his own campaign. He then loudly denounced them for buying
political favors and accused career politicians of being owned by big money.
From their answers, it was evident that most of the candidates
had attended a tutorial given by this Republican think tank.
What would the great political figures of the past have thought of this lot?
Give us your thoughts, Benjamin Franklin and Martin Luther King Jr.
Marco Rubio had a surprising moment of clarity in which
he told an uncomfortable and inconvenient truth:
Certain Democrats, watching the debate on television,
were said to have thoroughly enjoyed the highlights.
Fox outfoxed themselves and were Trumped into the bargain.
The post-debate polls gave their biggest bump to Trump who
went on to break the 35% barrier by the end of the month.
The Republican poll results prompted messages like this one:
The superpower of The Donald is...
Some have it tough from birth...
Graham was trying to troll Trump...
Then Trump discovered that his very favorite book was the Bible and the crowd went crazy! Well yes, they were already certifiably crazy but their craziness was really really loud - and they brought home-made posters and everything!
The question then became...
But it turned out that this this was too personal for Trump to talk about publicly.
So does Trump have any siblings?
Trump is surprised to hear he's not popular with Hispanics
according to some stupid dumbass poll...
Trump's astounding success wreaked havoc on other candidates trying to catch up to him and flip-flopping like dying fish in their bumbling attempts to do so.
Jeb even went so far as to have hand replacement surgery
in a desperate attempt to bond with African-Americans.
Scott Walker began to fade from the moment he announced his candidacy. It was particularly noticeable in the debate, on the stump and in interviews.
But the Kochs are not happy chappies.
Now here's an interesting idea from Sam the Eagle.
It would certainly make for very entertaining debates...
and stump speeches... and television interviews!
Meanwhile emailghazi was still dragging on with the
apparent aim of boring Democratic voters to death.
HRC's biggest failing is...
This would give Republican brick-makers pause if they
ever stopped to think about it for five minutes.
I'll give the final word to Trump because August really was his month.
Hmmm, how good at predicting the future do we think The Donald is?
Previous Diary in this Series:
That Was the Month That Was – July with the Candidates
Also in the August series:
That Was the Month That Was – August On the Internet
That Was the Month That Was – August Issues and Political Flotsam
That Was the Month That Was – August Furbutts and Cute Critters