I watched so you don't have to. Well, an hour anyway. I couldn't take any more, and I doubt the rest of the viewers could either.
And here's what I've got to tell you...
Chris Christie is toast. He's the Mike Bloomberg of the Republican party. A theoretical force until you see him on stage, where he seems to have lost a step. It's the same old crap plus a bunch of anti-Trump stuff that no one is listening to, so what's the point.
I don't know what is going on in Florida, but Ron DeSantis is not ready for the national stage, and probably won't ever be ready. Media-coached, he had one of the most fake smiles in history. You could see his brain working, to try and spread his lips, to show some teeth. It was out of "Mad" magazine or something. This guy is so cold and unlikable it's laughable. But he really lost all credibility when the candidates were asked to raise their hand if they felt climate change was real and he broke in unsolicited, with some cockamamie verbiage trying to forestall, hopefully eliminate completely, a yes or no decision. He was belligerent, the kind of guy who talks over you at a party. Who cares about climate change, this man's behavior was offensive, and evading the question by battling it, saying it's unnecessary to begin with, that was a bad look.
The surprise was Nikki Haley, who's basing her campaign on truth, the consequences of Trump's policies, the rise in the debt... Again and again Haley spoke truth, even saying there was no way in hell a federal abortion ban could be passed, because it would require 60 Republican senators, and that's impossible, at least in the near term. However, as good as Haley looked, as much as her smile appeared genuine, there was something stilted in her presentation, she did not seem relaxed. She said a lot of the right things, but you just couldn't warm up to her.
Who have I missed?
Oh, Pence. What a wanker. Running on Trump's record of running up debt, saying what a great job they did, that the only problem in America was the wrong administration.
Let's not even talk about Asa Hutchinson. Whatever accomplishments he has are in the rearview mirror, he's running on yesteryear. And Tim Scott... Trying to be the voice of reason but losing credibility in the process. He was warmer than Haley, DeSantis and even Christie. But the longer he talked the more he appeared a tool of the party, anything but innovative. As for the governor of North Dakota? I'd have to look up his name. He wasn't ready for prime time, had trouble getting it out, can this guy, he doesn't deserve to be in the spotlight.
Which leaves us with Vivek Ramaswamy. We've been reading about his ascending poll numbers, tonight we got an upfront look. And now I understand it. In many ways, unfortunately not all, Vivek is running away from the rest of the candidates, he's a disrupter, just like in the tech world he comes from. Everybody else is parroting the past, your eyes could roll into the back of your head. But Vivek?
He said he was 38. Vivek automatically has the youth vote, because no one else is running in that lane, certainly no Republican. Vivek was fresh and energized in a way that neither Trump nor Biden is. Vivek was nimble. And if you're under the age of 50...you're sick and tired of old men telling you how to live your life without knowing the life you're living. Young people, and under 50 is in many ways young, well, at least under 40, live their lives online, they're digital natives. It's like growing up skiing as opposed to trying to learn when you're older. It's much easier when you're younger. You just know. But nobody in D.C. seems to know... About your smartphone, TikTok, everything you take for granted.
Vivek knows.
Even better, he rose above the rest by wanting to stop litigating the past and wanting to plan and govern for the future. This has been the problem for Republicans in D.C., they're the party of no, oftentimes they reject the Democrats' proffered legislation and offer nothing in return. As for the Freedom Caucus lunatics... It's a bad look, but one thing's for sure, their constituents are never going to vote for Biden, they're never going to vote for any Democrat.
So...
It was the same old thing, over and over, except for Haley and Ramaswamy. Who ended up looking like a breath of fresh air as a result. Is the Republican party ready for a South Asian president? Definitely. It fits with their ethos, then they can say they're not racist, that nothing is holding back minorities in America. Because Ramaswamy is one of them. Don't watch him and think he's a Democrat, he's anything but. When he said Donald Trump was the best president of the 21st century, it was like Hillary telling us her favorite book was the Bible. There's no way Ramaswamy believes this. Let's even start at a basic level. Everybody in tech knows Trump's anti-immigrant laws left too many geniuses outside of the country, where they ultimately built companies in their homelands, like India. These are not the people taking blue collar jobs. Rather these are the people who are pushing the envelope forward, like Ramaswamy himself. When Vivek pandered, I winced. This was undercutting his mission, his direction, to be the other, to be the choice, because in reality, other than the unelectable Haley, the rest of the men were exactly the same.
As for what they were saying, manna from heaven to dyed-in-the-wool Republicans, downright scary, if not laughable, to those who have not consumed the kool-aid. Vivek could run the ball right up the middle. With the youth vote, with the digital vote, but then he starts spewing some of the same damn crap, the tired talking points, and if you weren't already on the team, there was no way you'd join.
Bottom line is it was great that Trump was absent. He would have dominated. He doesn't believe in rules. Screw the one minute limit. He would have talked over people and...
Only Nikki spoke to Trump's policies, which was brave, because not everybody in the party agrees with them. You're never going to beat Trump being me-too, you've got to propose an alternative.
And the Fox interrogators... I've got to give them credit, they asked some tough questions, which DeSantis always avoided. But even young Republicans are worried about climate change. If you speak some semblance of truth, you could win.
Which is how Trump got elected in the first place. He ignored norms. Stopped doing what consultants say to. He knew his constituency better than they did. They'd been in the game too long to understand what was going on.
And this is a problem on the left too. Pussies. Schumer and Schiff... What does it take to get you pissed-off, to be a leader. You're like the kids who were elected to student government in high school. Irrelevant in the backwater while the football captain and the independent freak were leading and influencing. If you want us to follow, demonstrate you can lead, that you are not afraid, fight back...
So, let's hope the nobodies, the people who can't win, are weeded out. I'd like to see Vivek go one on one with Donald. Trump would be Foreman, flat-footed, depending on the strength of his punches. Ramaswamy would be Ali, nimble of foot and mind, employing the rope-a-dope.
It ain't over yet people.
But damn did it start too soon. Didn't we just do this?
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