Republican Debate Results
I watched the Republican Debate last night from beginning to end and here
are the results in my opinion.
Ben Carson had a very poor night. He showed he is poor in math. His numbers
did not add up. His ideas for reforming the tax cost are ridiculous Worst
of all in his last statement he advocated abolishing Medicare and replacing
it with “a savings account”. This is absurd. In my view this is the end of
his candidacy. He entered the debate the front runner. Now, he might as
well drop out.
Ted Cruz seemed to be doing well until his last sentence where he advocated
going back to the Gold Standard. The Gold Standard issue was the one that
ended Ron Paul's campaign four years ago. Since Rand Paul immediately
followed Ted Cruz I was wondering what he would say about this but
fortunately he said nothing.
I think John Kasich did well. My opinion of him greatly improved. I feel he
is one of the few on the stage capable of being president.
Jeb Bush was feeble. He had a poor night. He tried to appear strong and
bold. He failed. He needed a big night and he did not get it. The irony is
he has raised $100 million in campaign contributions, more than anybody
else. Now all that money has been wasted. He might as well drop out.
Mike Huckabee is one of the weakest candidates and he proved it again. He
might as well quit.
Carly Fiorina did well, about the same as last time. I expect her to be the
eventual nominee.
Rand Paul had a good night especially because the audience often cheered
when he spoke. He announced that he will be boycotting the deal starting
tomorrow where some errant Republicans have apparently agreed to abolish
the debt ceiling.
Donald Trump was weaker than usual. It was a poor night for him compared to
his previous outings but I did not think he was hurt for his performance.
Trump did not attack anybody this time, unlike in the other debates. This
is probably the reason he seemed so bland.
Chris Christie speaks well but I am biased against him because I remember
the bridge-gate affair where the George Washington Bridge, the most heavily
trafficked bridge in the world with 300,000 cars crossing it per day, was
closed for three days because a local politician had failed to endorse
Chris Christie for re-election. I expect Chris Christie to wind up in jail
eventually so I do not pay much attention to what he says.
Marco Rubio again called Hillary Clinton a liar. He was just about the only
one who attacked Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democrat Nominee. I think
this is a mistake. I would not call for him to drop out but he had better
do better next time.
An important development is none of the debaters mentioned the I-Word. In
the previous debates that was all they could talk about. And only one
mentioned the other I-Word.
So, the big news is the Ben Carson campaign will implode. He will go from
the first to being the last and will probably have to quit.
Sam Sloan