The GOP debate, which you probably didn’t watch, was perhaps the most humiliating few hours in modern political history. And that includes John Fetterman’s Senate campaign. Which to Pennsylvania’s discredit, at least he won.
But the Fox/Univision GOP debate wasn’t just mortifying for the participants or their teams. Frankly, who would care? But it was, in fact, degrading for all Republican voters.
“That’s your party?” you can expect to hear at the water cooler this week. Your protestations as to their better sense of style than the aforementioned Shrek impersonator on Capitol Hill will rightly fall on deaf ears. And speaking of falling, your quips about Biden’s balance will broadly land on their face. And so they should.
The GOP demeaned you last night. And today they’ll crow about their scripted dunks, and beg you for just another $5 to “send a message to Washington.”
For those who did watch, last night’s hack parade was as stark a reminder as you could get that the non-Trump options in the Republican Party are predominantly plagiarists, cringe-merchants, and low-level bickerers.
When not trying to score points on Trump for his increasingly wise refusal to share a stage with them — Christie’s “Donald Duck” comment was a particular low note — the candidates at the Reagan Presidential Library scrambled to take weak shots at each other, delivering laugh lines the quality of which makes even the most ardent right winger happy that the Hollywood Writers’ strike is over.
Ron DeSantis, almost to his credit, didn’t try to speak very much. The Florida Governor’s inability, again, to make a dent in the conversation seemed like a strategy to distinguish himself from the others. Instead, most people simply forgot he was even there.
Fox News and Univision’s attempt to push the candidates to the left on amnesty — as I predicted ahead of the debate — was perhaps the most newsworthy moment of the night. So it wasn’t just the candidates’ fault. The questions, as well as the moderation, were equally dire.
Given the failures of all the campaigns to have any form of break out moment, last night’s theatrics were entirely impotent, underscoring that perhaps it’s time to wrap the whole thing up. Knock it on the head. Spare the candidates (and Greta Thunberg’s blood pressure) any more pointless travel. Maybe Florida can get back the Governor they voted for just last year. And maybe these clowns can stop trying to very publicly remind voters that the GOP bench is disturbingly shallow, and deeply embarrassing.
