Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[Todd]

I thought Kasich made a great impression.

Kasich is a mensch in a party of parakeets.

(From Camille Paglia's, um, analysis in The Hollywood Reporter! (?!?)  This is what the election has come to.)

Alas, I could not watch the whole thing, but the two minute blurbs I saw of the candidates reacting to specific questions were exactly as expected.  I was relieved that Ted Cruz pledged to always tell the truth.

[Pat B]

Kasich is a mensch in a party of parakeets.

(From Camille Paglia's, um, analysis in The Hollywood Reporter! (?!?)  This is what the election has come to.)

Alas, I could not watch the whole thing, but the two minute blurbs I saw of the candidates reacting to specific questions were exactly as expected.  I was relieved that Ted Cruz pledged to always tell the truth.

Yes, they all pretty much stuck to their canned presentations. No surprises whatsoever in terms of policy ideas.

I would not have thought to look in something called The Hollywood Reporter for debate coverage, but that's actually a decent summary. I disagree completely about Rubio (he was stiff and awkward) and Huckabee (comfortably aggressive with his brand of nonsense), but she nailed most of the others.

Cruz was ruthless in his Senate primary against Dewhurst. Now he's just whiny. I was especially surprised by how slowly he spoke. Still, his vow to "always tell the truth" was clearly popular with the crowd, and anecdotally, it seems like Republicans were more impressed with him than I was.

Kasich is an effective moderate governor with plausible mainstream appeal, which probably makes him this year's Jon Huntsman.

I guess Jeb! is back to being the frontrunner.

[Todd]

Kasich is an effective moderate governor with plausible mainstream appeal, which probably makes him this year's Jon Huntsman.

Alas, that is probably true.  He's turned off some donors with his St Peter line, too, which he apparently re-uttered in a fundraising setting.

[Todd]

Authentic protest, or paid diversion?

(Will the phrase "White Supremacist Liberalism" catch on with Democrats?)

[ibanezmonster]

Authentic protest, or paid diversion?

(Will the phrase "White Supremacist Liberalism" catch on with Democrats?)

The irony being his history of strongly supporting the civil right movement...

At a similar protest, they booed when the phrase "White Lives Matter," was used after the guy said "Yes, Black Lives Matter," and continued booing when he went on to say "All Lives Matter." Pretty much demonstrates where the protestors stand. 

[Purusha]

SJWs turning on old school leftists now? Talk about poetic justice. As if what happened to Matt Taylor and Tim Hunt isn't proof enough those people are deranged.

[Todd]

Hillary's second big, taxpayer funded giveaway: (even more heavily) subsidized college tuition!  (At least this has a price tag.  If I didn't know better, I'd say it was understated.)

[Purusha]

Where is she going to get 350 billions?

[Todd]

Where is she going to get 350 billions?

A reduction in tax expenditures for high-income taxpayers - ie, she's planning on killing some deductions and credits, but the articles I saw didn't say which ones.  To be determined, I guess.

[Karl Henning]

Extinction, Ho!

Bad news, Republicans: Donald Trump is practically bulletproof

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/08/10/bad-news-republicans-donald-trump-is-practically-bulletproof/?hpid=z2

[Ken B]

Extinction, Ho!

Bad news, Republicans: Donald Trump is practically bulletproof

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/08/10/bad-news-republicans-donald-trump-is-practically-bulletproof/?hpid=z2

This is a shrewd take. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/09/trump-american-ruling-class-tyranny-column/31371813/ Especially the opening Tweet he quotes.

[Karl Henning]

This is a shrewd take. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/09/trump-american-ruling-class-tyranny-column/31371813/ Especially the opening Tweet he quotes.

Thanks!

Trump's defenders deep in the heart of the right-wing echo chamber were incensed Trump would be asked to defend his record and egregious language.

(* chortle *)

[Todd]

I wonder if Comedy Central plans on rerunning the Donald Trump roast anytime soon.  The Marlee Matlin/Gilbert Gottfried bit is great.  (Trump is the 20th hijacker.) 

[Ken B]

I watched a clip of Megyn Kelly for the very first time today. So the Trump campaign has not been a complete waste.

And ...

[Gurn Blanston]

I watched a clip of Megyn Kelly for the very first time today. So the Trump campaign has not been a complete waste.

I saw her too, CNN played a clip from her show, I guess for its newsworthiness (?), and she started out with "Donald Trump said this and that, but I'm not going to reply to that...." and then did a couple minutes of replying to that.   

[Todd]

Well, don't that beat all?

[Ken B]

Today I saw the suggestion, made for illustrative purposes not as a real possibility, of Trump-Sanders 2016

It's horrifying. But damn would it be fun!

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, don't that beat all?

Sharing a hometown with Bernie sort of makes me partial to him even though we disagree somewhat on our political stances. Despite any of that, I know enough about him to say "go ahead on, Bernie, kick her ass good".   

[Purusha]

I don't see him doing any ass kicking any time soon after that disaster with the #blacklivesmatter trolls.

[The new erato]

You Americans sure live in interesting times!