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| speaking at CPAC in Washington D.C. on February 10, 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
As dictated by broadcast rights-holder Fox News Channel (who, like the GOP, are probably relieved that they won't have Stewart kicking them around any more), only ten candidates with acceptable poll numbers were allowed to appear on the prime time cablecast. They were business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Dr. Ben Carson. Of those, only Trump, Bush and Walker have double-digit numbers.
The seven individuals who did not make the cut--which includes former HP executive Carly Fiorina, former Texas governor Rick Perry and former senator Rick Santorum--were relegated to the undercard debate held earlier. It is rumored that Fiorina won the debate, or at least made the best showing.
Trump was at his all-flash, no-substance best in showing up the rest of the field when he discussed why he doesn't have time for political correctness, how he'd solve the immigration crisis, and how he'd make America great again. Trump also was the only one of the debaters not to pledge loyalty to the GOP nominee should it be anyone but him, meaning he might try for a third-party run. But Trump's confrontation with Fox News' Megyn Kelly over his disparaging comments regarding women suggests trouble ahead, and not just with Rosie O'Donnell.
It's not as if the other candidates didn't have their moments. Christie and Paul squared off over surveillance in the wake of terrorist threats. Carson and Huckabee got off some one-liners. Cruz came across as a humorless, pompous jerk. Bush, Rubio and Walker didn't really distinguish themselves. And Kasich scored some points with folks outside the hometown Cleveland audience for his relatively moderate stance.
On the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, which helped to end World War II, most of the GOP candidates came out against the U.S.' agreement with Iran to curtail their nuclear weapons program. Their alternative seemed to be more economic sanctions.
There was plenty of Republican bashing over Obamacare and Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, but very little or nothing about race relations, income disparity and what to do about people with guns. In typical fashion, most of the candidates ignored the Fox News stars' questions and went off on their own tangents.
This is only the first of several debates (or "joint appearances", as Dan Rather used to call them when he was at CBS) the Republicans and Democrats have planned for the next few months. After a full evening of enough hot air to inflate basketballs and how much rhetoric was left behind, America has one question on its mind:
What would Jon Stewart have thought of all this?
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