Predictions for Tonight’s GOP Debate

[Geee]

In Las Vegas Debate, a Rubio-Cruz Showdown Takes Center Stage

 

Las Vegas — Nine candidates took the stage here Tuesday night for the final primetime Republican debate of 2015, but in critical moments it seemed there were only two: Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

The pair of freshmen senators went toe-to-toe several times, most notably on the issues of the National Security Agency’s data collection and immigration, participating in lengthy back-and-forth exchanges that left the other candidates sidelined while CNN featured the budding rivals in a split-screen presentation.

 

Tuesday may have foreshadowed a Rubio-Cruz battle for the nomination that more and more Republicans are now predicting, as Cruz continues to consolidate the support of conservative voters and Rubio emerges as the favorite of center-right, establishment-oriented voters. The headlines coming out of the Nevada debate could further cement the narrative of a collision course for the two senators, who presently occupy very different places in the Republican field. Rubio, despite strong debate performances, remains stuck in the mid-teens in early-state polling; Cruz this week surged to the top of several Iowa surveys and is gaining momentum nationally.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428598/gop-debate-rubio-cruz-vegas

[Geee]

Lindsey Graham Puts on a Show in Vegas, Then Calls on Low-Polling Candidates to Drop Out

 

Las Vegas — After dominating the stage with one-liners during a gloomy undercard debate here, Lindsey Graham told reporters that his low-polling competitors should drop out of the race — but he insisted that he’s not going anywhere until the February 9 New Hampshire primary.

 

Graham used the debate, as well as a marathon question-and-answer session with reporters afterward, to bash Donald Trump as an unelectable demagogue doing lasting damage to the Republican party. And while Graham seemed to acknowledge that he and the other candidates polling in single digits are actually helping Trump by staying in the race and slowing the emergence of an alternative, he ruled out an early exit from the race.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428585/lindsey-graham-gop-undercard-debate

[Geee]

Cruz, Rubio fight to be the anti-Trump

 

LAS VEGAS — It was the Cruz-Rubio show.

 

The fifth Republican presidential debate and last of 2015 was dominated by Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida as the two front-runners debated aggressively topics ranging from America's role in the world to government surveillance of terrorists to immigration reform. The exchange over what to do about the 11-12 million illegal immigrants was one Republicans have waited for; it was memorable and could impact the race just as the campaign is hitting its most critical phase.

 

"There was a time for choosing as Reagan put it. Where there was a battle over amnesty and some chose, like Sen. Rubio to stand with [President} Barack Obama and [Democratic New York Senator] Chuck Schumer and support a massive amnesty plan," Cruz said as he went on the attack. "Others chose to stand with [Republican Alabama Senator] Jeff Sessions and [iowa Republican Representative] Steve King and the American people and secure the border."

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/cruz-rubio-fight-to-be-the-anti-trump/article/2578474

[Geee]

Murdoch calls Trump thin-skinned, suggests GOP front-runner tiring out

 

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch took a none-too-subtle shot at Donald Trump Tuesday evening, suggesting on social media that the GOP front-runner is perhaps a bit too thin-skinned to compete for the party's nomination.

 

"Donald Trump seems to be getting even more thin skinned! Is flying around the country every day tiring him?" Murdoch asked his more than 680,000 followers on Twitter. "Would anybody else."

 

His remarks came at around the same time that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush appeared to get under the casino tycoon's skin by confronting him with previous foreign policy statements that failed to hold up over time.

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/murdoch-calls-trump-thin-skinned-says-hes-tiring-out/article/2578481

[NCTexan]

I loved the split screen shots of Trump mugging during the debate...

 

It looked like he was auditioning for the next Star Wars movie as Jabba the Trump.

 

[Valin]

Tonight’s debate: more of the same but with a key difference
Paul Mirengoff
December 15, 2015

In a sense, tonight’s debate was more of the same. Once again, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Chris Christie excelled. Carly Fiorina was strong for the most part. Rand Paul defended his libertarian views well. Jeb Bush couldn’t quite kill, or even much injure, the Great White Whale. The Great White Whale spouted plenty of nonsense, but who cares, right? John Kasich was John Kasich. Ben Carson was again the least impressive of the lot from a debating standpoint.

But something new and important happened tonight: Cruz and Rubio, two of the best three debaters in the field, debated each other on national security and immigration.

Who won? I thought Rubio had the better of it on national security (but keep in mind that I agree with Rubio’s position) and that Cruz had the better of it on immigration (but keep in mind that I prefer Cruz’s record on this subject). Overall, I give the advantage to Cruz for this reason: among Republican voters, the unpopularity of Rubio’s collaboration with Chuck Schumer and the rest of the immigration reform gang exceeds the unpopularity of Cruz’s softness on data collection.

Where does the race go from here? My guess is that Carson will continue slowly to fade, which will mainly benefit Cruz. Bush won’t make headway and will have to consider dropping out.

 

(Snip)

[NCTexan]

Tonight’s debate: more of the same but with a key difference

Paul Mirengoff

December 15, 2015

 

In a sense, tonight’s debate was more of the same. Once again, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Chris Christie excelled. Carly Fiorina was strong for the most part. Rand Paul defended his libertarian views well. Jeb Bush couldn’t quite kill, or even much injure, the Great White Whale. The Great White Whale spouted plenty of nonsense, but who cares, right? John Kasich was John Kasich. Ben Carson was again the least impressive of the lot from a debating standpoint.

 

But something new and important happened tonight: Cruz and Rubio, two of the best three debaters in the field, debated each other on national security and immigration.

 

Who won? I thought Rubio had the better of it on national security (but keep in mind that I agree with Rubio’s position) and that Cruz had the better of it on immigration (but keep in mind that I prefer Cruz’s record on this subject). Overall, I give the advantage to Cruz for this reason: among Republican voters, the unpopularity of Rubio’s collaboration with Chuck Schumer and the rest of the immigration reform gang exceeds the unpopularity of Cruz’s softness on data collection.

 

Where does the race go from here? My guess is that Carson will continue slowly to fade, which will mainly benefit Cruz. Bush won’t make headway and will have to consider dropping out.

 

(Snip)

 

BTW... I was the "ghost writer" for this fine piece.

[Valin]

[Valin]

 

Tonight’s debate: more of the same but with a key difference

Paul Mirengoff

December 15, 2015

 

In a sense, tonight’s debate was more of the same. Once again, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Chris Christie excelled. Carly Fiorina was strong for the most part. Rand Paul defended his libertarian views well. Jeb Bush couldn’t quite kill, or even much injure, the Great White Whale. The Great White Whale spouted plenty of nonsense, but who cares, right? John Kasich was John Kasich. Ben Carson was again the least impressive of the lot from a debating standpoint.

 

But something new and important happened tonight: Cruz and Rubio, two of the best three debaters in the field, debated each other on national security and immigration.

 

Who won? I thought Rubio had the better of it on national security (but keep in mind that I agree with Rubio’s position) and that Cruz had the better of it on immigration (but keep in mind that I prefer Cruz’s record on this subject). Overall, I give the advantage to Cruz for this reason: among Republican voters, the unpopularity of Rubio’s collaboration with Chuck Schumer and the rest of the immigration reform gang exceeds the unpopularity of Cruz’s softness on data collection.

 

Where does the race go from here? My guess is that Carson will continue slowly to fade, which will mainly benefit Cruz. Bush won’t make headway and will have to consider dropping out.

 

(Snip)

 

BTW... I was the "ghost writer" for this fine piece.

 

 

 

Does ghost writing pay good?

[Valin]

Undercard Spin Room: “Nothing like the CNBC debate”

Ed Morrissey

December 15, 2015

 

Three of the four candidates made personal appearances in the Spin Room after the undercard debate tonight. Coming out last, Mike Huckabee offered his thoughts on the debate itself, pronouncing himself impressed. “I give it an A,” Huckabee said, telling reporters that Hugh Hewitt and Dana Bash were prepared and followed up well. “It was not a game show,” Huckabee said, adding that it was “nothing like the CNBC debate”:

 

 

(Snip)

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

IMO 4 should be the upper limit of debaters.

[Valin]

And Now A View From The Left

 

 

 

[Valin]

'House of Cards' Runs Campaign Ad During GOP Debate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=Se44ed4KBMA

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BRILLIANT!!

[nickydog]

'House of Cards' Runs Campaign Ad During GOP Debate

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=Se44ed4KBMA

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

 

BRILLIANT!!

 

Having no clue who Frank Underwood is and never watching or even heard of House of Cards, Mr.n. looked at me in astonishment, thinking someone new was in the race and said, "Who is Frank Underwood?!"

[Valin]

@nickydog

 

Based on the UK Version

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L36mAZU5Etw

 

More Here are on You Tube

 

Ian Richardson (Francis Urquhart) is deliciously wicked.

Edited December 16, 2015 by Valin
My Bad Wrong one

[nickydog]

I knew who Frank Underwood is and that it was an ad for the series; it was Mr.n.'s innocent astonishment that was so funny. Even funnier was that I knew that was what he would do, so I just sat and waited for it. That's how it is when you've been married to the same person for 54 years.

[Draggingtree]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdaZvKf52jI

[Geee]

TRUMP’S NUCLEAR HOWLER

 

Tonight, Donald Trump delivered the biggest howler of the presidential campaign (at least on the GOP side). But don’t worry, the topic was a trivial one — nuclear weapons.

 

Hugh Hewitt asked Trump which part of our aging triad would be his priority as president. Trump answered, the nuclear side.

 

But the triad, as Marco Rubio explained, is entirely nuclear. It consists of ships that can deliver nukes, planes that can deliver nukes, and silos from which nukes can be launched. In effect, then, Trump answered a question about which part of our nuclear triad is most important by saying the nuclear part.

 

Tom Elliott provides the text of this exchange at NRO’s Corner. Jonah Goldberg reminds us that Hugh asked Trump about the nuclear triad at great length in August, and he couldn’t answer it then, either. In the August exchange, Hugh told Trump that the “triad” is a nuclear triad. I guess Trump forgot.

 

The “triad” wasn’t Trump’s only bad moment. He defended his plan to kill the families of terrorists on the grounds that family members know about attacks in advance and that, though terrorists may not care about their own lives, they care about the lives of family

 

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/12/trumps-nuclear-howler.php

[Geee]

Trump Won The Debate? Only If You Ignore What He Said

 

National Security: At one point in the GOP debate, Jeb Bush said Donald Trump gets his foreign policy information from Sunday talk shows. We're beginning to think Jeb's right, which is a serious problem in today's world.

Whatever their political viewpoint, open-minded viewers watching the debate could not help but come away impressed with the GOP field.

For more than two hours, they engaged in serious, sober and lengthy discussions about how to deal with Syria, ISIS, Russia, Iran and domestic terrorism. Yes, there are clear differences of opinion among the candidates — particularly Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul — which is precisely what a healthy, broad-based party should have.

For the most part, everyone showed a depth of knowledge on national security matters that the country desperately needs after seven years of President Obama's disasters. With one notable exception.

While several pundits declared Trump the debate's winner, all he managed to demonstrate in the few times he spoke up was that, on foreign policy, he still hasn't progressed beyond bromides and bombast. Even Ben Carson, who has been tagged as a foreign policy lightweight, came across as more knowledgeable.

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/121615-785677-trump-showed-dangerous-ignorance-of-national-security.htm

[Valin]

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Thanks to all.