GOP Debate IV: Back to the Future
by Tom Sullivan
Well, that was pretty incoherent. Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino summed up last night's GOP presidential debate with this tweet late in the game:
So let me get this straight, "party of the future" wants to go back to gold standard, keep mining coal, and fight more in MidEast #GOPDebate
— Frank Cerabino (@FranklyFlorida) November 11, 2015There is no time this morning to attempt a play-by-play on last night's fourth GOP debate, but perhaps a few standout moments.
Cerabino was perhaps referring to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's sense of the coming election. Maria Bartiromo had asked Rubio and other candidates why Americans should choose them over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, what with her "impressive résumé" and all. The crowd booed loudly. Instead of making a case for himself, Rubio made a stump speech on American exceptionalism, traditional values, and the future:And so here's the truth: this election is about the future, and the Democratic Party, and the political left has no ideas about the future. All their ideas are the same, tired ideas of the past.
This came after more saber rattling at ISIS from the group, a defense of coal mining from Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, and a call to return to the gold standard from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. I guess tired ideas of the past are all shiny and new again when you're young and Republican.
Fact checkers will have fun with this, of course, but Josh Marshall found the debate quite the mess:
This debate is the logical outcome of the blow up after the CNBC debate. CNBC is a generally right leaning network on economic issues. But simply pressing the candidates to answer questions or noting when they're making demonstrably untrue claims made them liberal. So now we have a debate structured around letting candidates say absolutely anything - because scrutinizing candidates is liberal.
Fox Business's debate innovation: ask questions that allow candidates to give their stump speeches without fear of any follow up questions.
— Frank Rich (@frankrichny) November 11, 2015Trump at one point agreed with his rivals and tried to look presidential like he's not going anywhere. Kasich and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul sounded sensible at times. Cruz and Rubio will slowly rise in the polls. Carly Fiorina kept interrupting, as Trump noted to boos, and sounded as if she wanted the U.S. to return to building battleships. And Jeb Bush again might as well have stayed home. Ben Carson was as incoherent as ever, but had a better night for not having to answer personal history questions.
Perhaps the most fun of the evening was the attack ad against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by "lobbyists for Navient, a student loan company that the CFPB is currently investigating for allegedly cheating student loan borrowers." The ad echoes Apple's famous "1984" spot and features an image of Elizabeth Warren as Stalin (or was it Lenin?). Even American Banker thought that one would likely backfire.