Deus ex Machina.
The GOP candidates have given up. They are waiting for God to ride in on a chariot and fix things.
The five candidates on stage last night were actors in a play with a script leading to an unsatisfactory conclusion. Each wants to replace the lead character. He has star power, but he has legal and character problems, and they are getting worse. The five are no longer rivals in competition with the star. Now they are jockeying to be the top understudy. Three weeks ago in New Hampshire I heard each of these candidates telling Republicans they would be better than Trump to lead the party and serve as president. They did not do that last night. They had every opportunity.
The first question from the debate hosts was for each candidate to say why them and not Trump.
Each essentially evaded, making some glancing criticism about Trump not having done enough of the things Trump was famous and popular for doing. Sure, he built the wall, but not enough of it. Sure, he confronted China, but maybe he could have been more nasty about it. Sure, he was a great president we can be proud of, but a younger person could do it better and longer.
No one -- not even Chris Christie -- mentioned that Trump sounds like a raving mad man full of revenge as he makes tweets in the middle of the night. No one mentioned his dividing the GOP by labeling “RINO” everyone but sycophants. No one mentioned Trump carried out a plot to overturn an election to stay in office, and is under indictment for it. No one mentioned Trump's lawyers and top confidantes admit they were guilty of felonies when they assisted Trump to carry out a seditious conspiracy.
There were brief moments last night that are relevant if the divine machine steps in. Nikki Haley seemed like a normal GOP candidate, a hawk on Ukraine and Israel. She was deft enough to hear Vivek Ramaswamy's gibe about her being Liz Cheney in three-inch heels, and to parry it. They are five-inch heels, she said, and they are weapons. Ramaswamy mentioned Haley's daughter; she called him "scum" for doing so. Haley probably won the award for "best understudy."
Ramaswamy was the uber-provocateur. He called the GOP a party of "losers;" he said Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chair, should resign; and he insulted the NBC debate moderators for being there.
This should be Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk. We’d have 10 times the viewership asking questions GOP primary voters actually care about. . . . Would the Democrats hire Greg Gutfeld to host a debate?
That was in in his opening statement. His closing statement included this:
End this farce that Joe Biden is going to be your nominee. He’s not even president of the United States. He’s a puppet for the managerial class. Be honest about who you’re going to put up. Joe Biden should step aside now and end his candidacy, so we can see — if it’s going to be Newsom or Michelle Obama or whoever else — just tell us the truth so we can have an honest debate.
Whew.
(Marketing and branding tip for NBC: NBC News probably hoped they would gain brownie points with GOP audiences for doing a debate with "team-Trump" Hugh Hewitt on stage, and broadcasting in cooperation with Rumble. Apparently not.)
Ron DeSantis was an younger, angrier, version of Trump, but without the fixation on the 2020 election. Tim Scott referenced growing up poor once again, and cited scripture in two different answers. Chris Christie completely backed off criticism of Trump, and now appears to be running for president in 2028 as the can-do former governor of New Jersey.
The 2024 nomination fight is over. Trump's rivals have given up trying to wrest leadership from his hands. The rivals can read the room. The GOP primary electorate is in love with Trump. The understudies-in-waiting recognize that either Zeus will do it, or no one will. Maybe a court will serve. Or a heart attack. Lightning might strike.
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Underwhelming indeed .
Every single one of them.