We watched tonight's second GOP debate at the Reagan Library in Simi, CA. I will probably have more reactions later. My first impression was that the seven people interrupted and talked over each other so much listening was difficult.
The other DrC and I agreed the most memorable thing said tonight was Sen. Tim Scott's clear statement that the lamentable disintegration of the black family was the result of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and subsequent programs of similar ilk which replaced the husband in most black households with a government check. Most honest analysis done in the last 20 years has found this indictment to be true.
All post-debate analysis and commentary I've looked at so far totally ignored Scott's claim, didn't even bother to debunk it. I appreciate the difficulty; in their eyes Scott said something awful, but criticizing it is knocking a black man. Best to act as if you didn't notice like polite folks do when someone farts.
All of the 7 had memorized little pat speeches embodying things most Republicans implicitly believe, and they tended to put them forward almost regardless of the question asked. Therefore we heard much with which we agreed from everyone onstage.
Any one of the 7 would likely be preferable to Joe Biden, none of them are losers. I believe DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and Haley had good nights, Scott and Christie less so, Pence is from an earlier era and proud of it, but his time is past while Burgum's time has yet to arrive.
Christie had the best put-down of the evening, attacking Donald Trump for ducking the debate, calling him "Donald Duck." It was about time someone gave Trump an ugly nickname. Trump gives others put-down nicknames, now it's his turn to get one.
Ilia Calderón, an anchor for Univision, didn't win any Republican friends with questions reflecting Latin American misconceptions about the US.
Writing at Politico, Steven Shepard summed up the two debates so far with the following quip.
Nothing that happened in the first two debates — or any subsequent ones, for that matter — will weaken Trump. What the debates will do is clarify the field of candidates other than Trump, in the event he does become vulnerable.
Analysis: Probably correct, hence my title.
