2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Eddie Teach]

Jeb Bush was the clear loser—and Rubio's smackdown of him ("Someone convinced you attacking me is going to help you") was probably the moment of the night. Bush has now moved from the point where he was merely floundering, and entered territory where he might do long-term damage to his legacy.

Wait a minute. Jeb has a legacy?

[jimmy olsen]

Jeb Bush was the clear loser—and Rubio's smackdown of him ("Someone convinced you attacking me is going to help you") was probably the moment of the night. Bush has now moved from the point where he was merely floundering, and entered territory where he might do long-term damage to his legacy.

Wait a minute. Jeb has a legacy?

He's running on his performance as the Governor of Florida isn't he?

[DGuller]

Ben Carson, entering the night with the wind at his back, looked more like a candidate with the sun in his eyes—dazed, confused, and completely unprepared to debate the issues relevant for a presidential race.

How exactly was that different tonight compared to other nights?

[MadImmortalMan]

Who are these people? The only name I recognize is Bob Shrum.

[Eddie Teach]

Ben Carson, entering the night with the wind at his back, looked more like a candidate with the sun in his eyes—dazed, confused, and completely unprepared to debate the issues relevant for a presidential race.

How exactly was that different tonight compared to other nights?

That sounds less peaceful, like he's been fully woken up and is still tired and groggy, rather than being still half-asleep.

[The Brain]

This may sound a bit strange, and I'm totally not trying to be mean--but Kasich is showing some physical signs of Parkinson's. The gestures, hand formations, head and mouth twitches. Looks very familiar to me.

They're all Hitler.

[Monoriu]

I feel really bad about Jeb Bush

[jimmy olsen]

I feel really bad about Jeb Bush

Why?

[Monoriu]

I feel really bad about Jeb Bush

Why?

He is the anointed one, groomed to be the next US president. 

[The Brain]

Only on Languish is grooming a good thing.  

[The Brain]

Baseball is boring.

Commie

I find it boring as well, to be honest.

And science supports you.

[jimmy olsen]

I pretty much agree with him on everything except Christie. Let's just call it the final five.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/we-have-our-final-six_1055055.html

We Have Our Final Six

11:16 PM, Oct 28, 2015 • By JONATHAN V. LAST


Tonight's debate showed that the GOP field is smaller than it looks. Technically, there are still fourteen people running, but the winnowing is far along. We probably have a final six and possibly a final four.

The three winners of the night were pretty obvious: Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump.

Rubio ended Jeb Bush's campaign with the kind of body shot that buckles your knees. That's on Bush, who never should have come after Rubio in that spot for a host of strategic and tactical reasons. But what should scare Hillary Clinton is how effortless Rubio is even with throwaway lines, like "I'm against anything that's bad for my mother." Most people have no idea how fearsome raw political talent can be. Clinton does know because she's seen it up close. She sleeps next to it for a contractually-obligated 18 nights per year.

Cruz was tough and canny—no surprise there. He went the full-Gingrich in his assault on CNBC's ridiculous moderators. He did a better job explaining Social Security reform than Chris Christie, even (which is no mean feat). And managed to look downright personable compared with John Harwood, whose incompetence was matched only by his unpleasantness. If you're a conservative voter looking for someone who is going to fight for your values, Cruz must have looked awfully attractive.

Then there was Trump. Over the last few weeks, Trump has gotten better on the stump. Well, don't look now, but he's getting better at debates, too. Trump was reasonably disciplined. He kept his agro to a medium-high level. And his situational awareness is getting keener, too. Note how he backed John Kasich into such a bad corner on Lehmann Brothers that he protested, "I was a banker, and I was proud of it!" When that's your answer, you've lost the exchange. Even at a Republican debate.

And Trump had a hammer close: "Our country doesn't win anymore. We used to win. We don't anymore." I remain convinced that this line (along with his hardliner on immigration) is the core of Trump's appeal. But he didn't just restate this theme in his closing argument. He used it to: (1) beat up CNBC; and (2) argue that his man-handling of these media twits is an example of what he'll do as president. It was brilliant political theater.

Those were your winners. You also saw tonight several campaigns which are over, even if the candidates don't know it yet. Kasich was less likable than Rand Paul. Rand Paul was mostly invisible, and petulant when he was visible. Mike Huckabee wasn't visible enough, except when he was doing his populist defense of Medicare and Social Security. But the effectiveness of this spot was diminished by Cruz's excellent response, which is what people are apt to remember. There just isn't enough space for him to make an impact by dint of personality in a field with a bunch of other strong and attractive personalities. And as for Bush? Jeb's dead, baby. Jeb's dead.

That leaves us with Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and Ben Carson, who, by the way, is actually leading the field in some polls.

Christie was as impressive tonight as he could be, given his position. He had a great opening. His interjection on regulating fantasy football was tremendous. The "Even in New Jersey what you're doing is called rude" line to Harwood just killed. If the establishment had jumped on Christie early, instead of being scared off by the GW bridge scandal and going for Bush . . . well, this race would probably be different. But they didn't. That said, we'll keep Christie in our final grouping because he's so talented that he's always going to have a puncher's chance.

Fiorina had a solid debate, but wasn't the run-away winner she'd been in the first two debates. If her numbers couldn't hold when she was the class of the field, I doubt they'll move much when she's merely on the high-side of the average. It looks more and more like Fiorina isn't running to win the nomination.

And what to do about Carson? Gentle Ben was fine—great in some moments; pedestrian in others. I don't think many people in the media fully grasp the passion for Carson, but that doesn't make it any less real. And if you look at the history of Iowa, and Carson's numbers now, it's not hard to imagine him doing very well there.

So there's your final six: Trump, Carson, Rubio, Cruz, and maybe—just maybe—Fiorina and Christie.

[dps]

I feel really bad about Jeb Bush

Why?

He is the anointed one, groomed to be the next US president. 

In many ways, that's reason enough to not support him. 

Same thing, on a different level, applies to Hillary.

[alfred russel]

Having watched none of the debates or campaign events, i wonder how much of jebs problems are really his fault. A moderatish conservative ex florida governor not prone to major gaffes and able to speak semi intelligently should be doing better against this field. At least better than rubio. It seems the "not another fucking bush" attitiude just seeps into everything, including media coverage, everytime he comes up, and that is tough to overcome.

[Savonarola]

Moderator: Trump, are you a comic book president?

Driven to villainy because of his baldness.