I watched the first half, begrudgingly.

Just 7 politicians reciting talking points and Vivek talking like a real human being.

Kick those phony DC losers to the curb and give me my Trump/Ramaswamy ticket.

(08-24-2023 08:34 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  Haley is competent, but is simply on the wrong side of too many big issues for the GOP electorate.

I think the GOP is going to find that they are going to get crushed on the suburban woman vote if they don't adjust to her view on abortion. They'll lose the general election because of that. The Democrats will make the whole election about it.

I also think the raising of hands to cut social security benefits will hurt the party as a whole, especially with those who are retired or close to retiring. The Democrats will attack the entire GOP on that.

Would rather never win an election again if it means caving on issues. It's not about winning, it's not about team, it's about what you think is best. If you want to purge us from the Party just so you can have someone w/ an R in office b/c it makes you feel better they don't have a D next to their name, who votes in lockstep w/ the D's, go ahead.

& it's not about abortion tho they will spin it to make you think it is. Examples: careers that tend to attract women tend to have been tied to the Democrats for decades: nursing, teaching. Single moms struggling financially. The whole Democrat platform is attractive to women.

People are right: the Republicans are the Democrats just a few years behind.

(08-24-2023 10:26 AM)mlb Wrote:  

(08-24-2023 08:34 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  Haley is competent, but is simply on the wrong side of too many big issues for the GOP electorate.

I think the GOP is going to find that they are going to get crushed on the suburban woman vote if they don't adjust to her view on abortion. They'll lose the general election because of that. The Democrats will make the whole election about it.

I also think the raising of hands to cut social security benefits will hurt the party as a whole, especially with those who are retired or close to retiring. The Democrats will attack the entire GOP on that.

Suburban women moving left has little to do with abortion (that crew has always voted democrat) and a lot to do with Donald Trump. They hate him. George W Bush was anti-abortion and did fine with the suburbs.

(08-24-2023 10:38 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Would rather never win an election again if it means caving on issues. It's not about winning, it's not about team, it's about what you think is best. If you want to purge us from the Party just so you can have someone w/ an R in office b/c it makes you feel better they don't have a D next to their name, who votes in lockstep w/ the D's, go ahead.

& it's not about abortion tho they will spin it to make you think it is. Examples: careers that tend to attract women tend to have been tied to the Democrats for decades: nursing, teaching. Single moms struggling financially. The whole Democrat platform is attractive to women.

People are right: the Republicans are the Democrats just a few years behind.

Yeah, didn't even think of the marriage numbers and the birthrate crisis. Even Trump didn't do that horrible with married moms.

When asked about abortion did any of the 8 say that the Feds have no business in it?

(08-24-2023 10:38 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  Would rather never win an election again if it means caving on issues. It's not about winning, it's not about team, it's about what you think is best. If you want to purge us from the Party just so you can have someone w/ an R in office b/c it makes you feel better they don't have a D next to their name, who votes in lockstep w/ the D's, go ahead.

& it's not about abortion tho they will spin it to make you think it is. Examples: careers that tend to attract women tend to have been tied to the Democrats for decades: nursing, teaching. Single moms struggling financially. The whole Democrat platform is attractive to women.

People are right: the Republicans are the Democrats just a few years behind.

While I get your point, the reality of politics is incrementalism works. Losing election after election has real world consequences. If you really believe abortion is murder, then another decade of democrat administrations means abortion (murder) becomes easier and more common---not less so. However, winning---even if its by a candidate that simply believes abortion should be rare and only within very limited parameters--but not necessarily illegal---means less of what you find abhorrent. In other words, perhaps we should not be so quick to make "better" the enemy of "perfect".

That said, Republicans have won a great victory by getting this battle moved to individual states. Its always been my contention that getting the battle moved to the states was about the best we were ever going to get out of our national leaders regardless of who we elect because of real world realities of the constitutional republic we live in and the fact in this 50-50 blue/red nation----there are places where Republicans are simply never going to win.

Whoever convinced Trump to not be involved in this debate deserves a promotion. He can only hurt himself doing any of the primary debates.

(08-24-2023 11:08 AM)bobdizole Wrote:  Whoever convinced Trump to not be involved in this debate deserves a promotion. He can only hurt himself doing any of the primary debates.

HE can't hurt or help himself. He's a known commodity. No pro Trump person is going to change their mind. No never trumper is going to change their mind. That's why we all know he will win the nomination and then lose the election.

He's already toast in 24'.

He didn't attend the debate because he's getting ready to be booked on another charge today.

That's already 4. lol. People are actually excited about his candidacy.

I watched the Tucker-Trump interview. Trump said a couple of things that were new to me, so there's that.

After that stream ended I watched Crowder's live debate reaction. Which means the FOX feed was on his video picture-in-picture. At times the audio was clear, other times they cut the audio while they made comments about something that just happened.

But here's what I took away from the FOX feed...


I can't help but wonder why everyone complains about Trump not being presidential. What I saw on that stage didn't resemble anything close to presidential -- and Trump wasn't included in that.

To me, the debate was more of an embarrassment for the RNC on the national stage.

And I think Trump did himself a favor by skipping the debate and thus preventing the possibility that he would give additional ammunition to his haters.

And then I recall the 2020 campaign and debates.

Remember Biden* threatening to take Trump out behind the garage? That wasn't very presidential.

All the weird stuff like cornpop and kids rubbing his legs... not very presidential.

(08-24-2023 11:34 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  He's already toast in 24'.

He didn't attend the debate because he's getting ready to be booked on another charge today.

That's already 4. lol. People are actually excited about his candidacy.

7 years of harassment and nothing's stuck yet.

Don't know why anyone thinks any of this will stick.

It doesn't have to stick. He's an idiot who puts himself in stupid situations out of habit.

His mugshots will be on every ad next year.

Might as well just write in a candidate when you vote. Would have about the same odds of success.

(08-24-2023 11:47 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  It doesn't have to stick. He's an idiot who puts himself in stupid situations out of habit.

His mugshots will be on every ad next year.

Might as well just write in a candidate when you vote. Would have about the same odds of success.

I could care less. Everyone knows these charges are whipped up fantasy designed to interfere with the 2024 election process. Nobody on that stage last night is going to break 20% of the vote after that performance. The best performer last night was Ramswamy---and he's going to be getting all his increased share from the other candidates on the stage----not the Trump voters who now know their candidate is all we got.

He's going to Bob Dole this election cycle.

Top Democrats Lash Out at GOP Candidates Following First Presidential Debate

Quote:Several prominent Democrats took to social media to voice their opinions about Wednesday’s GOP debate while the eight candidates were speaking.

No one is trying to allow abortions right up to birth,” former Democrat congressman Al Franken posted to his X account. “You a–hole, DeSantis”

“Sorry. I meant “you jerk,” he seemed to correct the offensive adjective in his original post.

The comedian-turned-congressman reverted to form by trying to be funny with another follow-up tweet.

“No, “a–hole” was right,” Franken concluded his thread.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) addressed her base like they are not very bright people

“Democrats delivered 13.4 million jobs, rescuing our economy by growing the middle class,” Rep. Pelosi said in a post to her X.

“But everyone at the #GOPdebate wants to harm working families sitting at their kitchen tables,” she continued, “to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy sitting at their boardroom tables. Not on our watch!”

First, her numbers make no sense. According to data supplied by the U.S. Department of Labor, there were 140,886,310 in May 2021, soon after President Joe Biden’s Inauguration.

DOL data shows there were 147,886,000 employed people nationwide, in May 2022. The agency does not provide May 2023 data on its website yet, for some reason.

It appears, though, that Pelosi exaggerated the number of jobs “delivered” during the Biden administration. Maybe she meant “delivery” jobs?

It is also disingenuous for the California multimillionaire to empathize with working families. She claims Republicans are taxing working families to subsidize “the wealthy sitting at their boardroom tables.”

Maybe the ultra-wealthy Democrat was sitting at the kitchen table of her $20 million San Francisco mansion while firing off tweets about standing up for the little guy.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich commented on the Republican candidates’ concerns about national debt.

He claimed in an X post that, “Republicans happily added $8 trillion to the national debt under Trump, about a quarter of that resulting from tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations.”

The tweetstorm from nationally prominent Democrats apparently emboldened relatively unknown party members to pile on during the debate. A Texas Democrat blasted GOP candidates about border security.

“The Republicans cheering for war with Mexico are taking the United States down a dark, dangerous path,” declared Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX).

The Texas Democrat makes no mention about his party’s support for war in Ukraine, though.

The Reason Everyone Is Piling on Vivek Ramaswamy


BREAKING: Vivek stands up against establishment Republicans during RNC debate, vows to support Trump, end funding for Ukraine war


Chris Christie Thinks Trump Being Targeted By The Deep State Is ‘Beneath The Office Of President’


Hand-Wringing Reactions Offer a Clue as to How Ron DeSantis Did at the Debate


Trump Claims Debate Victory, and He Has Some Incredible Numbers to Support the Claim


Let's Talk About the GOP Debate and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum

(08-24-2023 11:41 AM)umbluegray Wrote:  I can't help but wonder why everyone complains about Trump not being presidential. What I saw on that stage didn't resemble anything close to presidential -- and Trump wasn't included in that.

No question, Donald Trump is miles away from being "presidential".

What I am having a hard time getting my head around from your post is whether you think that this shortcoming is the ONLY concern that you think people have with Donald Trump. Am I misunderstanding you?

For most of us, it doesn't even hit the top ten.

GOP Debate and Abortion: Despite Mixed Responses, a Culture of Life Should Be the Goal


Vivek Gets Rocked - and Clocked - at First GOP Presidential Debate

- A lot of people had issue with the constant arguing/talking over/talking too long etc. This is a direct response to how Trump holds debates. His suck all the oxygen out of the room and don't let anyone else speak strategy. The more people that follow it the worse it gets for everyone.

-Vivek has flip flopped hard on several issues. Less than a year ago he was climate change is real, but government is not the solution. Now he is it's fake and I think it was a political flop not because his feelings on it changed. The bigger issue to me is he got challenged on his criticisms of Trump in his book. Which are in there. He then lied about it. I like Matt Gaetz he's an unabashed Trump supporter. Still support him as a candidate. The issue isn't his sudden hard support of Trump. The issue is the flip flop about his support and then lying about it saying he never said anything criticizing Trump when he has. I don't like liars. Also Vivek should take note of when the crowd booing him. It was when he attacked other candidates. All the candidates should really take note of that.

-Vivek also flipped his personality. He calmly debates the craziest of lefties, but is now going to hard after other republicans and soft on crazed lefties? Not a good strategy. Trump already has those voters locked up. And if he is going after a position in Trump's admin. Once again disturbing as he has repeatedly and emphatically said he would not be accepting positions in anyone's admin. I don't like liars.

-Nikki did well. Though I don't think she has a chance and she's too close to the center for me being for expanded government in many areas.

-Trump was smart to avoid the debate. As always his approval numbers get hire when people aren't hearing as much personally from him. His mouth gets in his own way a lot.