ok. they managed to be pretty civil to each other, despite trump's and kasich's initial outbursts, by focusing on the panelists. cnbc came off extraordinarily badly. i'm not sure how well carson will wear, despite his beatific thang. he's woolly at best. fiorina is always sharp, but i don't think she's going to go that far; her record doesn't sustain her presence. bush might not make it to iowa. rand did fine; he might be able to live off the land for a little while like his dad; we'll see how this filibuster thing goes.
10:18 trump's closer was great on how he and carson got the debate cut down to 2 hours, thank god. i'll tell you who lost this debate: john hargrove, who was peevish, defensive, and miserable.
9:55 bush is a non-entity.
9:54 it is sort of ridiculous how little airtime paul's getting. he did ok on medicare though.
9:47 republicans agree with democrats that we should take immigrants based on their skills and ability to contribute and education etc. all this means is that we only want the most privileged people. it is a consensus and will be ever-more systematic policy. how about this: one criterion is the degree of suffering or deprivation that you've experienced or that we've imposed (in our internment camps, e.g., or in disastrous wars we set in motion).
9:33 republican populism, where they start talking anti-wall-street, income inequality, and ceo pay, could be viable. i'm not sure that huckabee or santorum can quite carry it through this election.
9:27 the questions are really gratuitously hostile and nitpicking. you said this about him, etc. trump has taken to just saying 'no i didn't.' cnbc better watch it; they'll be killed on fox and talk radio for the next two weeks.
9:18 carson: "the pc culture is destroying this nation." well...irritating it, certainly. or me, at least. perhaps not our very worst prob, though, even on my account.
9:12 kasich has some pretty intense facial tics, clumsy mannerisms, rheumy eyes, etc.
9:09 carly has some 'squishy totalitarianism" on board: big government consolidates power in every dimension, especially economic.
9:06 on an earlier exchange; rubio kind of crushed jeb on the idea that rubio missing votes is a probem "someone told you that you should say that; you're only saying that because we're running for the same office." only too true.
9:03 carson unresponsive on drug profiteering. i don't know that he has any real policy moves.
8:59 mets 0 royals 0; wizards 65 magic 69; spurs 49 thunder 45.
8:53 gonna be honest, though, rubio is the only one i can really picture as president. well, perhaps christie. that's not a matter of whom i like. but eg paul just doesn't eyeball like a commander in chief, sadly.
8:49 paul: "right and left are spending us into oblivion." i'm going to go for 'light and reft' from now on.
8:46 cruz is pretty chubby. pretty nice killing the cnbc panel though; kinda of a virtuoso performance. they have been quite trying to embarrass the candidates and set them against each other. the panel is trying to make news. they're envious of megyn kelly.
8:41 there just are too many people on the stage: rand and huckabee have not even participated.
8:31 trump's attacks, this time on kasich, just lurch into straightforward verbal abuse. kasich was bellowing, though. he has definitely been appointed attack dog on trump and carson, but i don't think he's a nominee.
8:27 hargrove to trump: "is this a comic book presidential campaign?" seems rather gratuitous. trump slaps back just fine of course.
8:25 but some of these people are better than they need to be: fiorina and christie, for example. oops rand's going to start a filibuster tomorrow on the debt.
8:20 awful lot of good sports on though. how many times will i listen to the idea that our greatest days are ahead?
6:19 but these four are extremely unprepossessing; santorum is the only one among them who makes a plausible presidential candidate. graham's war-mongering takes on the aspect of obsession; it's what he says in response to every question. what do i have to do to be rid of bobby jindal? oh wait: switch the channel.
yeah i'll be blogging the debate(s) tonight. may glance at the first one but will def take on the 8pm round.
