THE FIRST GOP DEBATE SHOWS THEY DIDN’T LEARN FROM THE 2012 ELECTION

…#1 & #2  in the National Polls, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush

 

The 2012 RNC “Autopsy” is being shelved for 2016.

 

Well, we got to see “The Donald” and Company in the first GOP /FOX debate, and I have to say it was quite entertaining.

But to put things in perspective, we need to look back to just after the last presidential election. You may remember the following:

“To win future presidential elections, Republicans would need to be more inclusive of women, more tolerant on gay rights to gain favor with young voters, support comprehensive immigration reform to appeal to Latinos, and stand strong against “corporate malfeasance.”

Sound familiar?

Well, those were the final results of the now infamous Republican National Committee “Autopsy” of the 2012 election presented to the public by the RNC Chairman, Reince Priebus.

But the real truth is, as the RNC Chair, Reince Priebus has zero control over what the GOP candidates do or say. Every effort he has made to bring order and honor, as well as women and younger, non-white voters to the Republican party has either failed or backfired.  And it all started with this famous “Autopsy” of the terrible 2012 presidential campaign.

But to show the party not only hasn’t gotten the “Autopsy” memo, for hours we watched 17 Republican candidates that opposed abortion even in cases of rape or incest or to save a mother’s life. 

 

One candidate even compared the Supreme Court decision supporting same-sex marriage to the supporting of slavery; and everyone including Trump, was talking about building taller border walls while denying immigrants a path to citizenship.  And let’s not forget that all 17 candidates want to de-fund Planned Parenthood.

The big winner in the “Happy Hour Forum” of the seven candidates that didn’t make the main event was the former H-P CEO, Carly Fiorina.  She made a very big impression by commenting that she didn’t get a call from Bill Clinton before the debate, as did Donald Trump, and she finished her comments by calling Hillary Clinton a liar three times.

The Donald as expected, when asked out of the gate about his stated proof that the Mexican government was sending the worst of the worst across the border, he again failed to provide that proof.

 

When Trump was challenged saying that he had declared bankruptcy four separate times, The Donald was quick on his feet in answering that he personally had never declared bankruptcy, (but his companies did).  He also made it clear that even though his companies' most recent bankruptcy caused his lenders to lose $1 billion and 1,100 people to lose jobs, Trump stated, “All the greatest people in business use the bankruptcy law to their legal advantage.”  In that, Trump was being bluntly truth.

 

 

The tone for the debate was set when Megyn Kelly of Fox News noted that Trump had called women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.” The audience went ballistic with laughter when he interrupted with, “Only Rosie O’Donnell.”  Kelly then responded with, “For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O’Donnell, your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees.”  Trump then just shook his head acknowledging that she was correct.

Others that got some attention were Mike Huckabee, Scott Walker, Dr. Ben Carson, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum from the Happy Hour Forum.  I was surprised that the candidate running second to Donald Trump, former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, was almost non-existent in saying anything that caught anyone’s attention.

However, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee suggested that he would defy the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision and block abortions using the military if necessary.  That got some attention.

The current Wisconsin Governor Scott walker was asked, why he objected to a provision in an abortion law he signed that made an exception for the mother’s life. “Would you really let a mother die rather than have an abortion?” Megyn Kelly asked, noting that 83% of Americans feel otherwise.  Walker replied that “there are many other alternatives that can also protect the life of that mother.”   Of course, no alternatives were suggested.

Dr. Ben Carson got applause for alleging that Hillary Clinton is “trying to destroy this country.”  The doctor however did not state exactly what he meant by his statement.

The Florida Senator Marco Rubio and the Ohio home-state governor, John Kasich, were very well received and well respected. Both seriously looked and sounded as having a real presidential demeanor and most of their answers were in that same vein.  These bear close watching.

Before the main event, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania had stated that the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling was not “settled law any more than Dred Scott was settled law to Abraham Lincoln.”  So, he’s equating the decision on legalizing same-sex marriage with the decision of legalizing slavery?  Whoa there.

What was interesting about the Trump issue is that as is usual, Fox assembled a large group of 30-40 volunteers and asked before the debate who they supported.  In this case, about half of the group said they liked Donald Trump, especially because he wasn’t a politician.

After the debate, they asked the group again as to "who had liked The Donald " before the debate, and one half of the group again raised their hands.  When asked again after the debate, only a few viewers raised their hands.  When asked how many no longer liked The Donald, 3/4 of the group raised their hands. 

When asked why the group had changed their minds, one volunteer said, “I liked Trump because he said what he felt and he wasn’t a politician.  But tonight, he avoided answering questions directly better that any politician.”

It will be interesting to see how the debate will affects his poll ratings going forward.

One Republican debate down, too many to go……

Copyright  G.Ater  2015