REPUBLICANS GET READY SET

THEN THERE WERE 2, AH, I MEAN 2+1 CANDIDATES

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley set off their political views in a bid for the Republican nomination for President in the 2024 Presidential Election.

The candidates were allowed 90 seconds to answer a question put to them by the moderators and then 60 seconds for the other candidates to respond. CNN allowed 15 seconds for clarifications.

The moderators of the Republican Presidential Primary Debate had to interrupt the candidates a few times when they began to speak over each other and fight over the ownership of the correct Republican answer to the question. Generally, though, the candidates were on their best behaviour and the debate was orderly and informative.

What seems like many Moons ago now, the debates with 6 or more candidates on the stage had very little value in terms of understanding the details behind the individual Republican policy stances.

Noticeably absent from the Republican debate circuit has been former President Donald Trump, despite being the front runner the entire primary campaign season with DeSantis and Haley becoming increasingly competitive picking up pollster points as the field of 8 or 9 or 10 candidates has gradually been reduced to 3, with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropping out the night before the debate, apparently after being body shamed on social media.

Trump created his own town hall appearance simultaneously broadcast on another network.

The Iowa caucuses take place on Monday with the first opportunity for the candidates’ fundraising teams to realize on the results of opinion polls that have been used to create interest in the race for news headlines and drive donations into political coffers.

Fundraising is everything in American politics with a 24/7 election cycle that takes only a brief reprieve now and then from the limelight between major elections for an opportunity to fuel up on Boston chowder and Irish whiskey, and perhaps Southern Grits and/or a Washington chili dog.

For everyone outside of America who do not get bombarded with political attack advertising, the nationally broadcast debates are the rare moments when the politicians surface from the displayed fanaticism in attack mode into a semblance of reasonableness, entirely manicured and scripted for mass public consumption.

A CNN poll had Nikky Haley within single digits of Trump, with DeSantis far behind with 5% when Christie was still in the race at 12%. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy came in at 8%. Ramaswamy did not qualify for the debate.

Participation in the CNN debate required the candidates to have had consistent 10% poll results, whereas other debates broadcast on other networks use overall fundraising totals as a qualification.

Washington Congressional committees are party driven with committee members having to meet fundraising quotas to keep their seats on the committees.

The ticker should really read Haley and then DeSantis as Haley has more of a national profile, having served in the Trump cabinet as the United Nations Ambassador, and has consistently led DeSantis in the polls. The political pundits at one point, not too long ago, had expected DeSantis to drop out as he had been bottoming out with single digit polling numbers, but to his credit, DeSantis is still very much in the thick of it now.

Wednesday night DeSantis had all the answers with Haley having to repeatedly call DeSantis a liar and a person not to be trusted by voters, ‘eventhough his answers were better than hers.’

Haley and DeSantis struggled to maintain the middle ground between Trump’s popularity and their need to reinforce a distinct political agenda from that of the populist policies that Trump promotes.

China was cast as an enemy state that has been let into the country and all aspects of the economy, and was now being put forefront as a target for expulsion. The candidates differed on who best could be trusted to protect American interests from the Chinese infiltration.

DeSantis at times came across as slightly flakey and more feminine than Haley who maintained a calm cool masculine appearance. Trump of course is a more complicated mish mash of masculine and feminine characteristics who is playing hard to get by boycotting the debate circuits as he struggles in the background with corporate liability claims, personal injury claims and being entangled in the January 6 Capitol Riot probe.

Trump ran, and continues to run, on the “Make America Great Again” slogan that uses China as click bait for America’s economic woes.

DeSantis seems to be particularly proud of reforming the education system in Florida as Governor, and he intends to eliminate the federal department of education if elected president. Education is a global issue, but Americans have their distinct vocabulary, such as ‘school choice’, which at first in a foreign ear sounds a lot like code for the term ‘historical revisionism’, but is instead a reference to parents and children having the opportunity to choose an educational program outside of the public school system.

DeSantis advocates the expansion of ‘school choice’ and beating the teachers’ union. Teachers are respected and disrespected in different jurisdictions. In America, schools are hornet nests with the most public image of that being the continuous possibility of a mass school shooting by a disgruntled former student.

Haley advocated for moral clarity as part of the choice not to vote for Trump. Haley remained calm and reflective while repeatedly calling DeSantis a liar and presenting herself as the more reasonable moral alternative to Trump.

DeSantis oscillated from asserting authority to take a position on the moral right to moments when he seemed to be about to break out into tears and begin crying a bit like Minnie Mouse, if he did not get the recognition he deserved. And Trump, especially on the other channel and in court this morning, seems a bit Goofy.

DeSantis of course created a national profile by taking on Disney and Mickey Mouse in Florida. DeSantis took away Disney’s financial advantages in the state where they had previously established a tax shelter and special enclave, just like the Pope at Vatican City in Rome, Italy.

Haley wants the electorate to send an accountant to Washington to clean up the financial waste and to make spending more efficient. Trump was blamed for accumulating trillions of dollars of government debt during his presidency.

At times, according to the candidates, Trump’s only mistake was that he did not go far enough and follow through with his ‘as advertised’ policies, such as building the Border Wall, draining the swamp of political corruption and waste, and kicking out China.

Haley wants to go after the covid fraudsters who got away with $1 of every $7 spent on covid financial relief.

Haley also wants the states to control the Federal Gas Tax revenue, about $40 billion during 2022, to pay for road and bridge repairs.

DeSantis advocates for a flat income tax involving no tax for a minimum income of $40,000 to $50,000.  This tax break to Americans will stimulate the economy, according to DeSantis.

Illegal immigration was a common platform for the candidates – which I am sure Trump was also advocating against in the Town Hall meeting next channel over, although I am not sure about that because you cannot watch two broadcasts at the same time and have the necessary level of clarity that can be shared publicly.

DeSantis criticized Trump for not completing the border wall with Mexico and not getting Mexico to pay for construction as he had promised over and over again for going on 8 years now.

The cost of illegal immigration was underscored with the example of California, which provides shelter, schooling as well as free medical services for illegal migrants. California of course needs the illegal migrant population on the farms to pick produce for consumption all over North America.

DeSantis often accused Haley of answering questions with ‘word salads’. Now, I am really confused.

Politically, Haley and DeSantis are to the left of Trump, although still very much right of center leaning politicians that agree on the need to address issues but who might also disagree on the details on how to affect change in Washington.

Essentially, Trump failed to fix certain problems, but Haley and DeSantis believe they are in the best position to finish the job properly.