Uneven Performances in Trump-less Republican Forum

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

Jeb Bush stumbled through a familiar question about his brother and father, struggling for the right words as he cracked a joke about duking it out with anyone who questioned the legacy of his aging dad.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey awkwardly said aloud what many have been wondering about his candidacy: “Am I washed up?”

...snip...

After weeks of preparing for a smash-mouth debate with Donald J. Trump, 14 Republican candidates found themselves instead Trump-less but sandwiched into a constricting format on Monday night, delivering strikingly uneven performances just days before the first big test of the presidential primary contest.

Rather than making the other contenders look more presidential, however, the event, at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., seemed to shrink the candidates. Assembled in the front row, the Republicans gawked as each rival took his or her turn on stage, looking at times as if they were being forced to sit through a tedious school assembly.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/us/politics/confrontation-is-avoided-in-forum-for-republican-presidential-candidates.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

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The gang at MORNING JOE thought Jeb did horribly on a question he had to know would come up.

[cosmicone]

1. I watched a part of it until nausea made me turn it off

It was 98% negativity and depressing

Hearing them talk about the state of the country and Obama made me feel like I was in some jungle in a third world country with a despotic uncaring ruler, fighting for basic survival.

[Sunlei]

4. depressing isn't it, there is never a positive outlook in many of those 'internet homes' for repubs.

[kimbutgar]

15. I felt the same way

I got sick of hearing lies and falsehoods. I had to finally turn it off because my voice was getting horse from yelling at the TV.

[Sunlei]

2. Republican party is wrong to try to exclude the top, most popular Republican from their media.

republican party ignores their own voters choice.

[thesquanderer]

6. Trump wasn't there by his own choice, according to the article. (n/t)

[Sunlei]

7. I know, some of his fellow republicans are disrespectful to him. Mr.Trump speaks for himself.

If I was Republican and cared about the Republican party main 'issues', I'd vote for 'The Donald'.

[onecent]

9. AMEN AMEN Suniei....

Hell I AM 70 YEARS OLD AND I HAVE NEVER EVER HAD SO MUCH FUN AS TO WATCH ALL THE MORON REPUBLICANS SHIT THEIR PANTS EVERY MORNING WHEN THEY STEP INTO THEM.

THE U>S> CONGRESS AS WE HAVE SEEN IT FOR 50 YEARS NEEDS A TRUMP AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED.

Maybe this will make people wake up and get their head out of their butts...smelling the wrong butt.

We may still end up being haves and have nots..but at least the guy says what other people wish they had the balls to
say....and I SURE AS HELL APPLAUD HIM FOR THAT...EVEN IF every little body doesn't like it.

I for one, find him refreshing...most of the time.

we americans kiss FAR TOO MANY ASSES....ENOUGH IS ENOUGH....
AT LEAST WE WILL GET TO LAUGH ON THE WAY OUT...

I DON'T SEE A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR EITHER SIDE, XCEPT FOR BERNIE...

WE NEEDED A TRUMAN IN THE 40'S .... MAYBE TRUMP is the man FOR 2016.
WHO KNOWS????? STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPEND...LIKE
THE CORRUPT government that won't allow a black man to do his job....
Obama was better than Romney...OUR CONGRESS SHOULD ALL BE FIRED ON THE SPOT.

I still say...BRING ALL THIS SHIT ON CUZ I LAUGH MORE NOW and this will take place of Jon Stewart for a bit.

flame me if you want...Bring it on....I'm not changing my mind regardless of what any of you think!!!!

[Sunlei]

10. I would never flame you.

You have an excellent attitude

Big hugs and many kisses for you.

[Jack Rabbit]

14. My bet is that the Donald didn't stay home because he's miffed

The best thing I can say about Trump is he has a great sense of staging. Of course, that doesn't qualify him to be president.

The gang of idiots was expecting the Donald to be there and acted like idiots without him. Apparently, they didn't know what to do without him. So the did what comes naturally to them and completely embarrassed themselves.

Trump may be an idiot, but he's an idiot with a personality, or, more importantly, a persona. He comes on and also does what come naturally to him -- he bullies everyone in sight. He's even better at it than Christie, but nobody suspects the Donald of closing lanes on the George Washington Bridge. Republican voters, with their twisted ideas about American exceptionalism, like bullies in the White House, so Trump appeals to them. He comes on stage and takes charge.

He'll show up at the debate. He won't miss it. After last night, the stage is set. Just imagine him on stage with those idiots who don't know how to act important like he does. He'll say the most outrageous things, but he'll stand up straight and tall and act assertive the whole time. He'll even bad mouth the lot of the "losers," and some of those losers will cow down.

[Sunlei]

16. you're right on the mark about Mr. Trump. I won't miss the R-fox debate, thank you Mr. Trump!

[PADemD]

24. Donald didn't stay home because he's miffed

No, he probably stayed home to watch the forum so he could study their weaknesses and know where to start. He'll be ready, no doubt.

[onecent]

29. Ooooooo I so cannot wait...Nice pots!!!!

[bigworld]

3. So many of the GOP candidates surround themselves with yes-men

and they seem to fall apart when challenged.

[Sunlei]

5. they even have make up artists and people who press their clothes for them. We saw

what happened when there was some emergency and president Obama and Romney jumped on TV early one am to talk about the emergency.

President Obama can dress himself and always looks neat. Romney looked like someone woke him to early, the servants to dress him weren't there yet. His face all sleep puffie with tired 'up to late'eyes and his suit was rumpled and his tie wasn't even.

[maddiemom]

17. Oh, be fair to Mittens!

How could you miss that video where he's ironing his own shirt cuff-----while it's on his arm?

[Sunlei]

22. that has to be a fib!

Mitt Romney would never do womans work, the religious papers say so!

[Fritz Walter]

25. But he was wearing his Temple Garments!

I'm guessing -- no first-hand knowledge.

Isn't that required of all Mormons?

[onecent]

30. Ii have a very good friend who wears them. i about fainted...when she spent the night and I saw the

while she was getting ready for bed..

You EARN them from what I understand...for going on what they call a Missionary Mission or something...

I believe that is like knocking on doors in another state. Iswear..I love her but we don't
discuss religion...welll we do..she tries quarterly to get me to come and listen to the 'speaker"...blah blah...hah
good luck
and We laugh..she knows my view come NO WHERE CLOSE to the Bible or to the mormon faith..

[Plucketeer]

8. Totally implausible of course

but the best thing the GOP could do would be to stand up Fox - en masse - on Thursday night. Of course, they don't have the courage to do that.

[erronis]

21. Nice idea! But where would they go to read their scripts?

Oh, yeah. The rest of the M$M.

[KansDem]

11. self-deleted

Posted in the wrong thread...

[Brother Buzz]

12. I may be an idiot, but I thought Carly Fiorina was the most articulate of the lousy lot

She's totally on track to be Jeb's VP tap.

Was Rick Perry self-medicating himself again? Odd duck.

[dembotoz]

27. her intro made it sound like she was a huge success at hp

i should get her writer to work on my resume....

[Brother Buzz]

28. The men behind the curtain are being compensated handsomely

She's actually exceeding their expectations. Their real concern is Jeb. The BFEE rolled out the new and improved machine and completed beta testing with Jeb, but he is stalled in the starting gates.

[underpants]

13. It was a damn shame when they took turns kicking a replica of Tiger

Tiger, BTW, was the Brady family dog. It died between seasons (hit by car) and the fill in dog didn't work out. They left the dog house in the backyard because it covered up a burn in the AstroTurf grass caused by a light that fell.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. Poor babies...

They need more practice being assholes to each other.

[stuffmatters]

19. Definite Pagant, altreality quality, especially the creepy voice over hyping intros

I guess the moderator is a die hard Repub radio host...with Fox vitriol (anti planned parenthood, Obama, Iran deal, Hillary) presented as fact. Everything "wrong" in the US is because Obama's & Hillary (and they even got punches in against Jimmy Carter) That was the message Not one indication of how to improve anything just the usual, proven destructive, economically illiterate old cliches from flat tax,cutting corporate taxes and regs to buying insurance across state lines.

And magically, all these Rep governors touted the economic success their administration had brought to their state. This is where any honest debate with these truth manglers needs to start.

[FSogol]

20. Did I miss an episode of "America's Top Asshole"?

Did anyone get voted off the island?

[Attorney in Texas]

23. related: ‘You saying I’m washed up?’ and other memorable lines from Monday’s GOP candidate forum

Source: Washington Post

"You saying I'm washed up?" --- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

The moderator asked Christie if his time to seriously compete for the Republican nomination has come and gone. Christie, of course, has fallen dramatically in the White House sweepstakes ever since the "Bridgegate" scandal of 2013.
...
Bush awkwardly made his way through a joke meant to lighten the mood after a question about how he has to distinguish himself from his brother and father, both former presidents. (It's a question he has faced many times before.) Bush's unsteady performance Monday's wasn't his best, but it wasn't his worst either. The quick hit format didn't help.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/04/you-saying-im-washed-up-and-other-memorable-lines-from-mondays-gop-candidate-forum/

[Fritz Walter]

26. Bullying United States Heartlessly

John Ellis BUSH jokes about "duking it out" with anyone who questions the legacy of BUSH 41. Isn't that pretty much a characteristic of bullying behavior?

It is, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, Bullying is defined as "unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose." Some school aged children's behavior never change.

Not that it's out of character for anyone in that blood-line. BUSH 41 tried to bully Sadam Hussein during his term, and sent hundreds of US and allied service members -- along with 20,000 - 35,000 civilians -- to die in a middle eastern desert, over a conflict that could have been prevented or resolved diplomatically. (And let's not even bring up other misdeeds from his past).

BUSH 43: "Bring them on!" 'Nuff said.

There's a pattern here, and it's not a pretty one. The last thing we need is another bully in the White House!