Governors Grasping in the Granite State- the New Hampshire GOP Debate

In the final debate before the nation’s first primary election, three of the nation’s current and former governors- Jeb Bush of Florida, Chris Christie of New Jersey, John Kasich of Ohio, grasped onto their respectively tenuous footings in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. In a seemingly coordinated effort, each of these governors set his sights on taking down a distinct and different one, of the front-runners, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

First of all, it was Chris Christie pursuing an aggressive line of attack against Marco Rubio, essentially lambasting the Florida senator on his three vulnerabilities: lack of legislative accomplishments and attendance in the U. S Senate, lack of depth in his own political posturing beyond what Christie claimed were “twenty-five second soundbites,” and Rubio’s infamous abandonment of the “gang of eight” immigration reform bill, which Rubio had initiated with Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Christie was extremely effective at shaking up the junior senator from the Sunshine State, and pushed Rubio into a four-time repetition of the same, and almost identically-worded statements, regarding whether or not Barack Obama knows exactly what he is doing, in his overall failings of domestic and foreign policy. Rubio’s repeated phrasing seemed to prove Christie’s charges of programmed soundbites, replacing substantive stances by Rubio.

Secondly, as has often been the case, it was Jeb Bush aiming his slings and arrows at Donald Trump, taking aim at “the Donald’s” stand on eminent domain- oddly enough because, by and large, the concept of eminent domain is primarily a local and state issue, where private property interests come into conflict with municipal and statewide interests, based upon a vague concept of “the public good.” Bush seemed to get the better of Trump, but only just slightly, as the line of attack about eminent domain was far from the top of the policy issues of 2016.

Lastly, and much more subtly, it was John Kasich who contrasted his approach to conservatism against the conservatism of Ted Cruz. Kasich, a champion of “compassionate conservatism” preaching the virtues of leaving no one behind, including those on the street, portrayed a type of conservatism that seemed in bold contrast to the “dyed-in-the-wool” conservatism that is the sine qua non of Ted Cruz’s candidacy.

For his own part, Senator Cruz initially fumbled on a question as to whether or not he would reinstitute advance interrogation techniques, such as water-boarding, giving first, a “have it both ways” jumbled response on the issue, and then framing the issue in a lawyerly (as opposed to a politically) manner. In doing so, he left the door wide open for Donald Trump to seize the moment and stress that, when dealing with an enemy who would employ medieval tactics including the beheading of innocents, in this day and age, he would advocate even more stringent means of interrogation.

Cruz also took the heat from Dr. Ben Carson, concerning the way Cruz’s operatives used a bogus report from CNN that suggested that Carson had ended his campaign during the initial hours of the Iowa caucus, in an effort to persuade Carson’s delegates to support Cruz. In doing so, Carson elicited yet another apology from Cruz, which seemed too little, too late.

Overall, the debate was clumsily managed at the outset, with the introduction of each of the contestants completely out of sync with their respective stage entrances, and even Martha Raddatz began the questioning, only to stop herself when she was informed by Christie that John Kasich hadn’t yet entered the stage.

While it is still uncertain, as to whether or not the debate had a substantial effect upon Tuesdays voting in New Hampshire, what remains certain is the fact that there are, in reality, only four Republican tickets out of New Hampshire and into the South Carolina, Nevada and Super Tuesday contests. While Trump and Cruz have their “reservations” confirmed, and Rubio’s all but certain, the fourth ticket may well depend on money rather than standing, in the final analysis, giving a slight edge to Jeb Bush. Essentially, if any of the governors fail to win, place or show in New Hampshire, they are all “done,” leaving the fourth ticket to Dr. Carson.

Fairly or unfairly, Carly Fiorina’s exclusion from the debate will have effectively ended her pursuit of the nomination- that is unless the former CEO of Hewlett Packard can somehow pull off a miracle in an increasingly malicious milieu, where such miracles may prove to be impossible, at long last.

-Drew Nickell, 7 February 2016

© 2016 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.