Kristol on last night's debate / the GOP field: "Yikes" - An email: "WE SOUND LIKE CRAZY PEOPLE!!!!"

[jefferson_dem]

Special Editorial: Yikes

William Kristol

September 23, 2011 9:22 AM

THE WEEKLY STANDARD’s official reaction to last night’s Republican presidential debate: Yikes.

Reading the reactions of thoughtful commentators after the stage emptied, talking with conservative policy types and GOP political operatives later last evening and this morning, we know we’re not alone. Most won’t express publicly just how horrified—or at least how demoralized—they are. After all, they still want to beat Obama—as do we. And they want to get along with the possible nominee and the other candidates and their supporters. They don’t want to rock the boat too much. But maybe the GOP presidential boat needs rocking.

The e-mails flooding into our inbox during the evening were less guarded. Early on, we received this missive from a bright young conservative: “I'm watching my first GOP debate...and WE SOUND LIKE CRAZY PEOPLE!!!!” As the evening went on, the craziness receded, and the demoralized comments we received stressed the mediocrity of the field rather than its wackiness. As one more experienced, and therefore more jaded, observer wrote: “I just thought maybe it’s always this bad...they’re only marginally worse than McCain and Bush.”

Now there are some legitimate excuses. With nine candidates on the stage, and answers restricted to one minute, it’s hard to really show your stuff. And two of the candidates—Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney—did provide respectable performances. But no frontrunner in a presidential field has ever, we imagine, had as weak a showing as Rick Perry. It was close to a disqualifying two hours for him. And Mitt Romney remains, when all is said and done, a technocratic management consultant whose one term as governor produced Romneycare. He could rise to the occasion as president. Or not.

But in a week in which markets collapsed, Solyndra exploded, our Middle East policy was in meltdown, the Iranian nuclear threat became more urgent, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff fingered our “ally” Pakistan as a sponsor of terror against American forces in Afghanistan—none of the candidates really seemed up to the moment, either politically or substantively. In the midst of a crisis, we’re getting politics as usual—and a somewhat subpar version of politics as usual at that.

<SNIP>

But, we do ask (again!), with a month left before filing deadlines: Is that all there is?

<SNIP>

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/special-editorial-yikes_594095.html

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Some gems in that analysis - Santorum had a respectable performance?

And love the "with only a minute, it's hard to show your stuff" (is there a joke in there or what!)

Any longer than a minute and the crazy would just keep coming and coming. Short sound bites are the only hope of an illusion of any capability or sanity at all for this bunch!

Only in bizarro world.....

[yardwork]

34. Yeah, I noticed that they liked Santorum. Good. Maybe he'll be their nominee.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "D'oh." - American Citizens

"Holy Shit. It took the RepubliWankers till now to figure that out?"

- American Citizens

[Vogon_Glory]

3. WE SOUND LIKE CRAZY PEOPLE

Perceptive young man. Maybe, just maybe, there's a thin sliver of hope for this fellow (Though I won't hold my breath).

BUT if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck, maybe it IS a duck.

[OwnedByFerrets]

4. If it SOUNDS like a duck, its probably a DUCK. You ARE crazy people.

[my2sense]

5. K & R

[rfranklin]

6. Funny when the loonies are surprised by the crazies...

Bill, that's what we thought all along.

[samsingh]

27. well put

[tblue]

7. He's freaked out because of how it looks.

All the GOP really wants is an easily led puppet a la W and Reagan. Just about any of the cuurent bunch would do IF they could get elected.

But if Kristol and the like are squirming. Good!

[WhiteTara]

8. They sound crazy because they are! n/t

[butterfly77]

9. Sound like...

They all are insane!

[jberryhill]

10. "But maybe the GOP presidential boat needs rocking"

When the GOP presidential boat starts a'rockin', don't come a'knockin'.

WTF is the "GOP presidential boat"?

[jberryhill]

11. Right! Now.. Second word.... two syllables....

[butterfly77]

12. Time to step up now...

Christie or will they go back and get Mitch Daniels whoever they get they are all fruitcakes and don't know a damn thing about who or what is really in America..

[Nedsdag]

13. "Sound like crazy people?"

YOU ARE CRAZY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[denverbill]

14. The comments about Perry at FR this AM are hilareous.

They were starting to all get on the Perry bandwagon but it's like they all collectively bit into a apple with a worm in it.

[Vogon_Glory]

29. And I bet it's not the worm at the bottom of a tequila bottlr,either!

[Vogon_Glory]

30. And I bet it's not the worm at the bottom of a tequila bottle,either! n/t

[Laura PourMeADrink]

15. I am very surprised he would post this! It is EXACTLY the same as

some of us trashing Obama. Why would you want everyone to read that your
candidates are flawed?

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. Republicans' stragegy is to capitalize on the backlash vote against Obama.

[PearliePoo2]

17. They are tearing their hair out (or what's left of it)

Morning Joe show was speculating of a Christie candidacy.
They are desperate.
I love the sight and sound of ReThugs squirming in the morning.

[beac]

18. This from the man who thought Sarah Palin would make a great VP.

:eyes:

[Voice for Peace]

23. but.. Chris Christie, the beast slouching toward Bethlehem?

"
A third e-mailer Thursday evening, watching the debate, was reminded of Yeats’s “The Second Coming:”

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

There’s some truth to that. But I can’t help wondering if, in the same poem, Yeats didn’t suggest the remedy:

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Sounds like Chris Christie.
"

this is just.. bizarre.

[PATRICK]

19. Whoopy-doo doo drama

A circus where only the clowns showed up. And the media still thinks it has to be high drama. No serious contender(2016 odds) has arisen. Those allowed by rich donors or awarded for their toolishness with a chance and an ego trip or for being a puppet stuffed with money like Romney or desperate egos like Perry and Santorum...they can all be easily rolled up into critical self-imploding mass to toss this entire "serious" process into the wastebasket. Late filers? Less exposure and name recognition? No problem. IF Obama is vulnerable OR having a no GOP place mat sturdy enough for a vote rigging bleeding of the Dems survives the media would welcome a "change", a dark horse. All the enthusiasts would be swept up, bargained with or blackmailed anytime they wanted after the implosion that could easily occur.

As in a nuclear reaction, such a fusion has to swallow the entire group fairly simultaneously with no favorite emerging. The whole thing seems designed to destroy the Teabaggers and outliers and bleed off any rogue money that would indicate internecine plutocrat competition. Romney is your typical big time loser, maybe not the perfect puppet, maybe someone they don't want in there for eight stifling years of GOP ineffective doldrums dwindling the noisy goof factor. They'd have to rig it a lot not to suffer a Bob Dole landslide but as long as the WH gives them big political breaks and a bad economy the result will be satisfying comeback for a guilty party destitute of any value whatsoever to the nation and its people.

[frazzled]

20. Glad to see how demoralized and divided they are

I thought it was just Democrats.

I feel far more optimistic.

[elocs]

21. Craziness has nothing to do with one of these people potentially being elected president.

If the economy is still like this next year, the stock market goes into the crapper a week before the election, and enough Democrats get in a snit and decide to stay home and not vote we may all be in for a rude awakening.

[MoonRiver]

22. Hey Kristol, that's because you ARE crazy people. nt

[totodeinhere]

24. I don't give much credence to William Kristol whose main goal is to defeat Barack Obama and other

Democrats.

[bklyncowgirl]

25. I thought they sounded like a Saturday Night Live sketch myself.

Each of the candidates looked and sounded like someone doing an impersonation of themselves. For each question I found myself making up the craziest response only to be topped by the candidates themselves. Rick Perry looked, frankly, like an idiot at times. I think even the most besotted Republican would have to see that Barack Obama would wipe the stage with him in a one on one match. Romney looked stronger but still it's hard to see how the Christian conservative base goes for a Mormon with a decidedly moderate governing record.

[harun]

26. They are crazy people.

[msanthrope]

28. "Walk like a duck, quack like a duck..." nt

[handmade34]

31. one Republican comments...

"The Party leadership is acting like a combination of Knuckleheads, Nuts, Robots and Cowards..."

[GoCubsGo]

33. As an earlier poster stated...

If it quacks like a duck...

It's kind of difficult for the party leadership to NOT act like knuckleheads, nuts, robots and cowards, when the entire party is made up of knuckleheads, nuts, robots and cowards.

[arikara]

32. Maybe they should get Ted Nugent to run

:)