Today's Main Event - The Second Republican Debate

Attention is focused on the main Event, the debate between the ten top polling Republican candidates. The main question is what will the Donald do? Will he be negative or positive? Will his thin skin emerge? Why is the media still letting him suck the oxygen out of the Republican race? Donald trump is currently a bright comet speaking truth to power, but he will fade, like all comets. Voters, when it comes time to vote, cannot see him as the next President. They are currently sending a message to the Republican establishment. They don’t like what the President is doing, and they’re not that enamored with Boehner and McConnell either. Here’s the standard themes with each candidate presenting their standard talking points: Anti-Obama – on everything. The Iran deal Immigration ObamaCare ISIS and national security The economy Perhaps Common Core (Bush) Perhaps Medicaid expansion (Kasich) Perhaps minimum wage Perhaps inequality Perhaps police brutality and All Lives Matter Hillary Benghazi and Fast and Furious probably won't emerge. THey have never received traction with the public. There’s not much any candidate can say in ten minutes so my assumption is that most of the ten will play it safe, worried about a gaffe that could sink their campaign. They look three years ago to Texas Governor Rick Perry, who, if the polls are to believed, still hasn’t recovered in the eyes of the American people. Jeb Bush has to be especially careful what he says in light of recent misstatements. There’s currently not much room for error in this race. Few remember, but President Gerald Ford never recovered fro his statement in the Ford-Carter debate that “There is no Soviet domination of eastern Europe.” My prediction is that Chris Christy, Ted Cruz and Mike Huckalbee, will stand out because of their innate debating ability. Governors Scott Walker and John Kasich will be themselves, quiet spoken, poised, articulate, and competent, as successful Midwest governors. Marco Rubio will also come across as similarly poised, thoughtful and competent, but could face a question on his shifting immigration views. Rand Paul has the ability to sink himself on national security. Ben Carson represents the common American. He has the best personal story of all the candidates. Perhaps some one-line, seemingly spontaneous, zingers will come out, but if they fall flat, as most do, then the candidate looks bad. The undercard, about to begin as I type this, could be the most interesting. Seven Republican candidates who narrowly missed out on the Top Ten- so close are many of the candidates in the polls. One sitting governor, Jindal of Louisiana, three former governors, Perry of Texas. Pataki of New York and Gilmore of Virginia, one sitting Senator, Graham of South Carolina, a former Senator, Santorum, who won Iowa four years ago, and a business woman, Fiorina, are all worthy candidates The seven have nothing to lose. Therefore, the odds are they will be the most outspoken, trying to emerge from the scrum of candidates. Expect more histrionics from the Undercard candidates. The only flake in the 17 is The Donald.