4th GOP Debate
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DeSantis's mouth is writing a lot of big checks not covered by his political capital balance. He very seldom directly answered a question last night. That's where Christie stood out.
I'm thinking Renauda might be right about Ramaswamy. He's just there to drag the rest down.
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DeSantis's mouth is writing a lot of big checks not covered by his political capital balance. He very seldom directly answered a question last night. That's where Christie stood out.
I'm thinking Renauda might be right about Ramaswamy. He's just there to drag the rest down.
@Mik said in 4th GOP Debate:
I'm thinking Renauda might be right about Ramaswamy. He's just there to drag the rest down.
He's probably hoping for a job in the Trump administration, which is why he won't say the obvious about him.
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@Mik said in 4th GOP Debate:
I'm thinking Renauda might be right about Ramaswamy. He's just there to drag the rest down.
He's probably hoping for a job in the Trump administration, which is why he won't say the obvious about him.
@Doctor-Phibes said in 4th GOP Debate:
He's probably hoping for a job in the Trump administration, which is why he won't say the obvious about him.
Certainly has looked that way for a while, hasn't it?
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From the transcript of last night's debate:
One of the guys I’ll take inspiration from is Calvin Coolidge. Now, people don’t talk about him a lot. He’s one of the few presidents that got almost everything right. He understood the proper role of the federal government under the Constitution. We need to restore the U.S. Constitution as the centerpiece of our national life. And that requires a president who understands the original understanding of the Constitution, who has a good sense of the Bill of Rights, and who knows how we’ve gone off track with this massive fourth branch of government, this administrative state which is imposing its will on us and is being weaponized against us. So, silent Cal knew the proper role of the federal government. The country was in great shape when he was President of the United States, and we can learn an awful lot from Calvin Coolidge.
I was genuinely touched.
For the record, Chris Christie, asked first, said Ronald Reagan; Nikki Haley, asked second, said George Washington and Abe Lincoln; and Vivek Ramaswamy, asked last, said Thomas Jefferson.
"President Coolidge, I bet a friend that I can get you to say more than two words at dinner tonight. What do you say to that?"
"You lose."
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Chris Christie: A+
Since all great speeches should have a title, I’m naming it “Chris Christie’s Retribution Speech.”
To make a memorable argument in a debate, you need at least three things. First, the issue being debated has to be salient. Second, you need to lock down your position with good examples and evidence. Finally, your delivery is crucial. But even that’s not enough. For an argument to stand out in a debate, it must contain all three of those elements — and it must be a position not yet heard by the debating audience.
The “Chris Christie Retribution Speech” met all the criteria.
First: was the topic salient? Indeed it was, and the former governor of New Jersey knew it. Here’s part of his answer when asked what he thought of former President Donald Trump’s comments this week, that if elected again he would be a dictator only on “day one.”
“Completely predictable,” said Christie. “This is an angry, bitter man, who now wants to be back as president because he wants to exact retribution on anyone who has disagreed with him, anyone who has tried to hold him to account for his own conduct…. Do I think he was kidding when he said he was a dictator? All you have to do is look at the history…”
The history where Trump was overtly subverted and contained, to the extent a book was written about it by an anonymous white house insider? That history of dictatorship?
Second: Christie’s reasoning was solid, and his explanation of Trump’s popularity was smart debating. He took a weakness (Trump is polling way higher than Christie) and turned it into an attack on his debate opponents. Christie continued, “You want to know why those poll numbers are where they are? Because folks like these three guys on stage make it seem like his conduct is acceptable.”
A populist figurehead would be less popular if more elites hated him? Interesting theory. Dumb, but interesting.
Third: You really need to watch his delivery. It’s a 2-minute speech, and it’s glorious. Watch Christie’s nonverbal movement and listen to his cadence. Hear the phrases and where Christie places the emphasis. One line stands out: Trump’s phrase of “I am your retribution,” when quoted by Christie, was chilling.
Christie might have just given the single most important speech in presidential debating history. It was certainly the finest.
This is what TDS looks like, and the value judgments extruded when such a mind is in full sway of the disorder. Finest speech in the history of presidential debates indeed. I imagine any given Orange Man Bad meme would give this person a big belly laugh. Finest humor ever.
