Last Debate of 2015: Was It Fun for You, Too?

The fifth Republican presidential campaign debate—in Las Vegas, the city where dreams go to die an unnatural death, no less—had it all.

It had bluster, accusations, spats and fights and claims hard to substantiate, arguments and jostling for positions, showdowns and a lack of them.  It even had an undercard—slim and trim, to be sure—but one that proved to be interesting if no other reason than to be a suitable warmup for the main event.

The Dec. 15 debate also had some things that previous Republican debates did not: context, immediacy, urgency and a theme.

This debate, hosted by CNN and moderated by a sturdy Wolf Blitzer, with the help of others, focused almost exclusively on the issue of national security and was the first held since the ISIS (or ISIL) attacks in Paris that killed 130 persons and the attacks by the Islamic married couple (one an American citizen, born in the U.S.) in San Bernardino, California, who gunned down 14 persons at a holiday office party before being killed by police elsewhere and not long afterward.

It took place in a context of a number of over-the-top comments by front-running candidate Donald Trump suggesting that Muslims should not be allowed into the United States for an undetermined time, that families of terrorists should be targeted for killing and that the Internet needed stronger control.  

It took place in the context of a day which saw the country’s two largest school districts in Los Angeles and New York City as objects of e-mail threats, causing a massive school closure in L.A.—but not in New York

It took place in the aftermath of a spate of new polling which saw Trump rise yet again in the national polls, hotly pursued by Sen.Ted Cruz of Texas, who had doubled  his numbers and was said to be leading in Iowa. Expectations were of hot debate battles among Trump, Cruz and an also rising Marco Rubio.

There were battles—between Trump and a Jeb Bush trying to resuscitate his floundering candidacy, between Cruz and Rubio, who political GOP strategists still saw as the survivors of an eventual Trump dump, and between Trump and Rand Paul and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the party establishment and Washington and everyone else.

There were also moments that stood out: claims that could be challenged and occasions of clarity, depending on your views, your seat, your mood and theirs. 

A dramatic moment emerged when Trump and Bush fought, and to many admirers of Bush, you could almost hear a sigh of relief in the gaudy setting of the Venetian in Las Vegas.  Trump has a condescending way of dealing with Bush. He always refers to the former Florida governor initially as “a nice guy, a nice man”—much in the manner of an “It” girl dismissing the courtship of an unwanted suitor—and dismissing him as not being tough.  Trump smirked at one Bush remark: “Mr. Trump, you can’t insult your way to the presidency.”  Bush called Trump “the chaos candidate.” Trump, who never takes criticism kindly, appeared flustered.

In the many approaches to solving the crisis of ISIS—“carpet bombing” (Ted Cruz), targeting families (Trump and a fading, still quiet-voiced Ben Carson), no immigration (variations by all), death sentence if you declare yourself for ISIS (Cruz), more surveillance (just about everybody but Rand Paul), and so on, boots on the ground (once again, Lindsay Graham). Here, it was Bush who made the most sense: “How can you hope to gain the confidence and cooperation of our Arab allies if you openly plan to keep them out of this country?  The Sunni Arabs must be part of this fight.  That’s how we’ll defeat ISIS.”

Still, it was obvious from a heated discussion about regime change and its dangers or virtues that the cauldron of Middle East politics remains a challenging mystery to most of the candidates, let alone the general American public.

Christie raised the specter of the trauma caused by the school closing and set himself up as a proven terrorism fighter, ever since 9/11, as a prosecutor.  Carson—who was quickly fading in the polls down to fourth place despite a trip to Jordan—was asked if he could be ruthless enough to cause the deaths of thousands of non-combatants, including children.  He answered by telling a story, how, as a pediatric brain surgeon, he would tell children that he would have to open their heads, “which they hated,” he said. But afterwards, with the results, “they loved me,” he concluded.  Throughout, Carson did not seem to realize that as a candidate he was a severely wounded man walking.

Cruz and Rubio set each other up as straw men in prolonged arguments  about both information-gathering legislation and the abortive comprehensive bipartisan immigration bill which Rubio was a part of and which ultimately failed.   The argument—about meta data, immigration numbers and such got detailed, which political wonks among the commentators loved. 

You can always tell when people start to irritate each other, resorting to first names—as in “Marco knows he wasn’t entirely truthful here . . . ,” Cruz said. Strategists opined that the two were “in the weeds” of arcane political stuff.  It sounded more like poison ivy. Christie said that exchange “almost made me nod off. This is exactly the kind of Washington stuff people complain about.”

In the aftermath, an army of strategists and commentators—looking like political interns at a job fair—picked the bones of the proceedings, if not cleanly.  Who won? Hard to say. Bush helped himself for once. Cruz and Rubio stood out and Rand was effective.  Carly Fiorina struggled to be heard.  Trump did not seriously damage to himself—what would that take?—and will no doubt stay on top.

Still, you have to wonder.  Trump’s appeal is populist, the “strength” card, if you will. But his language in the aftermath of the debate was that of a teenager just back from a prom. “Did well, did really well, I think.  I really had a good time.  I had fun. It was great being with the people on stage.” He even uttered the word “elegant.”

Trump did, more or less, pledge not to run as an independent, as did Carson, although they also appeared to hedge their bets.

Did we have fun? Were we enlightened?   It’s still a long way until Iowa.  And Christmas is coming.  God bless us everyone, even them—and perhaps especially them.