Mugshots and Republican Debate

On my substack, I talked about the Trump mugshot and related issues. So many links!

We also had the first Republican debate, which Trump did not show up at.  I don't actually watch debates (I probably should in limited cases involving certain local races though even there I question it as a whole) but keep track of online reactions, including at Talking Points Memo. Twitter also is a useful place to go, and yes, I'm still going to call it that.  

FWIW, Nikki Haley apparently won the debate on points, though actual Republican voters did not really think so.  She came off as reasonable though it doesn't matter much for reasons she helped advance:

She described herself as “giddy” about Trump’s victory in 2016, contributed her credibility to his administration by joining it as U.N. ambassador, and reportedly spoke to him frequently to angle for influence by disparaging others who worked for him. She appeared on Fox News in January 2021 to argue that he did not deserve to be impeached over Jan. 6, and until this point in the race has only criticized him in a wishy-washy, indirect way. At several junctures, she’s told Republican voters that Donald Trump is fit to be president, and they listened to her. Isn’t that nice?

DeSantis did not get a lot of attention, furthering the sentiment he is just a horrible candidate.  It's depressing this guy is doing so much damage in Florida, but to be clear, he needs a willing audience and set of enablers for that to happen.  Some crazy asshole Scrappy Doo type got the most attention from the others and he might have a boomlet before people realize he's not a credible Trump alternative.  

The few people I saw also suggested Christie didn't really show up that much.  He criticized Trump but in a short lackluster way.  Pence had his moments, but it's hard to see (rightly so) how he could be the nominee. Both parties (rightly) don't overall respect him.  And, Tim Scott, who might on some level seem like a good candidate, also didn't show up much.  

Of course, the whole thing in many people's minds is a big also ran affair since Trump still has most of the support.  We actually have people arguing that banning him (via the 14A, sec. 3) is akin to "banning one of the two major parties," as if he's the party.  If he is, perhaps the party is dead.