By the time this fresh copy of The Xavieritie is in your hands, you will likely already know the results of the New Hampshire caucus. At the moment that I’m writing this, I do not know the results of the caucus and I have no idea how Saturday night’s debate will impact the votes that will pour in for the various candidates.
However, I would like to note some important things that I noticed at Saturday’s debate that I think the politically minded would do well to observe, especially concerning one candidate – but we’ll get to him later as he embodies everything this election cycle for conservatives should have been and yet hasn’t been.
But let’s get the usual suspects out of the way….Everyone Else.
Firstly, I think that Saturday was a big misstep for Marco Rubio (senator, Florida). Coming out of Iowa, having tied for second with the Donald, he was the one to watch. Unfortunately, it was less like watching a real politician usurp a corporate stooge (Trump) and a Tea Partying candidate who would like to send the country back to the dark ages (Ted Cruz, senator, Texas) and was more like watching the Hindenburg explode.
Chris Christie (governor, New Jersey) got on Rubio’s case early – attacking the young senator’s habit of only giving canned sound bites and having no experience with executive power in government. Rubio flustered and kept repeating himself, only giving Christie’s comments more power and juice.
Christie was on fire and was not only dolling out talking points, but also actually being the feisty politician conservatives had hoped would run against President Obama in the 2012 election. Though, it’s a bit late in the game for Christie. East Coasters tend to do well in New Hampshire. He’s as East Coast as this group gets and he’s near the bottom.
Jeb Bush (governor, Florida) looked the most alive at a debate since the first one held at the tail end of last summer. Contrast that with Ben Carson (retired neurosurgeon), who looked sleepier than usual. I swear, his answers get less and less coherent as time goes on. I was so baffled by his response to health care reform that it made me think that him saying he’s a brain surgeon has to be a prank.
There is no way that someone who actually worked in the healthcare field should sound so incompetent when it comes to talking about that field. I hope someone makes a sequel to the made-for-TV movie about Carson that Cuba Gooding Jr. starred in (Gifted Hands). It was an uplifting tale of a man who beat all the odds to become a gifted surgeon.
The sequel should be an Icarus-like tale of a man who flew to close to the sun and revealed to the world what a dingbat he is. Call it Gifted Hands, Stupid Mouth. Pay attention, Hollywood. I’m giving you free ideas.
The One You Should All Know
However, the real star of Saturday’s debate was Governor of Ohio John Kasich. For the first time in this entire election cycle someone finally brought up the issue of electability. Look at Kasich. He’s been endorsed by both The Boston Globe and The New York Times as the Republican people should be voting for.
Why? He’s the only one who can reach out to moderates. Now, Kasich isn’t a slightly right of center Republican. No. He does have some very hard right views. But the thing that puts him above all others in my mind is that he is using the dirty word in politics right now: compromise. He’s never said the word directly, but he’s implied it plenty.
Observe his quote from Saturday night’s debate: “You have to remind people that we’re Americans first and Republicans or Democrats second. You have to work with people.” That, ladies and gentlemen, is the mark of a true politician. Not only this remark, but Kasich also talked briefly about initiating programs to help minority entrepreneurs, the mentally ill and those suffering from drug addictions.
These lines were met with thunderous rounds of applause. In a world where the perception of many my age is that Republicans are heartless, soulless monsters on the side of corporations and not the little guy, Kasich is something of a breath of fresh air for this cycle. He’s a fiscal conservative who has a heart for everyday people. He’s a statesman with experience in the private sector. He’s a well-liked leader of a purple state the Republicans are going to need come time for the general election.
Even his conservative stance on gay marriage intrigues me. For the record, I fully support gay marriage. While he personally opposes it, he actually supports the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize it and has no intention of fighting it because, as he stated in the first debate: “We need to give everybody a chance, treat everybody with respect, and let them share in this great American dream that we have.” Darn. Now that’s a Republican I could actually see myself voting for. And I’m afraid that I won’t get the chance to.
At the moment that I write this, Donald Trump is ahead of Kasich by 21 points in the polls. Rubio is seven points ahead of the governor and Cruz is four points ahead. What a shame that the worst of the Republican Party has decided to band together and vote for three people who have no intention to compromise, disrespect the authority of our highest branch of justice and are socially in the dark ages.
Pity. This party could enter the twenty-first century, but instead would rather hang out in the past and think of ways to make “America great again” instead of recognizing that it still is great. It’s just changing without them.
No. Instead, this is an election cycle dominated by people afraid to change, afraid to show up to debates because Megyn Kelly will be there and ask them about their personal problems with women, afraid to recognize that the Supreme Court oversaw a flaw in the law books and amended it and afraid to recognize that simply because someone is different doesn’t make them lesser. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Kasich. That’s all I’m saying. Hopefully, by the time Wednesday rolls around and you’re reading this, Kasich will have won the caucus and will be on the fast track to the White House. Think, John McCain was in last place at some point in the 2008 election.
Maybe Kasich could have a McCain-esque run at it, surprise us all and elevate this election to actually being a substantial issues and not just big personalities. After all, the best way to plunge a knife into someone’s back is from behind.
I’m not naïve enough to think that’s how it’s going to play out, but I’ve been wrong before….
Brian Laughran
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