GOP Debate: Trump as “Jaws”

I always enjoy these presidential debates. The one this Wednesday should be a hoot. The main subject, of course, will be Trump, who won’t be there.

Chris Christie has less chance of becoming president than I do. But this is his 15 minutes of fame. So he blasted, “Are You a Chicken or Just a Loser?” The Spanish-language La Opinion headlined, “Chris Christie arremete en contra de Donald Trump llamándolo cobard.” [Chris Christie lashes out against Donald Trump calling him coward.]

The reality is Trump knows how to build drama. He was a successful “reality TV” show host for years, as well as a real estate empresario. It’s like how Spielberg delayed the introduction of the shark in “Jaws” until the halfway point. People saw the movie poster, so they knew it was a Big Shark.

But the Official Trailer showed only the shark’s fin, until it ended with just the static movie poster. No picture of the shark chomping on anybody. You have to see the movie for that – and wait an hour for the buildup. The trailer narrator says at the beginning, over the ominous John Williams soundtrack:

There is a creature alive today. Who has survived millions of years of evolution. Without change. Without passion. And without logic. It lives to kill.

That’s how the other candidates look at Trump.

Then he tweaked them by scheduling an appearance at the same time on Tucker Carlson’s Twitter show. That also tweaked Fox News, which is hosting the debate, and whose bigshots hate Trump and canceled Tucker. What will get more viewers? My guess is Trump.

As to the “issues,” as if they mattered, what I’m looking for is what they’ll say about the top issue – not getting us nuked over Ukraine. The only candidate who served in the military is DeSantis, but he was a lawyer. That’s OK for Trump and Ramaswamy, who are peaceniks. But the others, if they want war, why didn’t they put their necks on the line?

Here’s my take on the candidates as of this writing. Apparently the exact lineup hasn’t been determined.

Chris Christie: He’s really belligerent on the Ukraine War and still charges Trump with being a Putin stooge. Even though the Mueller Report disproved that. And the Durham Report proved Hillary was behind the Steele Dossier and the other accusations of Russian “collusion.” If Christie’s accusations as a federal prosecutor were this unreliable, every one should be revisited for the veracity of his evidence.

Vivek Ramasawmy: He’s against the war. And his platform lines up close to Trump’s, such as on limiting immigration. An entrepreneur, he’s definitely the smartest of the group.

Nikki Haley: Just a neocon warmonger.

Asa Hutchinson: A clock-punching loser.

Doug Burgum: Who?

Tim Scott: I’d like him if he were for peace in Ukraine. He’s not. He’s too long been around his fellow Palmetto State Sen. Lindsey Graham, an insane warmonger who wants to get us all unked.

Ron DeSantis: He’s waffled on the Ukraine War – indicative of the disarray of his campaign. As I wrote last month, this is one of the worst campaigns I’ve seen. He’s still No. 2 in the polls and wants to stay there. But the really big problem is he just lacks charisma. It’s a gift, like being ablet to hit a 100 mph fastball. And he doesn’t have it. He’s also going against Trump, who has more charisma than any candidate from either party since Reagan.

Mike Pence. An even more ludicrous candidate than Christie. His line should be: “Vote for me instead of Trump because his incompetence in picking me for VP shows I’m better.”

I’ll report back after the debate circus.

As the narrator warns at the end of the trailer, “None of man’s fantasies of evil can compare with the reality of Jaws.”