What in the Hell was that?
Setting aside that Ron DeSantis, the leading candidate not named Trump or currently under indictment, looked like a bad deep-fake of himself; or that the skinny kid with the funny last name (no, the other one) was closing on second place despite obviously interviewing for a spot in a future Trump cabinet; or Pence doing his “A More Boring Reagan” bit; or Tim Scott forgetting that he was even there; or Doug Burgun forcing me to look up just who the hell he was; or that Nikki Haley appearing somewhat reasonable. They all got asked the question: Would you support Donald Trump as Republican nominee were he to be convicted. And they all raised their hands.
DeSantis and Pence even waited to see which way the wind was blowing before raising their hands in a condition known as Hesitant Sycophancy. Guys, if you are going to be a brown-noser, at least get in there early. Only Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson wouldn’t commit to support the Felony for President, and seemed at least vaguely aware that the 14th Amendment was a thing.
It an effort plaster over in-fighting the RNC developed a loyalty oath for potential nominees: a grand statement of party over country. True, most rational, if cynical voters tend to assume this about both parties anyway, but for the GOP to come right out and say it – put it on paper - is a bold strategy. Let’s face it, we all know your waiter doesn’t really care about your dining experience, he’s just trying to upsell you on the wine. We all know what is going on but you can’t just come out and say: “I want more of your money, and if you don’t cough up I’ll make you look like a tit in front of your date.” What kind of world is that?
But that is exactly what has happened. Earlier this year, RNC Chairwoman Rossa McDaniel told Fox news “It’s the Republican Party nomination the pledge is staying and anybody who wants to seek the nomination of our party should pledge to support the voters.” Unless, it should be noted, your name is Donald Trump, who hasn’t signed a pledge and doesn’t plan too. And that is not the reason he wasn’t on stage.
I’ll give Christie this, he was on the issue first and the only one in the GOP debate to say it: “Someone has got to stop normalizing this conduct.” And it got him a houseful of boos. Obama 2.0 (or whatever his name is) leapt to Trump’s defense to houseful of cheers. It bears pointing out that the house may have be large, but it wasn’t that large. There is still a general election to be had.
It also raises the question: Why are these people supporting Trump? What’s the logic?
Nikki wants John Q. Public’s vote. Assuming that Nikki votes for herself and she gets John’s vote, she will have two (2) votes. If she gets Jane Q’s vote as well, she will have three (3) votes. Nikki wants to win.
Yet, John will only vote for Nikki is she votes for Donald. So Nikki casts her vote for Donald, leaving her with only two (2) votes. Since Donald is in the election to receive Nikki’s vote, we can assume that John would also vote for Donald, casue he’s a fan. Now Nikki is down to one (1) vote and Donald has two (2)votes. This is helpful because if Donald gets a felony hung on him, he can’t vote for anyone.
Jane won’t vote for Donald because he molested her on the Access Hollywood bus, and now she won’t vote for Nikki either, because she voted for Donald. So the final vote tally is:
Nikki 0
Donald 2
Cornel West 1
Vivek 9/11 was an inside job
I trust that you see the problem? Is has been a while since I’ve taken a course on Game Theory, but Nikki’s strategy (or the other five GOP contenders) doesn’t make any sense. Unless, they are simply angling for a position in a future Trump White House?
That Skinny Kid sure as hell is…