South Carolina's GOP Debate

Last night's Republican debate was a slightly modified version of what we've seen in the past. The ninth GOP debate, which took place in South Carolina, pitted the usual suspects against one another for several rounds of political jabbing.

The familiar bickering between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump seemed to escalate to the next level. Trump took several shots at Bush for his shortcomings as Governor of Florida. This is something that you ight expect from a rival candidate. However, Trump also criticized other Bush family members. He pointed out that the Twin Towers came down under George W. Bush's watch. And another time, he essentially insulted Jeb's manhood by saying that his mother, Barbara Bush, should be running for President. 

Trump also sparred with Ted Cruz. At one point, he accused Cruz of spreading false rumors in South Carolina and he followed up by calling Cruz a nasty guy. And when Cruz called out Trump for his positions on abortion, Trump abruptly responded in true Trump fashion by saying, "You're the single biggest liar. You're probably worse than Jeb Bush!"

Ouch!

Cruz fired back by saying that Trump, if elected President, would appoint liberals to the Supreme Court. This, of course, was initiated due to the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

The subject of judicial appointments was thoroughly discussed in last night's debate. The death of Scalia will definitely create more political turmoil as we get closer to the end of Obama's second term. The loss of the most conservative member of the Supreme Court is a heavy blow to the Republicans. The Court is now divided evenly between liberals and conservatives (assuming that you consider John Roberts a conservative). So, with the expected appointment of another liberal by President Obama, the scales of justice could easily tip to the left. It will be interesting to see exactly how extreme Obama will go on this one. The Republicans will fight tooth and nail during during the election process to delay the appointment to after the election. Should Hillary or Bernie win in November, it will likely be a moot point. But hold onto your hats, this one's gonna get a little crazy.

Declaring a winner form last night is kind of tough. Although Trump made some good points, his abrasiveness continues to be a concern, especially in a southern state like South Carolina. At times, John Kasich and Ben Carson pointed out that the bickering, in-fighting and negative campaigning were only doing unnecessary damage to the GOP. While it might be true, it's the political world in which we now live.

With South Carolina's election in less than a week, the polls currently show Trump and Cruz taking the top spots while Rubio trials in third. With a lot of evangelical votes in play down South, I wouldn't be surprised to see either Cruz or Rubio take South Carolina. Ben Carson might get a fair share of the vote, but he lacks the fire power needed in today's dirty political arena. 

Say what you will about the GOP campaign but it's never boring.....

kw