Rieder: GOP is reality TV,
Brace yourself, Detroit. The Thursday Night Fights are in town. Thursday, March 3 means Showtime in Motown.
Once presidential debates were largely civic exercises, sessions to be watched dutifully to learn about the policy positions of the rivals. Sure, there were memorable moments, great oneliners (“Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy”), riveting face-offs. But for the most part these were pretty cerebral encounters. It doesn’t get much more wonky than Al Gore and his lock box.
This time around, however, the Republican primary debates are increasingly taking on the aura of reality TV shows. No surprise there, since by far the dominant figure in the GOP contest is noted reality TV veteran, Mr. Donald Trump.
Trump is widely known for his bullying tactics, but during last week’s debate in Houston the billionaire was on the receiving end of a relentless assault on a wide array of topics by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gleefully joining in the mayhem. At one point in the schoolyard brawl, Rubio said if Trump hadn’t inherited serious money, he’d be selling watches in Manhattan.
Battling back, Trump dismissed Rubio as a “choke artist” and Cruz as a “liar.”
(Lincoln and Douglas couldn’t be reached for comment,)
In early February, it was Rubio who found himself on the receiving end of a brutal beatdown by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, which left Rubio repeating the same line in robot fashion over and over again, turning the Florida senator into a punchline.
Trump, of course, set the tone for all of this with his masterful needling at the debates of Jeb “Low Energy” Bush, throwing Bush completely off his game and helping to sink the candidacy of the high-spending but ineffectual former Florida governor.
While the debates have been short on gravitas, they have become must-see TV, although not necessarily in a good way. As with the multivehicle highway pileup, you can’t avert your eyes.
So it’s not surprising that the debates have been winners at the box office, bringing in large audiences for the networks that host them. The Republican debate on Fox News Channel in August had an audience of 24 million, making it the most highly watched nonsports program in the history of cable and the most watched on Fox ever.
Trump, to no one’s surprise, has taken full credit for the huge viewership. In fact, Les Moonves, executive chairman and CEO of CBS, says the mogul has been very, very good for the TV business. While the campaign may be a “circus” full of “bomb throwing,” Moonves says, “it may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.”
At least someone has his priorities straight.
As for the resumption of hostilities Thursday night on Fox, there is no shortage of subplots.
For starters, it will be a reunion for Trump and Fox host Megyn Kelly, who will be moderating along with colleagues Chris Wallace and Bret Baier. Kelly’s questions to Trump in the first Republican debate so upset The Donald that he later unleashed a string of his patented insults at her (most memorably, “she had blood coming out of her wherever”), then boycotted the Fox debate in Iowa because she’d be on the dais. This may well have contributed to his loss to Cruz in the Hawkeye State.
It’s also a last-gasp opportunity for the foundering stop-Trump movement. Trump’s string of victories on Super Tuesday certainly solidified his hold on the GOP front-runner slot, and time seems to be running out for his rivals and their dreams of a “brokered convention.”
What do Rubio and Cruz have up their sleeves? Will we see more of Marco the Mauler? How will Trump play it? He was certainly in statesmanlike mode at his Tuesday night news conference.
And will we see a trace or two of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, still clinging to his long, long, longshot candidacy? Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, last seen poignantly begging his foes to attack him so he could at least get some airtime, says he’s skipping the Motor City matchup.
One thing is for sure: It won’t be dull.
While the debates have been short on gravitas, they have become must-see TV, although not necessarily in a good way. As with the multivehicle highway pileup, you can’t avert your eyes.