Debate Interstitial

As I mentioned in the liveblog of the "Kids' Table" event, it seems to me like Fox is in the tank for Carly Fiorina. She seemed to get more face time than the other candidates and they led off by asking her to comment on comparisons between her and Margaret Thatcher -- comparisons I've never heard before and that sound like they were created especially for this event. Ever since the event ended the talking heads have been running her around the TV track as the winner.

I'm just not seeing it, folks. She seemed pretty stiff. Her punch lines (e.g. unlike Trump she "didn't get a phone call from Bill Clinton before jumping into the race") were neither especially punchy nor especially funny. Nothing she said policy-wise was substantially different from anything any of the other candidates said, nor was it said with as much conviction or with a record to stand it up against for credibility (in a field of thin resumes, hers is the thinnest -- "HP's board fired me to keep me from bankrupting the company, then I got my ass handed to me in the only election I ever contested"). Like I said in the liveblog, her schtick was half boilerplate and half babble, all delivered in a near-deadpan way that I personally found irksome.

Her only strong point is that she's the only woman in the GOP nomination race. And that doesn't strike me as any kind of special advantage. Granted, she's more masculine than Lindsey Graham, but then who isn't?

Let's be realistic here: She threw her hat in the ring hoping to develop sufficient mo that she could cash in her chips after New Hampshire in return for the veep slot or a cabinet appointment promise. She wasn't a serious candidate 2 1/2 hours ago, and she isn't a serious candidate now.

So the question is, why is Fox treating her like a serious candidate? Is Roger Ailes hoping to make her into a serious candidate? Or maybe to jack up her profile a little so he can put her in a Fox talk show slot after she gets her pink slip? Inquiring minds want to know.

Like I said in the liveblog, I didn't see any massive breakouts shaping up at the Kids' Table. Rick Perry probably had the best outing. He only experienced one or two of the verbal slip-ups he's known for, and he managed to pull off some alpha male posturing that might play well with Trump's current base. Depending on what happens at the Kool Kids' Klub later tonight, maybe he'll edge his way into the top ten for next time. But that's the only real change I'm comfortable suggesting might happen. I'd bet money that Fiorina will still be in the polling basement at the next cut.