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Wow, did you hear what Donald Trump said about Hillary Clinton? No? How about what Marco Rubio said about President Obama? No again?OK, they were trick questions. There was nothing to hear because Trump and Rubio don’t talk much about Clinton and Obama.But you surely heard what Trump and Rubio said about each other. And what Trump said about Jeb Bush and Ben Carson.You probably also know that former President George H.W. Bush rattled the rafters by attacking the top advisers to his son, former President George W. Bush. And that those advisers, Donald Rumsfeld and former Vice President Dick Cheney, fired back at the elder Bush.It’s a typical presidential campaign, Republican style. The circular firing squad is taking its toll.All the GOP guns are blazing — at each other. Mutual destruction makes it hard to win an election, and easy to lose one. Just ask President Mitt Romney.The brutal attacks he endured in the 2012 primary softened him up for the Obama juggernaut in the general election. Obama’s claims that Romney was a greedy capitalist who destroyed middle-class jobs echoed charges made first by Newt Gingrich and other Republicans.Trump is the master of insult this time, and takes pleasure in slashing his rivals. Truth be told, he’s good at it, with his mocking of Jeb Bush as low energy crystallizing a sense that Bush didn’t have fire in the belly and starting his slide toward the bottom.Trump claims he only hits back, but he also hits those who are moving up in the polls and threatening his lead. Carson and Rubio are getting the rough treatment now.Trump banged Rubio by bringing up an old story about his use of a Republican Party credit card for personal items back in Florida, saying the senator is “overrated” and “a disaster.” Trump also hinted there was more to come, saying of Rubio, “He certainly lives above his means.”Rubio responded by bringing up Trump’s business problems, charging that “I find it ironic that the only person who’s running for president that’s ever declared a bankruptcy — four times in the last 25 years — is attacking anyone on finances.”A bloody touché to both!As for Carson, Trump ended their nonaggression pact by seizing on inconsistencies in Carson’s autobiography, saying on Twitter: “The Carson story is either a total fabrication or, if true, even worse — trying to hit mother over the head with a hammer or stabbing friends!”Stragglers are also blasting away. Ohio Gov. John Kasich took aim at Trump and Carson, calling their policies “crazy” and telling a rally, “I’ve about had it with these people.”Sen. Lindsey Graham went after the front-runners, too, saying that “the No. 2 guy tried to kill someone at 14, and the No. 1 guy is high energy and crazy as hell.”“How am I losing to these people?” he wondered.A more important question is whether the GOP survivor will have a chance against Clinton. For most of this year, she looked wobbly, as scandals and gaffes piled up.But she’s righted her ship, by luck and pluck. Vice President Joe Biden took a pass on the race, and socialist Bernie Sanders foolishly took the e-mail and private-server issues off the table, saying he and the public were “sick and tired” of hearing about them.Although the Benghazi hearing proved that Clinton lied to the American public about the terror attack, the revelation hasn’t damaged her.It still could because it reinforces the idea that she is dishonest, and already a majority of Americans say she is not trustworthy. But in the meantime, she’s cruising and faces almost no intra-party criticism.Even better for her, she will get to go up against a Republican who has been trashed and demonized on a very long road to the nomination, meaning she can just pick up where the primary attacks left off.There’s still time for Republicans to come to their senses. They united to reject the hostile accusations fired by the CNBC debate moderators, so they should be able to stop themselves from making similar charges against each other.They’ll get a chance Tuesday with another debate on the economy, this one on Fox Business. The candidates should focus on spelling out ideas to lift America out of the high-tax, high-spending, slow-growth swamp imposed by Obama and endorsed by Clinton.A contrast with the other party’s policies would be a welcome change for Republicans, and have the advantage of building up the country instead of tearing down each other.
Goodwin sums it up well...
Sen. Lindsey Graham went after the front-runners, too, saying that “the No. 2 guy tried to kill someone at 14, and the No. 1 guy is high energy and crazy as hell.”“How am I losing to these people?” he wondered.
A contrast with the other party’s policies would be a welcome change for Republicans, and have the advantage of building up the country instead of tearing down each other.
But it is just that that is our contrast. We think for ourselves. Democrats are, at their hearts, collectivists, putting The State above the person.
