The latest GOP debate was a nasty, bawdy affair. But things could be worse.
Don't freak out. We're still a long way from the death of the Republic.
Two sobering facts presented themselves at Thursday night's Republican presidential debate in Detroit — a saddening, maddening affair that scrapped the last tattered illusions of the primary cycle.
First, nothing like this has ever happened before. The GOP has crossed a Rubicon away from good taste and sportsmanship, toward something that, while not more divisive than elections of yore, is clearly more debased. The GOP's established leadership may bear full responsibility for Donald Trump's rise, but it's the culture at large that should be blamed for the cheapjack style and raucous yet vacuous substance that soured the evening from start to finish. The decent drapery of the Republicans, to lift a phrase from conservative spirit animal Edmund Burke, has been more than rudely ripped to shreds.
But second, we're still a long way off from the death of the Republic. So don't freak out quite yet.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Lack of perspective is a hallmark of our age. If you think the Trump show speaks ill of the times, imagine touring the country in Alexis de Tocqueville's entourage, when the U.S. was languishing between the death of Thomas Jefferson and the start of the Civil War. Go flip through Democracy in America for a sad reminder of just how limp and lost America's political class had grown in the 1840s. Their failures helped create the bloodiest and deepest wound the body politic has suffered to date. By comparison, today's failures are lame, but not lethal.
And indeed, half of last night's debate was more or less a credit to democracy. At a time when so much of the globe's surface has been overrun by chaos, slaughter, corruption, and simpleminded despotism, let's take a moment to admire the prudence of candidates like Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
Whatever you make of domestic policy, it's clear we're not going to get from the Democrats a decent and proper debate over America's role in the world. This year, Cruz and Kasich are as good as it gets. Bernie Sanders is too focused on inequality at home to hold Hillary Clinton's feet to the fire for the gleaming grotesqueness of her record in foreign affairs, while Marco Rubio's flailing campaign gives neoconservatism a bad name. And so, at Thursday's debate, while Little Marco and Little Fingers raced to the bottom, it was left to Cruz and Kasich to take the high ground.
Rubio can no longer run on hubris and hothouse hope. He can't win his home state. Sticking it out means handing Trump delegates that Cruz could steal away. Trump really did expel the demons of the Bush campaign into the body of Rubio, who is now charging into the sea. Although Cruz benefited immensely from keeping a cool head until that happened, the secret momentum now rests with Kasich, who must decide whether he'd rather be Cruz's running mate or Trump's. If Kasich throws in with Cruz, the race will finally winnow to two — and winnow out the facepalm-worthy jokes and burns.
Many Republicans will scream when they realize they're suffering through such uncharted waters so that Kasich, the continental breakfast of Republicans, can decide their fate. But it's been that kind of year. Kasich is a safe space for people who wish this whole deranged gong show would just go away. It's only fitting, isn't it, that the party's sweetest dreamers should have the final say over its darkest nightmare?
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
James Poulos is a contributing editor at National Affairs and the author of The Art of Being Free, out January 17 from St. Martin's Press. He has written on freedom and the politics of the future for publications ranging from The Federalist to Foreign Policy and from Good to Vice. He fronts the band Night Years in Los Angeles, where he lives with his son.
-
The importance of discussing and dealing with debt
The Explainer Increasing numbers of people have 'problem debt' – but there are ways to tackle it
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
'Trump heavy on retribution, light on cash'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Crossword: March 19, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published