Who will step right up to the carnival barker?

Reality TV silly person and recreational racist Donald Trump is moderating a GOP debate later this month in conjunction with wingnut media site Newsmax. The Huntsman campaign was the first to send regrets:

“We look forward to watching Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich suck up to Trump with a big bowl of popcorn,” Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller told Yahoo News.

Somewhat awkward sentence construction since it’s not clear whether Huntsman and Miller will share the popcorn or if Mittens and Newt will present it as an offering to Trump. But in either case, kudos to Miller for treating the invitation with the seriousness it deserves. To its credit, the Paul campaign declined with extreme prejudice:

“The selection of a reality television personality to host a presidential debate that voters nationwide will be watching is beneath the office of the Presidency and flies in the face of that office’s history and dignity…Mr. Trump’s participation will contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere,” campaign chairman Jesse Benton said.

What of the others? Well, Gingrich is meeting with Trump today, so evidently he doesn’t regard the short-fingered vulgarian* as politically toxic. Romney has met with Trump in the past and seems craven enough to remove the rings in Pam Geller’s hot tub with his tongue if that’s what it takes to bag the nomination. By virtue of her status as an actual elected official, Bachmann is even more of a national disgrace than Trump. And Santorum is merely a naughty word, so what does he have to lose?

My guess is the remaining candidates show up. As pundits have noted ad nauseam, this year’s GOP nomination race represents a fusion of politics and reality TV. So how can Trump be beneath their dignity? Huntsman and Paul pretend he is, but they’ve participated in the serial clown car pile-ups we’ve witnessed thus far without denouncing the liars and phonies with whom they’ve shared the stage. So pardon me if I find their sudden squeamishness a little precious.

* H/T: Spy Magazine

Posted by Betty Cracker on 12/05/11 at 09:48 AM • Permalink

Via Mediaite:

“It doesn’t help the country. If you’re going to be a candidate, be a candidate. Don’t make it contingent upon whether your show’s renewed or not? If your show’s not renewed, you’re going to run for president. How trivial is that. How does that trivialize the most important decision that we Americans have, which is who we’re going to elect as our president.”

Via The Hill:

“More importantly, what the heck are the Republican candidates doing showing up at a debate [whose moderator] says, ‘I may run for president next year as an Independent’? I think the Republican National [Committee] chairman [Reince Priebus] should step in and say, ‘We strongly discourage every candidate from appearing in a debate moderated by somebody who’s gonna run for president,’ ” he said.

Well, if it’s war between Rove and Trump, with at least those three caught in the crossfire, then there may not be enough popcorn in the world:

In response to comments from Karl Rove that candidates should skip the debate at the end of December to be moderated by Donald Trump, Trump said that in his opinion Rove was “highly overrated,” and “basically is a loser.” ...

“I don’t think that Karl Rove is a smart person. I think he’s highly overrated,” said Trump, on a conference call about his new book. “I’ve watched Karl Rove for years. He’s a man who is only after Karl Rove, and he’s part of the problem with the Republican Party.

All it needs now is for Rush to pick a side.

Well, it was a long slog, and not one I’ll repeat in a hurry, but it looks like Rush is with Trump:

All right, so here we have… (laughing) Here we have Barack Obama floundering, polls that are under—worse than—Jimmy Carter, and look what’s going on on the Republican side here!  Look what’s happening here?  George Will goes after Trump and Cain.  Trump goes after Will. Then Rove goes after Trump, then they call Trump back at Fox & Friends and Trump goes back after Rove. Look, Rove gave us Bush, and Bush gave us Obama and be these guys don’t know what they’re doing! They’re taking the Republican Party down the hill in a hand basket.  If we stick with guys like Rove, we’re being led into doom.

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