August 24, 2023

I'm too much of a morning person to live-blog debates anymore, and live-blogging is really hard anyway...

... because if you don't pause, how are you supposed to write about something you just heard when you're supposed to be hearing the next thing they say? You have to let many things roll by unnoticed and you can't be fussy about verbatim quotes. I think if I were ever to try live-blogging again, I'd just forget about quotes and even the substance of what they are saying and just — on the fly — let you know how this and that made me feel.

But something I can do that's much less stressful that might be worthwhile and even kind of fun is to watch the video the next day after and use a transcript to cut and paste key quotes.

So here's the video:

And here's a transcript.

I really thought, at this point, that I was going to go through the entire debate and make a number of posts. I was just going to take little break first. Time passed. 3 hours. I came back to this project, watched the first half hour of the debate. Somewhere around this...
Vivek Ramaswamy: So I’m not sure I exactly understood Mike Pence’s comment, but I’ll let you all parse that out. For me, it’s pretty simple. That’s something a US president can do with focus and I’ll deliver on it.

Mike Pence: Well, let me explain it to you. Let me explain it to you, Vivek, if I can. I’ll go slower this time.
... I gave up. I guess I really hate pointless, amorphous disrespect. There was generally too much yelling and nastiness — from the candidates and from the audience.

42 comments:

Kevin said...

Pence seems to be running for Mansplainer in Chief.

PrimoStL said...

"There was generally too much yelling and nastiness — from the candidates and from the audience."

---------------------------

I see it as reflective of the national mood. Wait until the shooting starts.

Dave Begley said...

Pence is a ponderous dullard. Vivek is a genius.

Pence needs to exit the campaign ASAP. He has nothing to offer America. Go back home to Indiana.

tim maguire said...

I don’t watch debates because, for the most part, it’s not a format to learn what I want to know about the candidates. It is a format that encourages disrespect.

I also don’t watch debates to see who’s doing well and who’s doing poorly—I have a terrible track record of seeing what other people see, who they care about, what lines will stick. I learn much more by reading reactions over the next few days, but I haven’t learned much today either.

Kevin said...

For those who didn't like Vivek's performance, the key will be how he corrects for the second debate.

I seem to remember a certain orange someone who "came in hot" to his first debate, but settled down for the next one and ended up doing very well.

Leland said...

Wow. If you were channel surfing and just saw that image, I think you might reasonably think a Democrat debate was going on.

Kai Akker said...

Vivek = Peak Finance

We need new ideas and maybe we need a 38-year-old President, who also happens to have graduated summa cum laude from Harvard. Vivek's actual company-creating record is dubious, at least as I read Wikipedia. He seems to be a superb salesman. Not much seems to have actually happened in the businesses except a lot of financing.

Rabel said...

Pence's attempts to claim credit for Trump's successes after he stabbed him in the back are disgusting.

"In four short years, we rebuilt our military, we revived our economy, we unleashed American energy, and we appointed three conservatives to the Supreme Court that gave the American people a new beginning for the right to life."

You were the designated bucket of warm spit. You didn't do a damn thing.

He was in Jackson, Ms. 5 days ago, but he wasn't on a campaign stop, no, he was on a book tour signing and selling copies of his latest book. Kiss my ass, Mike.

traditionalguy said...

Funniest part was where Vivek says everyone else here tonight is bright and paid for and all of them together with their donors in the audience erupt in shouting him down…including The Fox moderators.

JRoberts said...

The current debate format seems broken and unhelpful to me.

- There’s too many candidates on stage to extract meaningful content in a reasonable amount time.
- The moderators have become celebrities and we end up with weeks of self promotion and primping before the first question is asked.
- Like many televised events (hello, Olympics) the pre-produced video clips are inserted to entertain the low information voters
- Overall, political debates have become little more than another “unscripted” reality show like the Real Housewives.

I found it much more helpful to view the YouTube videos of Erick Erickson doing one-on-one interviews from his “The Gathering” event last week.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Ron DeSantis (20:36):

"Our country is in decline. This decline is not inevitable, it’s a choice. We need to send Joe Biden back to his basement and reverse American decline. And it starts with understanding we must reverse Bidenomics so that middle class families have a chance to succeed again. We cannot succeed as a country if you are working hard and you can’t afford groceries, a car or a new home while Hunter Biden can make hundreds of thousands of dollars on lousy paintings. That is wrong.

(21:11)
We also cannot succeed when the Congress spends trillions and trillions of dollars. Those rich men north of Richmond have put us in this situation. And finally, we need to lower your gas prices. We’re going to open up all energy production. We will be energy dominant again in this country. I showed it could be done in the state of Florida. I pledge to you as your president, we will get the job done and I will not let you down."


Trump: 'Meatball Rhonda Sanctimonious {Insert Trump's tradmark inarticulate poor quality bad grammar BS and false promises}

Trump fans: Trump is amazing!

T J Sawyer said...

Good for you, Ann!

The "debate" was everything I expected. I got through a half-hour from the middle before quitting. The Tucker and Trump show was both more informative and entertaining.

Narayanan said...

did DeSantis forget to shave or is he growing 'moustache'

Jake said...

"There was generally too much yelling and nastiness"

They all want to be like Trump.

Kate said...

We had a good time live-streaming it while it was new and shiny.

Pence was astonishing to me. It's like he drank his Mr. Hyde serum before coming onstage. In the past his cool equanimity was his asset. He looked completely deranged last night. And a lot of the press is congratulating him for his aggressive dominance, so he'll probably do it again. Perhaps Vivek, with a debate under his belt, will learn how to better respond to Pence's rudeness.

rhhardin said...

They're all morons, probably made morons by the felt need to appeal to soap opera women.

Gusty Winds said...

The mug shots coming out of Georgia today are totalitarian and disturbing. The fact that these crooked indictments weren't the center of the debate last night renders it, its participants, and the Fox News hosts irrelevant for this moment in history.

Oh. And Fuck Mike Pence.

Jupiter said...

"There was generally too much yelling and nastiness"

Academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small.

wildswan said...

I'm trying to work out the name of my deep reluctance to Pay Attention!! I don't want to watch the debates and work out what I think of them based on my own observations; I don't want to read the Trump indictments and review the evidence; I don't want to follow developments related to 2024 elections; I don't want to speculate on whether and who, how and why someone assassinated Prigozhin.
Are we in Season 13 of a once well-written TV series? Is it just that I know what the next lie will be and the one after that? But I want to follow what happening only without making the effort to find out what's supposedly happening. I guess I'm reminded of "Witness for the Prosecution. The storyline is quite familiar; the ending is a surprise. I think every one of the well-worn narratives floating past on my screen is going to have a surprise ending. Why follow the well-worn path? Yet I can't guess the ending.
If Biden dies before they get rid of Kamala
If Hawaii votes for Biden
If the black community in the face of inflation, murder, de-schooling and de-policing votes for Biden
If the Russian line in the Ukraine collapses
If Biden keeps saying that inflation is gone
If they bring back the mask and vaccine mandates? Lockdowns?
If something happens
If Dems stop being lemmings
If an avalanche is slowly piling up, what noise might set it off? When?

Chuck said...

I guess I really hate pointless, amorphous disrespect. There was generally too much yelling and nastiness — from the candidates and from the audience.


And certainly the main source of nastiness in this debate was Viv-ache.

Even Bret Baier protested Viv-ache's blandly baseless slur that all other candidates on the stage were "bought and paid for [by PACs]."

hpudding said...

One said she was more of a woman than any of the rest of them.
One said he was less bought off than any of them.
One said that he was less of a coward than the rest of them.
One said that he was less left-wing than the others.
One said that he had more respect for the Constitution than the rest of them.

Just a boring bunch of chest-beaters running out of ways to tell you how awesome they are, as an excuse for not having any ideas or policies that will actually make your life any better as an American.

Trump showed them the way to be small. They all had their own version of narcissism to sell. Unless you like that sort of thing you didn’t miss anything.

This is how empty the Republicult party is.

Dave Begley said...

Kai Acker:

Wikipedia? Really?

Mr. Market decided that Vivek created biotech value and he made millions before he was even 40. I believe Mr. Market over the leftists that write Wiki entries.

rcocean said...

I skimmed through the transcript - and what a clown show. Some character asked the candidates to "Raise their hands" if they believed in "climate change". LOL!

The other bozos were trashing Mr. V because he wasn't 100% in favor of giving Biden a blank check to spend as much as Biden wants in the Ukraine. Why, they that that thar devil Putin.

And when they weren't supporting war in the Ukraine, they were breathing fire and death toward the Chicoms. Except for Mr. V.

Of course Biden's immigration crisis and open borders policy got very little time. Trade deficiet unmentioned. But we got lots of talk about Abortion and Transgenders playing women's sports.

Christie is just a waste of space, attacking everyone and making insulting comments. Asa Hutchison and Nikki Haley just gave the same ol' dumb "I'm a successful Governor, and God-fearing Neo-con, who loves war, Israel and the Bible, and I'll help the Democrats run the country and will make the wars run on Time"

Pence was pathetic. As usual. Bumstead AWOL.

All these people need to drop out and let DeSantis have his run. Or just drop out and endorse Trump.

Mikey NTH said...

This the Look at Me! stage. When the herd is thinned a better view of the candidates can be made.

Mikey NTH said...

This the Look at Me! stage. When the herd is thinned a better view of the candidates can be made.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Pence is a total non-entity.

Mary Beth said...

Mike Pence: I was a house conservative leader before it was cool.

Is it cool now?

Heartless Aztec said...

Don't watch candidate debates. Never have. They're moronic and bring out the worst in everyone. Candidate to audience to moderator. Much more fun perusing selections Gibbon's Decline and Fall... He does have a wonderfully droll sense of humor. Evidenced by none of the of the above carnival barker show.

rcocean said...

At least God spared us "President Pence". That this clown was one-heartbeat away from being our Commander-in Chief for 4 years gives me shivers.

And I now wonder if some of the Cabinet clowns had tried to mount a 25th admendment coup against Trump what side pence would've taken.

mccullough said...

Trump chose Pence as his running mate.

Trump is a moron.

hpudding said...

They're all morons..

Close.

I think the technical term however is Republicans.

But not far off. Right-wing irrationals is also an accurate description.

hpudding said...

Oh. And Fuck Mike Pence.

Oooooh! What a potent epithet, especially after he faced calls for even worse, with gallows and everything.

You guys are really something special.

cfs said...

The entire "debate" format is engineered to get a "gotcha" quote or two for the hosting news-site to play on repeat the entire following day. It is not designed to provide you any unknown information or policy position of the candidates. For who can give an intelligent response to an in-depth question in only 60 seconds?

Also, why is Hutchinson, Pence, 'what's his name" and Christie even on the stage and participating. Neither of them have a chance of being President. And, the remainder of those debating last night have chances which are slim to none.

Given the media display of Trump's arrest tonight, all on "trumped" up charges, makes me fear for our country. The Fulton D.A. insisted on the perp walk/mug shot display in order to boost her own credentials with the left. It has nothing to do with the law, the 2020 election, or his actions or inactions on January 6th. It all has to with next November and the left's insistence that Trump cannot be allowed back into the White House lest he uncover the true depth of corruption and bribery (and sell-out of our country) that was done during the Obama/Biden presidency.

I suspect the GOP establishment politicians are just as guilty as the democrats. They too have a vested interest in keeping him out of serving another term. Maybe that is why Pence and the media is pretending he has a chance. Pence may have been threatened, bribed, coerced, or blackmailed into throwing his hat into the ring as a signal to Trump that they own Pence and he can be forced to testify to whatever they wish for him say. Other than that, I see no reason for him to be even pretending to run.

Indeed a sad day for our country.

cfs said...

"The mug shots coming out of Georgia today are totalitarian and disturbing. The fact that these crooked indictments weren't the center of the debate last night renders it, its participants, and the Fox News hosts irrelevant for this moment in history."

The GOP candidates all want to pretend that the left will not do the same to them. It was a travesty in politics that no candidate was questioned about the political prosecution of a former president. I suspect they were informed not to bring it up in any response to other questions. Vivak was the only one who even strayed close to the subject.

Isn't anyone else concerned that such a subject was not addressed?

I heard a GOP political commentator today say it was very telling that no one was discussing the Trump/Carlson interview this morning. I thought to myself that no wonder he is a preferred GOP commentator. For he is obviously good at ignoring that wish they want ignored and obviously reads only the approved establishment political news. For if he was truly conservative, he would be aware of the discussions in conservative media regarding the Trump/Carlson interview.

Iman said...

Stick with shitsammich Biden, puddin’head. More your speed, sweetie.

Drago said...

cfs: "I suspect the GOP establishment politicians are just as guilty as the democrats. They too have a vested interest in keeping him out of serving another term."

Quite true, though you might be surprised at how many republicans on Althouse blog get very, very, very upset when this is pointed out.

One in particular.

Kai Akker said...

---Mr. Market decided that Vivek created biotech value and he made millions before he was even 40. I believe Mr. Market over the leftists that write Wiki entries. [Dave Begley]

Could be, Dave Begley. Vivek's chief vehicle Roivant Sciences went public not quite two years ago through what used to be called a shell company, now a Special Purpose Acquisition Company. It has a couple big-name partners and investors and it has created numerous subsidiaries. I'm sure you know all this.

There are a lot of buzzwords in the publicity, which cites numbers and values in the billions at every opportunity. One subsidiary, Immunovant, is a public company itself. Mr. Market sent the IMVT shares from 13 to 50 and then to 3. They are now back to 20. Roivant's reverse merger raised the shell company's stock from 10 to 16; then ROIV shares dropped into the 2s. It is now back up to 11.

There is a lot of business activity but drug development is a crapshoot. Maybe the Datavant subsidiary has a more solid opportunity in medical data services, but it is hard to know much about a private company from the outside.

If even one of Vivek's creations hits, then there will be something. But it is still worth reminding oneself that Wall Street and American prosperity create a lot of promoters. As the saying goes, don't confuse genius with a bull market.

A huge amount of energy has gone into all these creations and there are just enough deals with serious entities to show something real is going on there. But Vivek's businesses are still in the show-me stages, as far as I can tell from way outside here. Doesn't it seem a funny time to decide to run for President, Dave? But who knows -- it also makes a certain kind of logic to imagine the nation going from an 80-year-old leader to a 30something. I can't say I am entirely convinced by it all, but maybe I am too skeptical.

boatbuilder said...

"McCullough said:

Trump chose Pence as his running mate.

Trump is a moron."

Ronald Reagan chose GHWB as his running mate. Do you think that was because he and GHWB were ideological soul mates?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Rh - Trump is soap opera for dudes.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Pence talked down to Vivek. yeah - Screw Pence.

Pence was Trump's pick for VP.

stlcdr said...

Why is "democracy" highlighted the way it is? Seems like they want us to believe something which has ebbed away a long time ago.

Narayanan said...

Could be, Dave Begley. Vivek's chief vehicle Roivant Sciences went public not quite two years ago through what used to be called a shell company, now a Special Purpose Acquisition Company. It has a couple big-name partners and investors and it has created numerous subsidiaries. I'm sure you know all this.
========
is Vivek as sexy as Elizabeth Holmes?