Republicans, rabies, and the debate.

Last night’s CNN/ YouTube republican debate was probably the most entertaining performance that the democrats could hope for. Several things stood out. The most obvious was that Rudy G. was distracted by yesterday’s report about his abuse of funds as mayor, in order to carry on an affair. In the next few days, this report may get more attention than Rudy’s feeble attempts to deliver zingers at target Romney. I suspect this newest scandal will not play well with republicans across America.

The debate also featured some battles of half-wits, and that the second best part of the show. Old Fred, who seemed to sleep through much of the debate, did deliver a few meaningless lines that won the hearts of all twelve of his supporters in the audience. John McCain continued to put his campaign to sleep. It struck me as part of an American tragedy to hear him give one good answer – on torture – but he has been willing to humiliate himself to such a degree in order to become president, that it has become impossible to justify the respect he once demanded.

The best part of the debate was, without question, the questions from several of the citizens which indicated the republican party represents the unstable extremist strains of our society. Tell us about your gun collection? All we need to know is: do you believe every word of the Good Book literally? Will you wrap yourself in the flag of racism?

The questions were so strange that they allowed Ron Paul to appear rational for 45 seconds in a row. They also proved that if a younger Bob Dole had rabies, his name would be Tom Tancredo. It is difficult to imagine a weaker group of republicans for a presidential primary.

The only candidate who came across as capable of using logic and reasoning was Mike Huckabee. But, although he is gaining in support from the republican base, he is unlikely to gain the nomination. The republican machine does not base it’s decisions on qualities such as logic or reasoning, as the presidency of George W. Bush makes clear. Huckabee might become the choice for vice president, although the machine will hesitate to grant him that much power.

That leaves them with the man who learned two things in his youth: first, from watching the movie The Graduate, he became convinced that there was a future in plastics; and second, from his father’s experience, he learned that the threat of being brain-washed could be reduced by displaying no evidence of any gray matter. Plastic, black and white thinking defines Mitt Romney.

Thus, this morning, though every guest on Mourning Joe says that Huckabee won the debate hands down, the machine candidate is going to be the special guest.

It must have been difficult to be a loyal republican last night. And it has to be worse to think about it this morning, while they read the paper or watch the tv. But the republican machine will not be bothered by rational thought, logic, or reasoning. The machine will be focused on selling a plastic product, and they will rely upon their base’s willingness to be cogs in the machine.