GOP In Turmoil – Dissension Among The Cranks

All hell has broken loose between the Republican presidential campaigns and the Republican National Committee (RNC). A mutiny is afoot! It appears after this week’s presidential debate hosted by CNBC – a disorganized disaster widely panned by political observers – the candidates want to take control of the debate process going forward.

To a man (and woman), each candidate complained about the tough questions they were asked and the apparent bias of the CNBC moderators.

Sparked by Iowa front-runner Ben Carson and second-tier candidate, Bobby Jindal, a meeting will take place this Sunday in Washington D.C. among representatives of the various campaigns. Think “The Godfather” and the meeting of the “Five Families.” Most, if not all, campaigns will be represented at the meeting.

It appears there will be one notable player missing from the Sunday meeting, RNC chairman Reince Priebus. The campaign reps want to be left alone to plot how they will alter the party’s debate process without the entity responsible for scheduling and co-sponsoring each of the officially sanctioned debates!

So it will be the cranky children conducting their own meeting without any adult supervision.

Good luck with that!

While all the candidates may not like how some of the debates have been conducted so far, each campaign will come to the big meeting with it’s own set of wants and gripes. Some candidates have complained about unequal speaking time. Others have griped about how polling is used to determine who qualifies for the prime-time and undercard debates. Some have insisted on opening and closing statements.

You thought the last debate was a free-for-all?

There is one simple way to make the debates better and more meaningful. No, it is not to take Ted Cruz” suggestion of having the next debate moderated by Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. It is for the top-tier candidates to tell the wannabes within their ranks to exit stage door right, pronto … for the good of the party, of course. But that sensible idea might not go over well with New Jersey’s favorite bully,  Gov. Chris Christie. “If some unlucky accident were to befall Gov. Christie,” said campaign manager Luca Brasi, ” I am going to blame some people at that meeting.”

Photo | nytimes.com