I don’t know if there is a better place for this, so if the Mods feel it needs closing or moving, go right ahead.
I’m watching the DeSantis-Haley debate on CNN right now (1910 hours MST, January 10, 2024), and holy hannah, just ten minutes into it and the gloves are off. At each other, and at Trump.
At least, things are civil. So far.
The thread is fine here. You may be the only one watching, though!
Thanks, @Aspenglow !
I may well be the only one watching. Maybe I’m taking one for the team. But as one with no dog in this fight (I’m neither American nor in the United States), I can at least look at it dispassionately. And it’s interesting.
Jake Tapper asks about the southern border.
DeSantis: We’ll build a wall, and we’ll charge fees on remittances sent south. American kids at a school are being displaced by illegal aliens. Haley is weak on immigration.
More to come (I need another beer and some more popcorn).
I for one am interested to hear your thoughts as you endure the spectacle. Thanks for taking one for the team, as you put it. 
Remarking on Ukraine-Russia war. Haley notes that supporting Ukraine is a drop in the US federal budget. Same with Israel.
DeSantis: “You can take the ambassador out of the United Nations, but you can’t take the UN out of the ambassador.” But he seems to have no clearer answer.
Then a bunch of word salad about Israel.
Jake Tapper shuts him up.
Haley: “America needs Israel. They come to the table, Palestinians don’t.” DeSantis: “Biden did little to help Americans in Israel.”
I must say, that Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are doing a great job as moderators. And to their credit, DeSantis and Haley are doing well with adhering to the rules. One wonders what a circus this would become if Trump was there.
Break time (1948 hours, MST). Phew! No idea or indication as to what will be discussed next.
Why no pushback or corrections from CNN?
Back to it (1953 hours MST).
DeSantis on Disney and trans kids: Something about how Disney is woke, and Haley is enabling trans kids.
Haley: Not true. Boys go in boys’ bathrooms, girls go in girls’ bathrooms. Then she plugs (again) desantislies (dot) com. No biological boys in girls’ sports. Education is more important than sports. Parents need to be aware of what kids are learning at school.
On school, and what is being taught:
DeSantis: No pornographic materials in schools, but he does not define what they are. No nationalized curriculum.
Haley: Get programs down to state level; put education back in the hands of teachers. Back to basics.
Lots of interrupting each other. Haley: “I think I hit a nerve.” She goes on about how much he is spending on travelling around the country. She flies commercially when she flies.
Aside to @MyFootsZZZ : the moderators are introducing topics, but refraining from commenting. Letting the debaters hang themselve perhaps? Anyway, I’m sure that there will be a panel of talking heads later, who will have pushback and corrections.
Unfortunately after people turn the TV off and go to bed.
Still fairly early in California, Washington, and Oregon; and in Colorado, Montana, etc.
Abortion:
DeSantis: Sanctity of life, couched in “health of the woman” terms, basically saying nothing. Plus, Trump should be here to explain his stances on this and other issues.
Haley: I’m pro-life. How do we save as many babies as possible? How do we deter women from seeking abortion?
On the Constitution:
Haley: January 6 was a terrible day, but we should be concerned about election irregularities. Trump lost, and he won’t shut up about it and he will have to answer for it. Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution.
DeSantis: George Washington should be our guide. DeSantis took an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution when he went in the Navy. What is unconstitutional were all the Covid lockdowns. “There’s going to be a reckoning if I become President.”
Should Trump enjoy immunity from prosecution, as he is trying to do in his legal matters?
Both: No.
Haley: We don’t need the chaos that Trump brings.
Break, 2032 hours MST.
DeSantis is such a goon.
I’m appalled, though not shocked, at what Republicans will settle for as a “qualified” candidate for their party. Trump being the most extreme example of it, but the only candidates that really deserved consideration (Christie, Hutchison) barely made a blip.
No need for any actual policy positions. Just keep pushing that cult of perpetual grievance and victimhood!
How is DeSantis talking about mental health? What does he suggest? Go to your priest? Dude doesn’t listen to doctors. I hate this guy.
Mental health issues:
Haley: We need more mental health resources, and if insurance won’t pay for it, it should. No DC bureaucrats, put it on the ground where it should be.
DeSantis: Covid took a toll on young people, with no school, etc.; they need help Veterans need mental health care too. The VA can help, but only so far, but if it was to team up with other agencies, maybe help would be more effective. But no solid solutions.
Climate:
DeSantis: Rip up Biden’s Green New Deal. Reliable energy is necessary, not experimental solutions (solar, wind). The Left wants to take your freedom, and make you pay more, in the name of climate. Besides, China is worse than we are. Stop them before you stop us.
Haley: Same, basically. Electric cars by 2035? Not smart. We don’t have the infrastructure, not now, not then. Besides, EV batteries are made in China, which pollutes a lot anyway.
Crime:
Haley: Defund sanctuary cities. Improve morale with LEOs: do not defund them, have their backs, so they feel they can do their job without those who don’t know what they’re talking about overseeing and accusing them.
DeSantis: Get tough on crime. We wouldn’t allow all that BLM riots and crap in Florida.
Jeez, I need another beer …
Have one for me, too.
I’m not drinking, but smoking some weed. How can one not be inebriated by the prospects of the these two being president. Or Worse, the orange turd.
Oh, I will.
Closing statements:
Haley: Not four more years of chaos, as Trump would bring. Trump and Biden are neck and neck, but I beat Biden according to polls. I will make America strong.
DeSantis: Iowans know what they’re doing, and I’m running for you Iowans. “Bold colors that put American first, not pale pastels. Freedom is on the ballot.” You can be proud of me; I will get the job done.
Closing remarks from Jake Tapper, “Join us on Monday, January 15 for the Iowa caucus.” Now, CNN’s talking heads.
Phew! Believe me, @Aspenglow , I definitely will have another beer.
Talking heads on CNN, as I said. I’m no longer listening.
Back to politics and Trump legal matters tomorrow, but for now, I’m mentally exhausted. I need some mind candy after all that, so I’ve flipped on “I Can See Your Voice.” Dumb entertainment that doesn’t require a lot of thought. Just what I need about now.
I caught a few minutes of it. DeSantis brought up a tweet Haley had sent about Michael Brown or George Floyd that said all Americans should feel the pain of his death. DeSantis then said that it didn’t affect anyone in Iowa and why should they care. That’s pretty damn cold. I guess he showed her. I immediately thought that “No Man Is An Island” must not be big in Republican circles.
“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
DeSantis just fired the first shots of the War on Easter!