Rieder: GOP debate donnybrooks and Stewart's exit
Aug. 6 is shaping up as a huge date in the worlds of media and politics.
That's when the army of contenders and pretenders in the endlessly entertaining carnival that is the Republican presidential primary will square off in not one, but two, televised debates.
And that's when Jon Stewart, a major force in the nation 's political conversation and one of its very best media critics, will air his final show on Comedy Central.
The debates, both on Fox News Channel, should be must-see TV, and not just for political junkies. The presence of billionaire businessman and loose cannon extraordinaire Donald Trump has transformed the GOP contest into a melange of reality TV and performance art.
But it's not just Trump who is bringing the wacky. Last week, we were treated to the spectacle of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., destroying his cellphone with a variety of devices, including a golf club and a meat cleaver. This after Trump, upset that Graham had called him a "jackass," gave out the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina's cellphone number.
And another hopeful, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., released a video in which he took a chainsaw to the U.S. tax code. Yes, the same Rand Paul Time magazine once described as "the most interesting man in politics."
And Trump -- who famously spoke of Mexico sending us rapists and questioned whether Senator and former POW John McCain was really a hero -- has had no monopoly on making outrageous statements. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee showed he was right up there when it comes to tasteless, ridiculous remarks when he said President Obama's agreement with Iran was marching Israelis "to the door of the oven."
But it's Trump's bumptious presence that makes the Fox cattle calls so intriguing. With his gift for hogging the spotlight, you just know he'll come armed with some heat-seeking one-liners that will make him the center of attention.
Love him or loath him, there is no question that Trump's ascension has been the dominant storyline in the GOP campaign. With none of the inhibitions of the traditional politician, he is both willing to say outlandish things and then embrace them rather than walk them back as others would. And his fans love it.
While the Republican establishment has castigated him and the media has pummeled and ridiculed him, he stubbornly refuses to go away. The conventional wisdom was that the McCain remarks would sink Trump, but The Donald has maintained his stranglehold on the GOP polls.
The prime-time Fox debate, to be held at 9 p.m. ET, will be limited to the 10 top candidates as measured by an average of the national polls. According to Politico, that now would include Trump, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Paul, Huckabee, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Texas governor Rick Perry. Left out would be Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former New York governor George Pataki and Graham.