Why I’m Watching GOP Debate

Tonight, I will watch the GOP Presidential Debate and here is why.

First, Donald J. Trump has voluntarily removed himself from this debate. He did so because of an ongoing dispute with the reporting style of Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly. I don’t have a dog, so to speak, in this fight, but it seems to me, that Kelly is unfairly being targeted by Trump.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Although I’m not a big fan of Trump, neither am I a Trump hater. His absence is not why I am watching this debate.

I’ve watched all of the other debates. But I’ve longed to see what the GOP primary debates would be like without the specter of Donald J. Trump in the room. Tonight I’ll get a chance to see if the other six men on the dias are as uninspiring as they have been made to appear by the big shadow Trump has cast on the stage.

I’ll be watching to see if the GOP candidates will finally address the issues in a positive manner similar to the excellent policy discussions the Democrats have had in their primary.

Since, Trump is not in the room, there should not be a need for any of the remaining six candidates to feel they have to one up each other in meanness. I’m anxious to see how the remaining GOP candidates handle themselves without Trump’s stinging discourse in anti-civility.

Next, I want to see who, in the absence of Trump,will emerge from this GOP pack as the candidate who can execute sound and sensible domestic and foreign relation policies, if by chance, the Democrats slip and give the White House back to the GOP.

I’m excited to see how petulant and childish President Obama seems to Governor Chris Christie now, after last weekend’s mammoth snowstorm increased the possibility that Christie may have to ask the President for federal assistance, again.

Can Jeb Bush, who lost his mojo to Trump in the first debate, reconnect with the GOP conservative base?

Will Marco Rubio continue to turn on Bush or will he morph into a mature candidate?

Can Dr. Ben Carson find more debate minutes in which to explain why he will make as good a President as he was as a neurosurgeon?

And what will become of Ted Cruz who will have his first outing as the person with the biggest ego in the room?

Then there is Governor John Kasich, who one upped Trump, by forgoing campaigning in Iowa all together this month. Can he demonstrate his pragmatic approach to politics in contrast to the self-exiled Trump?

Finally, I’ll be watching to see, if any of the six will be courageous enough to totally ignore Trump, his absence and his persona? Will any of them or will all of them refuse to answer questions dealing with the absence of Trump. And I can’t wait to see which candidate will be the first to quip, ” Donald, who?”

Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com