GOP Debate Rips Open Wounds of a Fragile Party

The most recent GOP debate in Greenville, SC was an absolute doozy. The state of South Carolina has a history of bringing out the worst among GOP presidential hopefuls competing in the state’s primary, and we saw that undercurrent of nastiness on full display Saturday night.

The debate in Greenville was without question the nastiest and most personal debate yet, and it once again offers up a stark contrast to the mature, substantive primary debates that are taking place on the Democratic side. The big story of the night was the full-on assault that Donald Trump levied on the Bush family, namely former President George W. Bush and his bungling of the Iraq War. It was truly unprecedented to have a leading Republican presidential candidate lambasting a former Republican President in a debate that was sanctioned by the Republican Party.

The drama began when CBS moderator, John Dickerson, brought up former President George W. Bush and his scheduled campaign stop in South Carolina on behalf of brother Jeb. Dickerson brought up the fact that Trump previously said that President Bush should have been impeached for lying to the American people to justify the Iraq War. Trump stood by his previous comments, and the ensuing exchange between Trump and Jeb Bush was as volatile as you might expect. Trump stopped just short of calling President Bush a liar by stating:

They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction, and there were none.

A fired up Jeb Bush snapped back:

I’m sick and tired of him going after my family.

The exchange between the two, much like other exchanges between Cruz and Rubio, drew sharp boos from the audience, primarily targeted at Donald Trump. Now think to yourself…when was the last time an audience member booed a participant in a Democratic primary debate?

Trump has taken a number of risks this primary season, but his full-on attack of the Bush family may represent the biggest risk he has taken thus far. Bush and his super PAC are spending heavily to win in South Carolina where many still have fond feelings towards both former Bush family presidents. It will be interesting to see if Trump’s Teflon reputation continues in the form of a primary victory in South Carolina, a state where he currently leads big.

Beyond the Bush family bashing, the other common theme on debate night was people outright calling Ted Cruz a ‘liar.’ Typically, politicians will imply that their political opponents lie, but you very rarely see them state it with as much certainty as we heard on Saturday night. Both Marco Rubio and Donald Trump called Ted Cruz a liar on Saturday night, in exchanges that were more fitting for a schoolyard argument among children than a debate between presidential hopefuls.

The terseness surrounding the latest GOP primary debate is a reminder of how far the party of Lincoln has fallen. The extremists in the Republican Party don’t just seem willing to drive the party off a cliff, but they seem intent on strapping TNT to the car before they do so. What a good time to be a Democrat.