Befuddled CNN panelists

I rarely watch news on TV, particularly the evening news programs on the cable channels. I do watch the local channels in the morning, mainly to get the sports and weather. My wife watches the Evening News Hour on PBS as she prepares dinner, and if I am in the kitchen with her, I’ll watch that. I realize that Amna Nawaz, Geoff Bennett, and their PBS colleagues are Bolsheviks, but I enjoy watching the Jonathan Capehart/David Brooks segment on Fridays.

I did watch the Haley-DeSantis debate on CNN last night. I started watching about 15-20 minutes before the debate started—CNN had a panel, and the participants discussed the impact of Christie’s withdrawal on the upcoming primaries. It was interesting to watch them struggle with the notion that yesterday’s development improves the non-Trump candidates’ chances. They tried so hard to find reasons why the consolidation resulting from Christie’s departure is not a major development. Trump is a lock, blah, blah…

It seems to me that the pundits, excluding the Fox people, are really rooting for Trump, (1) because they look forward to savaging him during the campaign; and (2) he would lose to Biden. A Trump-Biden race would mean higher ratings. Also, they don’t want to cover a Haley landslide. Looking sad and lamenting a Democrat loss on election night is tough—2016 was enough. “Boo hoo hoo. Why don’t the American people think the way we tell them they should think?”

A couple of months ago I posted a comment to the effect that I thought neither Trump nor Biden would be their party’s candidate in 2024 (I added a caveat that I was aware that my prediction could be based upon wishful thinking or naivete). I continue to hold to my prediction, although I am less convinced that the Democrats will have the cojones to boot Biden/Harris off the ticket. I am more confident that, if DeSantis were to withdraw after a third-place finish in Iowa, Haley would cruise in NH and SC.

If I am wrong, and Trump is the GOP candidate, it’s seppuku for me. I would stage the event in GOP campaign headquarters and have eaten a peppery lamb vindaloo from the Star of India an hour or so before.