I caught the last 45-60 minutes of last night's debate. Jeb! was trying so hard to look tough and go after the Donald, but he's such a dork that it came off as awkward and cringeworthy
That's it exactly. The other Repub candidates are clowns and con men and insincere, but Jeb! has always just made me cringe. He seems like an entitled rich son from 50 years ago, time-traveled into modern times, and frustrated that the levers of social power don't work for him the way he has been raised to expect them to. He seems to resent having to actually work at campaigning, resents not having the presidency handed to him.
That whole family makes me cringe. His mom, ugh. Cringe.
He really does look befuddled. And he seems to have no idea how to deal with not having every single thing simply go his way, like they always have done in his charmed life. When he tried to talk tough, he'd look around as if he wanted to ask someone "How did I do? Was that aggressive enough?"
Precisely that. He seems like he got positive feedback for every little thing. He looks like he thinks people who don't do that for him are not following the script. I think underneath he's resentful about that, but the more surface affect that comes across is just what you say – befuddlement. "I'm supposed to get rewarded for showing up and saying my lines. Where is my gumball?"
So indistinguishable is Bush from his many rivals now that one Iowa-based reporter asked the former Florida governor about his promise to “defeat the Washington machine.” “No, that was Rand Paul,” Bush quickly corrected.
Jesus, you mean to tell me that Jeb! can't even successfully steal a crowd-pleasing line from another candidate? He's toast…
Heh.
Sensing a pattern here…
I caught the last 45-60 minutes of last night's debate. Jeb! was trying so hard to look tough and go after the Donald, but he's such a dork that it came off as awkward and cringeworthy
That's it exactly. The other Repub candidates are clowns and con men and insincere, but Jeb! has always just made me cringe. He seems like an entitled rich son from 50 years ago, time-traveled into modern times, and frustrated that the levers of social power don't work for him the way he has been raised to expect them to. He seems to resent having to actually work at campaigning, resents not having the presidency handed to him.
That whole family makes me cringe. His mom, ugh. Cringe.
He really does look befuddled. And he seems to have no idea how to deal with not having every single thing simply go his way, like they always have done in his charmed life. When he tried to talk tough, he'd look around as if he wanted to ask someone "How did I do? Was that aggressive enough?"
Precisely that. He seems like he got positive feedback for every little thing. He looks like he thinks people who don't do that for him are not following the script. I think underneath he's resentful about that, but the more surface affect that comes across is just what you say – befuddlement. "I'm supposed to get rewarded for showing up and saying my lines. Where is my gumball?"
What's the point of going to Choate and Yale and the B-School if you can't have everything handed to you?
Are you saying that life has no meaning? Did I get das Buttßechs from all of Skull'n'Bones for nothing?
Today in Po'o
The wonderful Repub base: "I wouldn't want to have a beer with Jeb. It would be boring. Plus his wife is brown."
Jesus, you mean to tell me that Jeb! can't even successfully steal a crowd-pleasing line from another candidate? He's toast…
He constantly seems to have that quizzical look on his face that screams "don't you know who I am?"
http://www.theonion.com/article/terrified-jeb-bus…
Hah, and right below that: "Koch Brothers Get Each Other Same Election For Christmas"
“We were so excited when we first got [Scott] Walker, but he turned out to be defective. It would have cost way too much to fix him.”
The Gift of the Magi.