Did you watch the GOP debate last night? Although it still gave me a headache, it was much better than the first two debates. We give total props to the NBC moderators for the turnabout. Lester Holt, who knew? The format for these debates comes straight the Fifth Circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. I would love to see an “elimination tournament” with the lesser ranked candidates going one on one with the winner advancing. Would it be fair? No. Presidential races should not be fair. The most amusing interaction was Vivek Ramaswamy’s “three inch heels” comment. “Vivek Ramaswamy: “Do you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first? Or do you want Dick Cheney in 3 inch heels,” It initially seemed aimed at only Nikki Haley, but on closer inspection it was not.

Each candidate had some obviously scripted bon mots prepared with which to torch another candidate. They rarely work out well since delivering scripted lines is a particular skill. Which none of the candidate on stage last night have demonstrated.

Although Chris Christie is about 5’11”, the other four candidates (Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Ramaswamy) are all allegedly 5’8″ to 5’9″ tall. DeSantis claims his height is also 5’11”, BUT the chattering class claims he is shorter and wears hidden lifts. Media people are always trying to catch him out. Like this lame attempt:

I can't believe @patrickbetdavid asked Ron DeSantis if he wears lifts in his cowboy boots?!

You have to watch this! pic.twitter.com/ivTDX9oS5A

— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) November 2, 2023

Lucchese boots are beautifully made and comfortable unless they don’t fit well:

The candidates chat during a commercial break at the third Republican presidential debate. https://t.co/pAYR1Yalon pic.twitter.com/pGR3OxAZpT

— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 9, 2023

This is when we got the middle school snark from Ramaswamy: “Do you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first? Or do you want Dick Cheney in 3 inch heels,”. We all laughed so hard that we missed the second part of the comment:

Vivek Ramaswamy: "Do you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first? Or do you want Dick Cheney in 3 inch heels, in which case we've got two of 'em on stage tonight." pic.twitter.com/L9AkP6wzpu

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 9, 2023

Oh burn. From DeSantis’s lack of response, he may not have heard the second part either. Ambassador Haley was not amused:

Ms Haley – who also exchanged ‘heel’ swipes with Mr DeSantis last week, amid talk he wears lifts to seem taller – snapped, “(I wear) five-inch heels… and I don’t wear them unless you can run in them.”

They both should have stopped right there. My house did not understand the next bit:

She then continued to mock Ramaswamy for his spiteful remark and added, “Second thing that I will say is I wear heels that are not for a fashion statement, they are for ammunition.”

I wouldn’t have answered Ramaswamy at all. Hard eye roll followed by a glare. No words necessary. Which led, eventually, to Haley calling Ramaswamy scum.

“Scum” is an unpleasant word that Haley cannot pull off. I think Haley was mad about Ramaswamy hitting her on how she made her money. That’s where the word scum came from. Do you wonder if these candidates have tried the scripted lines out in front of a mirror? High heels or no heels, who care?

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