Ted Cruz, Donald Trump Lead the GOP Panic Parade
--Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: "In this administration, every weapon system has been gutted; in this administration, the force levels are going down to a level where we can't even project force."
--Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: "Let me tell you, if we don't get this election right, there may be no turning back for America."
--New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: "We need to rebuild our military, and this president has let it diminish to a point where tin pot dictators like the mullahs in Iran are taking our Navy ships."
Even as Christie spoke, it turned out, Iran was negotiating for the return of our ships and sailors -- which, after all, were mistakenly in Iranian waters.
The GOP candidates also ignored how this country is, as President Obama said in his State of the Union address two nights earlier, "the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It's not even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined."
But don't let that make you feel good, say the Grand Old Party's contenders. For them Trump has set a paranoid pattern, offering fewer answers than scary questions:
"There's something going on and it's bad," insisted Trump on the issue of terrorism. "And I'm saying we have to get to the bottom of it. That's all I'm saying. We need security."
In other words, don't just stand there, panic!
Only Ohio Gov. John Kasich sounded more interested in discussing actual policy and offering some problem-solving ideas. But he's still in single digits in national polls. These days, fear rules.
On the Democratic side, a different pattern shows itself. As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has gained enough support to possibly beat Hillary Rodham Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire, Clinton's unspoken slogan has become "No more Ms. Nice Lady."
In their final debate before the Iowa Caucuses, she attacked Sanders mercilessly for -- of all things -- disloyalty to President Obama. That's a smart move as they seek votes in South Carolina's primary, where Obama has 90 percent approval among Democrats.
She accused Sanders of being soft on gun control, as she has done before. She also upped the ante almost beyond belief by accusing Sanders of disloyalty, even for his mild slight criticisms of Obama's policies.
At the same time, she embraced Obama tightly enough to bring a side-eye of disapproval, I imagined, from the current first lady. Clinton has been called unlikeable by some of her fellow Democrats. At this point, maybe she would rather be feared.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)
(c) 2016 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
