We've really recalibrated the bar to the lower side. Donald Trump said that Hillary Clinton was a liar, weak and didn't have the stamina to be president, a veiled reference to the fact that it took her longer to use the bathroom than her male counterparts in last night's debate. He also said that Jeb Bush was a puppet of special interests and a disgrace to the Bush family.
And then conservative commentator Hugh Hewlitt said that he did a good job in the interview. This doesn't even consider the fact of how Trump went on about how he likes Putin and would get along with him. (If the people of eastern Europe - Poland, Lithuania Ukraine - are concerned about President Obama, you should be really worried about a potential Trump presidency.)
But Mr. Hewlitt seems simply blinded by his utter contempt and hatred of Hillary Clinton in his assessment of the Donald Trump interview because Mrs. Clinton during last night's debate declared that ISIS is using Mr. Trump's derogatory comments about Muslims as a recruiting tool, to which he liar label was applied to the former secretary. Even if it isn't true, it's an all too easy conclusion to come to, and today's round table seemed to agree that it would be trouble for her. This can only lead one to conclude that the bar is set at different heights for each party in terms of hyperbolic rhetoric.
The legitimate debate is how the candidates differ on how to approach ISIS and the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. As Mr. Todd pointed out to Mr. Trump, he and Senator Bernie Sanders agree that ISIS has to be dealt with first and then Assad whereas Mrs. Clinton feels that both must be addressed at the same time - regime change and the elimination of ISIS. Senator Sanders repeated this position in his interview segment later in the program. However, what Mr. Todd didn't explain in pointing out the similarity of Mr. Trump's and Senator Sanders' position is the two vastly different motivations for this agreement. Senator Sanders explained that ISIS should be the first priority and then, when they are eliminated, the United States should lead a diplomatic coalition to remove Mr. Assad from power through a democratic process. Conversely, Mr. Trump agrees more with Vladimir Putin that Assad should stay in power in perpetuity. Never mind the oppression of the people of Syria, it's favoring the strong man.
What today's program unknowingly pointed out is that with all this media drooling over the bombast, it's allowed new House Speaker Paul Ryan to fly under the radar a bit and actually get Congress to complete legislation that has required traditional compromise to pass. So there's a little consolation. Of course Speaker Ryan, while saying he has worked productively with President Obama on criminal justice reform and appropriations, has to then pivot and state that Mr. Obama has been the most polarizing president we've ever had. So much for good cheer.
Despite that, we want to wish all who read this column a very safe and happy holiday season.
Panel: Maggie Haberman, The New York Times; Hugh Hewlitt, conservative commentator; Jose Diaz-Balart, NBC News; Doris Kearns-Godwin, presidential historian
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