"Candidates had a choice: Behave with restraint and empathy, or act as though giving offense to fellow human beings is excusable as long as liberals are annoyed."

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COMMENTS: 
*  The GOP has spent six years disrespecting the President. If there is a group of politicians that qualifies for "stolen valor" it is the GOP who are often wrapping themselves in the flag and using tragedy, like Benghazi, for political gain. And that includes you Rubin. While Bush was still President any discussion of the Iraq war was quelled as inappropriate because "we had troops in the field". As soon as Obama takes office, the GOP ditches that immediately.  No Jen the GOP had totally disrespected the troops by using them for political gain.
*  and in defiance of America’s innate preference for inclusion....  The GOP has fought "inclusion" every step of the way. Even now Gov. Bush uses the President's fight for "inclusion" to claim that President Obama is "divisive". The GOP stands for country clubs and private schools, and is against using government to bring inclusion about (anti AA/EEOO, for example). If being inclusive is an American value, then the GOP is not an "American" institution.
    *  "...the GOP is not an "American" institution."  Truer words have never been typed.
*  It appears that only *after* 2004 that it is bad manners to criticize Vietnam war veterans.  Before that it is *good strategy*.
    *  Yep, so we know that Jeb Bush has flunked the political character test:  [http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/20/politics/jeb-bush-swift-boat-veterans/]
*   "Which Republicans flunked the political character test?" All of them.
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Which Republicans flunked the political character test?
By Jennifer Rubin, July 20, 2015

Why does it matter who stood up to Donald Trump early and consistently; understood that the Confederate battle flag had to come down and was not afraid to say it; and didn’t sound unhinged after the Supreme Court ruled on gay marriage?

In the most fundamental way, each of these episodes tested the candidates’ maturity, judgment and decency. Trump’s attack on Hispanics, the Confederate battle flag controversy and threatening disobedience in the face of a court ruling are the proverbial dog whistles to the far right at the expense of a group of people and in defiance of America’s innate preference for inclusion. Candidates had a choice: Behave with restraint and empathy, or act as though giving offense to fellow human beings is excusable as long as liberals are annoyed. It is deeply disappointing to see how many Republicans both in the race and in the media did not recognize this.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board spoke for many conservatives who have been dismayed that their ideological allies have behaved so badly:

[Ted] Cruz has recently released a book whose main theme is an attack on other Republicans. It’s central to his campaign strategy. The Texas Senator must be hoping to inherit Trump voters once the casino magnate flames out, but he’s revealing his own lack of political character.

As for conservative media elites, too many have adopted the view that there can be no adversary to their right. This was mainly a left-wing affliction in the last century as many liberals refused to condemn Communists. But today many on the right seem willing to indulge any populist outburst no matter how divorced from reality or insulting to most Americans. If Donald Trump becomes the voice of conservatives, conservatism will implode along with him.

It was not “just” talk radio or only far-right blogs that made excuses for Trump, and in fact, many in these quadrants recognized Trump as an opportunist and scoundrel. There were old-media figures and elected officials who seem to have acquired the worst habits of the right-wing echo chamber and who excuse every Republican misstep (so long as he or she is rabidly against immigration and gay marriage). They have forgotten that we demand of political and opinion leaders a higher level of respect for others.

Just as disturbing were candidates in the case of Trump and the flag who were too timid to speak up, and reluctantly followed braver candidates. If they are hiding and waiting for others, they are not presidential material. If you cannot denounce someone referring to Hispanic immigrants as “rapists” because you fear the base might object or you might lose a chance to grab a few Trump supporters, you really should not be running for president.

There were some candidates who got all three challenges right. They denounced Trump when he first defamed immigrants, understood that the Confederate battle flag was hurtful to many Americans and recognized that there is no excuse for lawlessness no matter how much you disagree with the Supreme Court. Count among the grown-ups former Texas governor Rick Perry, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). There were those who flunked on all counts, most vividly Cruz. And there were others in between. Most disappointing was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who couldn’t bring himself to denounce Trump before the attack on POWs, who held back until others spoke out on the flag and, maybe worst of all, pandered to anti-gay-marriage forces and then dropped talk about a constitutional amendment, only to spend a few days bouncing around on the issue of gay Scout leaders.

Republicans running for president should learn the right lesson from Hillary Clinton’s travails: Voters sense when a candidate has to figure out which way the wind is blowing before settling on a position. Voters know when a candidate is over-scripted, agonizingly contrived and lacking conviction. They would rather disagree with you than feel as though they are being sold a bill of goods. The presidency is unlike any other elective office insofar as voters want to be proud of their vote and admire (to the extent we can still admire politicians these days) their choice. Giving them what you think they want to hear and refusing to criticize egregious behavior on your own side is no way to run for president. And encouraging bad behavior is no way for conservative media to affect the political scene.
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