"... the Republicans all did their very best to trump Donald Trump in their extreme policy positions."

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COMMENTS: 
*  EVERY candidate panders to their constituency.  But what do you do when your GOP constituency, is a couple cans short of a six-pack?
*  Everything she says is true.  Conservatives are just evil monsters.  I don't see any redeeming qualities in them.  The media needs to stop pandering to them because people are starting to wake up and see them for the horrible people that they are.
*  I have to agree with the author, in general terms at least. The GOP has turned off most moderate and Independent voters with their extremism. I would like to vote for them, but their stance on social issues and the lack of even a basic understanding of science made me leave them years ago.  They can win in midterms because of the lazy Democratic voter base, but in elections when more people turn out, they're too backward to make it. Unless they seriously start changing their tune, we won't see any of them in the White House next year.
*  Right on. Trump getting involved has basically sealed the deal for the Dems in 2016. The GOP can't win with him, can't win if he runs independent. 
*   It is easy to have an uninformed, byble thumping electorate put enough klowns in at the state level to gerrymand federal districts.  It is another thing to control the entire voting population statewide & nationwide.  The lack of anything positive from the gop the past 6+ years is their waterloo.  More to the point people are tired of sending their children off to fight in wars that have no relevance to the safety of this nation.
*   Just the few comments in the top of the article (pictures) should be enough to tell even the most uninformed, low information, byble thumping nutter how klueless the gop is these days.  Sadly many in the voting people think these klowns are the smart ones.  The nice thing about the debates is it shows the foot in mouth disease of the gop.  One of the most laughable is jindal talking about "guberment dependency" from a state that has one of the highest level in social.  A state that also from decade to decade gets more in FEMA aid that most states combined.
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GOP candidates' fatal problem
By Jennifer Granholm, August 7. 2015

I used to chuckle when people claimed that voters make decisions based upon how much they like a candidate and not on a candidate's policies. But after last night's debate, I'm starting to think that the GOP candidates must believe that policies don't matter much to voters at all.

These Republican candidates seemed hooked on the debate sugar-high -- touting radical positions to win the adoration of a base that does not represent the majority of American society. I know, I know: That's nothing new. But it did seem to be even more outlandish than usual.

Whether it was Mike Huckabee talking about taxing pimps and prostitutes to "fix" social security, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker opposing women's choice even in cases of rape and incest, or Jeb Bush arguing that taking health care away from millions by repealing Obamacare will somehow guarantee 4% economic growth, the Republicans all did their very best to trump Donald Trump in their extreme policy positions.

However, if people actually do vote based upon policies, you only need to look at public opinion polls to realize how destructive these positions will be with the general electorate.

Seventy-two percent of the American people support a path to citizenship. Yet, one by one, the Republicans on stage took turns attacking undocumented immigrants, many of whom were brought to this country as youngsters, through no fault of their own. By the end of the night it was clear that Donald Trump was not alone in his bellicose and anti-immigrant demagoguery.

Polls have shown that two-thirds of Americans believe that a woman should be able to terminate a pregnancy in the case of rape, incest or the life of the mother. Moderator Megyn Kelly asked, in post-debate analysis: How would these men feel if their wives faced a severely problematic pregnancy? Would they allow them to die? Not one candidate on the prime time stage expressed support for the woman's life.

Support for women's reproductive freedom was not the only issue left out of the main debate.

Eighty-three percent of Americans believe in climate science, but climate change was not mentioned once.

Eighty-four percent of Americans support paycheck fairness and equal pay for women -- not one word.

Ninety-two percent of Americans support universal background checks for firearm purchases, especially in the wake of recent shootings: nothing from the candidates.

The debate took place on the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, yet not a single candidate expressed support for the freedom to vote. Candidates in the first debate did not utter the words "middle class" even once. The words were uttered only twice in the prime time debate. You'd think with all of those candidates, one could afford to spare a moment for issues that are so important to so many Americans. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong.

In 2008 and 2012, the Republican Party lost presidential elections because its candidates hitched their campaigns to an unpopular, out-of-touch and out-of-date agenda. This time around, some Democrats privately worried that, perhaps, they had finally learned their lesson and would moderate positions.

If last night was any indication, the Democratic nominee may not have anything to worry about.
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