Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at the Republican Debate

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2 years ago

August 24, 2023

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In their first presidential debate last night, Republicans staged their own version of Tom Stoppards classic play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Stoppards story focuses on the titular two characters, who are minor figures in Hamlet. The playwright recounts the Hamlet story from their peripheral perspective, as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern wait and wander, distant from the real action. For much of the plays three acts, they strain for even glimpses of the man at the center of the tale, Prince Hamlet.

The eight GOP candidates onstage last night often seemed like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with their words largely stripped of meaning by the absence of the central protagonist in their drama.

The debate had plenty of heat, flashes of genuine anger, and revealing policy disputes. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has often seemed a secondary player in this race, delivered a forceful performanceparticularly in rebutting the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on policy toward Ukrainethat made her the most vivid figure onstage to many Republicans.

But all that sound and fury fundamentally lacked relevance to the central story in the GOP race: whether anyone can dent former President Donald Trumps massive lead over the field. At times, it seemed as if the other candidates had lost sight of the fact that it is Trump, not the motormouthed Ramaswamy, who is 40 points or more ahead of all of them in national polls.

Trump is the big winner, the Republican consultant Alex Conant told me after the debate. Nobody made an argument about why they would be a better nominee than Donald Trump. They didnt even begin to make that argument.

There were plausible reasons the candidates focused so little on the man they are trying to overtake. The Fox News moderators did not ask specifically about Trumps legal troubles until an hour into the debate, instead focusing on discussions about the economy, climate change, and abortion. Ramaswamy seemed to be daring the other candidates to smack him down by repeatedly attacking not only their policies but their motivations. Im the only person on this stage who isnt bought and paid for, he insisted at one point. Loud booing from the audience almost anytime someone criticized Trump may also have discouraged anyone from targeting him too often.

But it was more than the debates immediate circumstances that explained the fields decision to minimize direct confrontation with Trump. That choice merely extended the strategy most have followed throughout this campaign, which in turn has replicated the deferential approach most of Trumps rivals took during the 2016 race.

David A. Graham: Ramaswamy and the rest

Haley took the most direct shot at the former president on policy, criticizing him from the right for increasing the national debt so much during his tenure; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis jabbed Trump toothough not by namefor supporting lockdowns early in the pandemic. Yet these exchanges were overshadowed by the refusal of any of the contenders, apart from former Governors Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, to object to Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 election or his role in sparking the January 6 insurrection. All of them except Hutchinson and Christie raised their hand to indicate they would support Trump as the GOP presidential nominee even if he is convicted of a crime before the election.

To Conant, all of this seemed reminiscent of the 2016 campaign, when Trumps rivals seemed reluctant to attack him in the hope that he would somehow collapse on his own. Their strategy is wrong, Conant said. Hes going to be the nominee unless somebody can capture the support of Republicans who are open to an alternative. And nobody even tried to do that tonight.

David Kochel, an Iowa-based Republican consultant, wasnt as critical. But he agreed that the field displayed little urgency about its biggest imperative: dislodging from Trump some of the voters now swelling his big lead in the polls. What this race needs is to start focusing in on [the question of] Trump or the future, which is it? Kochel told me. Im not sure we saw enough of that last night.

The failure to more directly address the elephant in the room, or what Bret Baier, a co-moderator, called the elephant not in the room, undoubtedly muted the debates potential impact on the race. Nonetheless, the evening might provide a tailwind to some of the contenders, and a headwind to others.

The consensus among Republicans I spoke with after the debate was that Haley made a more compelling impression than the other seven candidates onstage. Her best moment came when she lacerated Ramaswamy for calling to end U.S. support to Ukraine, a move she said would essentially surrender the country to Russian President Vladimir Putin. You are choosing a murderer over a pro-American country, she told Ramaswamy. You have no foreign-policy experience, and it shows.

The debate lifted Nikki Haley as one of the prime alternatives for the people who are worried that Trump carries too much baggage to get elected, the veteran GOP pollster Whit Ayres told me last night. She gutted Ramaswamay.

Ramaswamy forced himself into the center of the conversation for much of the night, making unequivocal conservative declarations such as The climate agenda is a hoax, and categorical attacks on the rest of the candidates as corrupt career politicians.

Yet the evening showed why he may not advance any further than other outsider candidates in earlier GOP races, like Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann in 2012. His choice to emulate Trump as an agent of chaos surely thrilled the GOP voters most alienated from the party leadership. But Ramaswamys disruptive behavior and tendency toward absolutist positions that he could not effectively defend seemed likely to lower his ultimate ceiling of support. He appeared to simultaneously deepen but narrow his potential audience.

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina also had a difficult night, though less by commission than omission. In his first turn on such a big stage, he simply failed to make much of an imprint; the evening underscored the limitations of his campaign message beyond his personal story of rising from poverty. I forgot he was even there, Kochel said. Maybe nice guys finish last; I dont know. He disappeared.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, by contrast, was as animated as hes been in a public forum. That was true both when he was making the case for an almost pre-Trumpian policy agenda that reprised priorities associated with Ronald Reagan and when he was defending his actions on January 6.

DeSantis, who seemed slightly overcaffeinated at the outset, didnt disappear, but he didnt fill Trumps shoes as the focal point of the debate either. The other candidates devoted little effort to criticizing or contrasting with him. To Conant, that was a sign they consider him a fading ember: No reason to risk losing a back-and-forth with a dead man, Conant said. Others thought that although DeSantis did not stand out, he didnt make any mistakes and may have succeeded in reminding more conservative voters why they liked him so much before his unsteady first months as a presidential candidate.

Christie in turn may have connected effectively with the relatively thin slice of GOP voters irrevocably hostile to Trump. That may constitute only 10 to 15 percent of the GOP electorate nationally, but it represents much more than that in New Hampshire, where Christie could prove formidable, Ayres told me.

But it wont matter much which candidate slightly improved, or diminished, their position if they all remain so far behind Trump. Ayres believes materially weakening Trump in the GOP race may be beyond the capacity of any of his rivals; the only force that might bring him back within their reach, Ayres told me, is if his trial for trying to overturn the 2020 election commences before the voting advances too far next year and damages his image among more Republican voters.

In a Republican context, Ayres said, The only institutions that have the ability to bring hm back to Earth are not political institutions; they are judicial institutions.

Kochel, who attended the debate, pointed out that the loud disapproval from the crowd at any mention of Trumps legal troubles accurately reflected the desire of most GOP voters to bury the issue. A lot of the base right now collectively has their hands up over their ears and are going La-la-la, Kochel said. The problem for the party, though, is that while Republican partisans may not want to deal with the electoral implications of nominating a candidate facing 91 criminal charges, general-election voters are going to deliver a verdict on all of this even if a jury doesnt.

David A. Graham: What people keep missing about Ron DeSantis

Apart from Christie and Hutchinson, the candidates on the stage seemed no more eager than the audience to address Trumps actions. While all of them agreed Pence did the right thing on January 6 by refusing Trumps demands to reject the election results, none except those two and Pence himself suggested Trump did something wrong in pressuring his vice president. Nor did the others find fault in anything else Trump did to subvert the 2020 result.

The final act of Stoppards play finds Rosencrantz and Guildenstern drifting toward a doom that neither understands, nor can summon the will to escape. In their caution and timidity, the Republicans distantly chasing Trump dont look much different.

Sports

Rocchio HR sparks Guardians, forces decisive G3

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2 hours ago

October 2, 2025

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Rocchio HR sparks Guardians, forces decisive G3

Bradford DoolittleOct 1, 2025, 06:22 PM ET
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CLEVELAND — How far can a team go by repeatedly dancing away from a season-ending precipice? The Cleveland Guardians are determined to find out.

The Guardians, boosted by a five-run eighth-inning outburst that began with an unlikely home run from Brayan Rocchio, beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 on Wednesday to force a decisive Game 3 in the AL Wild Card Series.

In many ways, it was fitting that Rocchio ignited the season-saving rally because the trajectory of his rags-to-riches season has been in lockstep with the team around him. And, yes, the blast was unlikely, but unlikely is where the Guardians seem to be most comfortable.

“We always say we try to always play without pressure,” Rocchio said through the team’s interpreter. “That’s our type of ball. We just play and we realize we’re going to play until the last out. Even if we’re down by 10, we’ll know we’ll continue to try to play that type of ball.”

For seven innings, the Guardians and Tigers engaged in the kind of low-scoring, close game that frustrates hitters and thrills pitchers alike. For Cleveland, the frustration came from an inability to do much of anything after George Valera‘s first-inning home run. Through seven frames, Cleveland had just two hits and five baserunners overall.

For Detroit, the frustration was very different. The Tigers stranded 15 baserunners for the game. One Cleveland pitcher after another managed to wriggle out of trouble, usually with an inning-ending strikeout.

“It was a tough day,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Obviously, they made the most of their opportunities and we left 15 guys on. I think that paints the picture that was today.”

The score was tied 1-1 entering the Cleveland half of the eighth. With one out, Rocchio stepped to the dish against Detroit fireballer Troy Melton.

“Just velo and the plus stuff,” Hinch said when asked why he went with Melton in that situation. “We needed to extend the game.”

Melton might have been the least of Rocchio’s problems. The afternoon shadows make things miserable for the hitters, with Guardians manager Stephen Vogt noting that in those conditions, batters simply can’t pick up the spin on a pitch, making everything look more or less like a fastball.

Rocchio got an actual fastball from Melton, a four-seamer in the heart of the plate that registered at 99.9 mph, per Statcast. The sheer velocity of the pitch was the first thing that made Rocchio’s homer so unlikely. According to ESPN Research, only Oscar Mercado, in a 2020 regular-season game, had gone deep on a pitch that fast for Cleveland over the past decade.

Rocchio connected and sent a shot toward right field. But even so, a home run still seemed very unlikely thanks to a howling wind that had been blowing in from that direction and played havoc with fly balls all afternoon.

“Funny enough, when the game started, I was thinking with this wind, we have to put the ball on the ground, try to get ground balls,” Rocchio said. “When I get that mindset to get the ball on the ground is when I get better and better results.”

Indeed, the ball settled into the right-field seats, giving Cleveland the lead and sparking an offensive surge capped by Bo Naylor‘s three-run blast later in the inning.

But forget the conditions — the shadows, the wind, the pitcher — and just think how unlikely it was that Rocchio was there, taking a high-leverage at-bat in a postseason elimination game.

Rocchio struggled so badly early this season that he spent six weeks at Triple-A despite helping the Guardians to the 2024 AL Central title and becoming a Gold Glove finalist at shortstop.

When Rocchio did return to the majors, his club was on its way to digging a 15½-game hole beneath Detroit in the AL Central. Nevertheless, there they were in Game 2, Rocchio and the Guardians, getting a postseason win in a season that has at various times been on life support.

“I think it’s important to just understand that we’re here for a reason,” Naylor said. “We’re here because we trust the guys that are in that clubhouse at our side.”

The Tigers won’t be daunted by their Game 2 loss, though they will join the Guardians in facing an elimination game Thursday. But if experience in playing with your back against the wall means anything, that edge has to go to a Guardians squad that has been there for three months.

“This is who we are,” Vogt said. “Couldn’t be more proud of our guys. Back against the wall. Back’s still against the wall tomorrow. We’ll come out ready to go and so will they. It will be another dogfight tomorrow. I guarantee it.”

Sports

Machado, Miller propel Padres to Game 2 win

Published

2 hours ago

October 2, 2025

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Machado, Miller propel Padres to Game 2 win

Associated Press

Oct 1, 2025, 07:19 PM ET

CHICAGO — Manny Machado hit a two-run homer, Mason Miller dominated again and the San Diego Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 on Wednesday, sending their NL Wild Card Series to a decisive third game.

Jackson Merrill hit an early sacrifice fly as San Diego avoided elimination after losing 3-1 on Tuesday. Dylan Cease struck out five in 3 2/3 innings before handing the ball to his team’s hard-throwing bullpen.

The finale of the best-of-three series is back at Wrigley Field on Thursday.

The playoff-tested Padres are looking for a repeat of 2020, when they dropped Game 1 in the special pandemic wild-card round before advancing with two straight victories against St. Louis. Machado also homered in Game 2 of that series.

Chicago finished with four hits. The franchise is making its first appearance in the playoffs in five years, and it hasn’t advanced since it eliminated Washington in a 2017 NL Division Series.

San Diego jumped in front on Merrill’s flyball to right off Andrew Kittredge in the first, driving in Fernando Tatis Jr. Kittredge started for Chicago as an opener, and the right-hander was replaced by left-hander Shota Imanaga in the second.

The Cubs threatened in the fourth, putting runners on first and second with two down. Adrian Morejon then came in and retired Pete Crow-Armstrong on a bouncer to first.

The Padres added two more runs on Machado’s 404-foot drive to left off Imanaga in the fifth. Tatis reached on a leadoff walk and advanced on a sacrifice ahead of Machado’s 12th career playoff homer.

The three runs were more than enough for San Diego’s bullpen, with Miller and Robert Suarez combining for 14 pitches of over 100 mph.

Morejon pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings before Miller showed off his electric stuff while striking out five consecutive batters. The 6-foot-5 right-hander reached 104.5 mph on a called third strike to Carson Kelly in the seventh that was the fastest pitch in the postseason since Statcast started tracking in 2008.

Miller, who was acquired in a trade with the Athletics on July 31, struck out the side in the seventh in his postseason debut on Tuesday. The eight straight Ks tied the postseason record set by Josh Hader in 2022.

Miller was pulled from Game 2 after he hit Michael Busch with a slider with two oust in the eighth. Suarez retired Nico Hoerner on a liner to right before a one-hit ninth for the save.

Up next Yu Darvish will get the ball for San Diego on Thursday. There was no immediate word on Chicago’s starter.

Darvish played for the Cubs for three seasons before he was traded to the Padres in December 2020. The right-hander said he enjoys pitching at Wrigley.

“Yeah, this place did me good,” he said through a translator. “The organization, the fans did me good, too.”

World

Israel removes Greta Thunberg from Gaza aid flotilla – but says she is ‘safe and healthy’

Published

2 hours ago

October 1, 2025

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Israel removes Greta Thunberg from Gaza aid flotilla - but says she is 'safe and healthy'

Several boats from a large aid flotilla trying to reach Gaza have been boarded by Israeli authorities – with campaigner Greta Thunberg among those removed.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is made up of more than 40 civilian boats with an estimated 500 people onboard, and is trying to break Israel’s sea blockade.

But the attempt appears to have been thwarted – at least for now – by about 20 Israeli ships.

Israel’s foreign ministry said “several vessels” had been “safely stopped” with passengers being taken to an Israeli port.

“Greta and her friends are safe and healthy,” a spokesperson added.

A video showed Thunberg sitting on deck while being handed a water bottle and raincoat.

It’s so far unclear how many boats have been intercepted.

The flotilla ignored requests to turn back and organisers said the interception was illegal as it happened in “international waters” around 80 miles off the coast.

Greg Stoker, a US veteran who’s involved, said water cannon had been used on some of the boats.

The flotilla, which set off from Barcelona and scheduled to arrive this morning, was flanked by NATO warships for some of the journey.

The attempt has received a lot of attention, with Nelson Mandela’s grandson, a former Barcelona mayor and several European legislators taking part.

Israel said the mission was violating a lawful blockade and is only intended to provoke. It also said it had offered a way to deliver any aid peacefully through safe channels.

Organisers said the night-time interception was the second time the flotilla had been approached on Wednesday, after “warships” earlier encircled two of its boats.

Last week, drones also reportedly dropped stun grenades and itching powder on some vessels.

Israel didn’t comment, but has said it will use any means to stop the boats getting to Gaza.

Protests have broken out in Italy and Turkey over the treatment of the flotilla.

Italy’s largest union has called a general strike tomorrow, saying the “attack on civilian vessels carrying Italian citizens represents an extremely serious matter”.

Turkey’s foreign ministry called Israel’s interception an “attack” and “an act of terror” that endangered lives of those on board.

Gaza has been dealing with severe food shortages due to the ongoing war.

Agencies such as the UN accused Israel of deliberately slowing the delivery of supplies – something it denies.

However, the aid being carried by the flotilla is said to only be a symbolic amount of food and medicine.

An aid boat carrying Thunberg was also intercepted near Gaza in June, with the Swede deported alongside others.

Israel put in it sea blockade when Hamas took control of the territory in 2007 and there have been several attempts to break it since then.

Some of those involved in the latest campaign have said they will start a hunger strike if they’re detained.

Meanwhile, all eyes remain on Hamas and whether it will accept Donald Trump’s peace plan to end the two-year war, sparked by the group’s terror attack on Israel.

The 20-point proposal was unveiled alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House this week.

Hamas said it would study the plan and consult with other factions, but didn’t give an indication of when it would deliver its verdict.

Mr Trump said on Tuesday he would give the group “three or four days”.