Our View: Debate? No, this one is The Donald Show

Looking forward to tonight’s first round of the 2016 Presidential Playoffs? We are. But that wasn’t always the case.

With the election so far away, we doubt many people were excited about hearing from these folks. That changed when “The Donald” arrived. Now we’re wondering exactly why is it that Donald Trump makes the debate more, well, interesting.

Is it because we expect him to fire all the other candidates? Will his incendiary comments scorch the studio? Will he become so insulting that the other candidates will gang tackle him, gag him, then continue?

Or will we hear cogent, informed and (this is key) workable solutions emanating from beneath that outrageously flamboyant comb-over? Well, that’s the last thing we expect.

Are we equally interested in hearing what the other candidates have to say? Not really. So many (including Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton) have been talking about their positions for so long that we’re fairly clear on their passions, politics and imperfections.

Do we want to see how well Fox shepherds 10 candidates – each accustomed to having the floor to themselves – through a 90-minute program without it devolving into a free-for-all? Actually, that will be interesting. But Fox has already cut the field from 17 to 10, essentially deeming seven of the 17 candidates unworthy of prime time.

The “unworthy seven” are relegated to a 2 p.m. debate, essentially turning the Ricks (Perry and Santorum), Bobby Jindal, George Pataki, Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina and Jim Gilmore into also-rans already. The cutoff for prime-time, was registering a meager 3 percent across five different polls. Even if the second-team candidates crank up the rhetoric, it’s hard to be heard when no one is listening.

So what does that leave when the lights go up at 6 p.m. for the real show? Mainly, The Donald. Outrageous, egomanical, self-promotional, grandiose, verbose, inflammatory, derogatory, ostracizing, polarizing, utterly unpredictable and thoroughly plain-spoken Donald Trump.

Yes, there are nine others. And many have far greater experience (three sitting governors, three senators, two former governors). But the showman is Trump. He knows how to command a camera. He’s the wild card and the unexpected front-runner. That makes him the target for all the others.

All that said, the actual election is 460 days away on Nov. 8, 2016. Between now and then, the debates will become more somber, more predictable, more boring. So tonight, we might as well enjoy the show.

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Our View: Debate? No, this one is The Donald Show."