Scott and I have been writing together for many years, and a consistent theme of our partnership has been that I am an optimist, while Scott–it is fair to say–is not. So not surprisingly, my view of last night’s GOP debate is a little more optimistic than Scott’s. I admit I might be whistling past the graveyard at this point, but I hold out hope that come 2025, we might have dodged the octogenarian bullet.

I watched the debate mostly because immediately afterward I was on the Bolt Report with Andrew Bolt on Sky News Australia, to discuss it. Only the audio of last night’s Bolt Report is available on YouTube; my segment starts at 36:49. In addition to talking about the debate, I also defend Donald Trump (“the elephant that wasn’t in the room”) against the charge of being a would-be dictator:

So, sure, call me an optimist. But can’t we at least let some people vote before we anoint anyone as our presidential nominee?

One more thing: I should add that the debate was well-conducted by NewsNation, the University of Alabama and the moderators, including Scott’s daughter Eliana. There were a few times when candidates talked over one another, which is inevitable. But the debate was well executed and the moderators asked good questions, not acting as stand-ins for liberal journalists as we have sometimes seen in the past. So kudos to them.