Did the Republican debate Tuesday night leave you humming tunes from “Oklahoma!” ? The next-to-last scene, the mock funeral of the villain Judd Fry, played in the movie by a babyfaced Rod Steiger, is buried without much sorrow to a dirge proclaiming “Pore Judd Is Dead”.  When someone finally decides to put the Jeb Bush campaign out of its misery, they could definitely use the same music.  My apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein.

Is it an amazing coincidence that Oklahoma!, which was famous for using an exclamation point in its title, should provide the exit music for the faltering JEB! campaign?  Go listen to the soundtrack. It fits. 

What we saw on Tuesday night was, first of all,  too many people on stage.  The buffoons, Trump and Carson, should not have been there but will be around for awhile.  Chris Christie, who should have been there, was relegated to the kid’s table.  The man who is the greatest threat to the Democrats, Marco Rubio, had a great night and managed to duck having to articulate an immigration policy.  It was the best Republican debate so far, and kudos to the Fox Business Channel which was responsible. 

What went wrong with the Jeb! campaign? He’s articulate, experienced and bilingual. He should have led a march by Hispanics to the Republican tent. But it’s not going to happen. And I can’t help but feel  bad for him because he seems like a decent person.

 Oh well. 

end