The team of political reporters at the New York Times held an informal round table online to talk about what the upcoming debate will look like without The Donald.
So far, a personal favorite over there is Michael Rappeport who asks "Can Ben Carson make an impression?"
Ben who?
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Amy Chozick thinks Hillary will be main target...
Think about that for a moment -- for a nanosecond -- and remember that the name Clinton suggests an artful bid to be considered a partner to mainstream, centrist Republicans, Republicans who quietly but fiercely objected to McCarthy way more than they did Woodstock, who cling proudly to Nixon's record as an international player, and who rate the tea party about as highly as doggy-do clinging to their conservative Florsheims.
Some may see Hil as akin to that nice investment manager who takes them for lunch once a year (tax-time) at that quiet, sensible eatery around the corner on Hanover Street. Useful, if not "one of us."
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Ashley Parker holds (grimly?) to Jeb Bush -- a hurried, harried screw-up who's fleshier than his brother but (after all) a reliable Bush. "He could use a breakout moment," she writes. Like, he surely does...
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Jonathan Martin thinks it will come down to everybody vs. Cruz and Trump, absent or present.
That seems like a safe bet.
