On Tuesday evening I joined Sean Hannity live coast to coast immediately after Donald Trump's latest speech on the deck of the USS Iowa. We discussed the speech and the travails of his rivals on the eve of Wednesday's big Republican debate.
Whoever beats Trump will be the guy who figures out a way to do what he did - leave behind the poll-calibrated consultant-managed risk-averse stump-speech-drone style that voters, even if they weary of Trump, will be unlikely to return to.
The other day, for example, Scott Walker was asked what he thought about the "refugee" crisis engulfing Europe. He replied that he didn't answer "hypothetical questions". It's not in the least bit hypothetical: it's happening on TV screens before our eyes right now. So, when Walker says he won't answer "hypothetical questions", what that means is that he's a trained seal whose handlers haven't yet told him what poll-tested answer they want him to give. Regardless of what your view on the "refugees" is, people get that Walker's response is shifty and evasive - and not that of a guy confident enough to say what he thinks and persuade others of its merits.
Click below to watch:
~Earlier I essayed a little bit of book-plugging with Alan Colmes on his radio show for a wide-ranging conversation that somehow kept circling back to the general uselessness of the Boehner-McConnell Republican Party - but don't worry, he also played a bit of my "Goldfinger" to cheer us all up. You can hear the whole interview here - and Alan sportingly Tweeted out the audio to his pal Michael E Mann. Oddly, Mikey didn't reTweet.
~As for that book of mine that Alan and Sean were kind enough to mention, that's my very latest - "A Disgrace to the Profession", the story of the 21st century's most famous graph and the damage it has done both to science and public policy. As we start our third week on sale, it's already in its fourth printing. But, if you no longer care for paper, it's also available in Kindle and Nook. We're still the Number One climatology bestseller. At Amazon US, Mike Anderson says: "Amazing. Must have for all. Couldn't put down. Should make anyone not on the green payroll livid." At Amazon Canada, Max Layton raves: "Mark Steyn has done an amazing amount of research, wittily presented as always. A must read!" At Amazon UK, Gerry Morrow calls it "An unputdownable put-down".
~On Wednesday I'll be starting the day north of the border with Toronto's Number One morning man John Oakley, live on AM640 at 8.30am Eastern. Later I'll be back with Sean for pre-debate talk on radio and post-debate talk on telly - and still to come this week Brian Kilmeade, Stuart Varney, Neil Cavuto and more. Full details in our On the Air box at top right.
