This is where the debate could be genuinely useful, if the moderators could get the candidates to talk, specifically, about what they would do differently than what Trump did from 2017 to 2021 — something more than, “I’m gonna get it done!” Okay, how? What are you going to do differently than the previous Republican president?

But getting the candidates to pause, take a deep breath, and speak in paragraphs about policy specifics is just about impossible in this setup. Instead, the candidates are trying to unleash zingers or attempting to work in some overdramatized applause lines.

[Gee, this sounds familiar. Who else has pointed this out? Oh, yeah … me, twelve years ago and several times since. This year’s editions were even more useless than usual, which only proves that this parrot has still ceased to be. — Ed]