This is not about the DT’s, or delirium tremens, a psychotic condition typical of withdrawal in chronic alcoholics, involving tremors, hallucinations, anxiety, and disorientation.

This is also not about the DT&I, or The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad operated between its namesake cities of Detroit, Michigan and Ironton, Ohio via Toledo between 1905 and 1983. (My grandfather, a maintainer on the competing C&O Railroad, referred to the DT&I as “Damn Tramps and Idiots.”)

This is especially not about Donald fucking Trump, who because of his outrageously non-presidential performance at last night’s first Republican debate, has earned a demotion to the list of people at whom I am comfortable leveling ad hominem attacks. The guy’s a political jackass and I wouldn’t piss on him if he were on fire. While I admit that I laughed hard at a lot of his antics, I said on Facebook last night:

“Hilarious does not constitute federal policy. He’s a buffoon and is damaging to the entire process.

(Should I be required to refer to him in the future, it will be by his new initials “DFT,” not to be confused with “DTF.”  Seriously.  Don’t confuse the two.)

There I go wasting space on DFT.

Anyway, back in this post, I made the case for two of the Republican underdogs in the race, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina and current Buckeye State Governor John Kasich. While the dust hasn’t yet settled and the press hasn’t yet exhausted it analysis, it seems as though both of these potential nominees have raised their respective national profiles.

According to CNN:

“Carly Fiorina was one of the biggest winners Thursday night without even stepping on the prime-time stage. The California businesswoman didn’t meet the eligibility criteria to participate in the marque [sic] event, but her strong performance at the 5 p.m. debate for second-tier candidates lingered throughout the evening.”

According to Fortune Magazine, Fiorina was the most Googled candidate during the 5 p.m. Republican debate.

Good for her and good for us. Perhaps the system will work and what appears to be a reasoned, poised candidate will rise in both the polls and in visibility permitting her to appear on the primary slate next time instead of the secondary slate as she did this time.

My home state’s governor John Kasich also did unexpectedly well.

Gannett’s Cincinatti.com’s headline reads:

”John Kasich: GOP debate winner?”

Wall Street Journal blogger Linda Killian says:

“… His performance suggests he could be a serious alternative to Jeb Bush.”

I’m all for a serious alternative to Governor Bush, whose performance last night seemed to be lackluster at best.

That many of my more liberal Facebook friends were at least superficially impressed with Kasich indicates to me that he’s a more attractive candidate that yesterday’s polls would have you believe:

“While I think there are better governors out there, Kasich is unique among those who were on stage in that his state has actually done well.”

“I liked John Kasich the most.”

“The only one who didn’t make me homicidal was whatshisname from Ohio.” At least I think that’s where he was from. [Later, I confirmed that it was Kasich whom she’d spare in her theoretical homicidal rampage.]

To be fair, I could surf around the web and find positive comments on any of the 17. (Well, maybe not former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. I still don’t know who the heck he is — and I live in Virginia.) So these comments aren’t intended to try to sway opinion or change anyone’s mind.

I’m just making the observation that maybe the underdogs DO have a chance after all. The day before yesterday, neither Kasich nor Fiorina had a whole lot of traction at the national level. Today? That’s a different story. Tomorrow? Who knows?

But let’s watch and find out!

I also liked Marco Rubio last night, which surprised me.  He also came off poised and reasoned, though in my opinion, he fell a little short on charisma. He’s also been touted by some news outlets as the winner of the prime time debate last night, but so has DFT. And you know how I feel about him.

All in all, an interesting go-round.

I keep hoping that the triumph of reason over rhetoric rules the political process this and every election cycle. While I recognize that this is extremely unlikely, it’s nice to see the two candidates whose resumes I found to possess the requisite skill and experience also seem to be reasonable people. I’m delighted that the press generally agrees that Fiorina gets a seat at the grown up table next time.

Eh, maybe there’s hope after all.