Agreed, in this electorate it seems like reversing Hanlon's Razor gets further than obeying it...this seems especially true with the Republican base.
No, I'm actually in the dark about this. I watched the debate, heard the "Obama bad on purpose" vs. "Obama bad by accident" argument, thought nothing about it at the time or since, and then came here like an hour ago, and there are all sorts of comments about how Rubio said this thing which is going to ruin his campaign. What is the argument that this is a gaffe? That he gave Obama credit for not being clueless, even if it was still a form of criticism?
Rubio made the 'Obama is bad on purpose' argument. Christie attacked it as a 25 second speech, a recited talking point.
Rubio responded to Christie's attack of only being capable of reciting talking points in literally the worst possible way, by repeating his little speech again, verbatim. Christie's like 'See, right there. That's the 25 second speech!' but Rubio just keeps on going. He tries the speech for a third time, the crowd is booing him at this point.
Then, later on in the debate, Rubio tries his little speech again, and he's booed again.
Here's the entire thing in its full glory.
I didn't think much of it then. Rubio's other parts nulled me of sensation when it came to gaffe-sensing.
It is ironic coming from Christie of all people, given his prior performances.