On a crowded debate stage, 10 Republican candidates for president sought breakout moments and tried to avoid missteps that could sink their White House hopes at this early stage.
Here’s a look at how they fared during the first Republican debate of the 2016 campaign.
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DONALD TRUMP
Unquestioned star of the show. Set the tone for the raucous two-hour debate by declining to pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee if he’s not the pick. Provided few concrete answers to the policy questions posed during the debate.
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JEB BUSH
Used his time to try to introduce himself and his record in Florida to a nationwide audience. Turned boos about his immigration position, which would offer those in the country illegally a path to legal status, into cheers by shifting focus to economic growth.
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SCOTT WALKER
A quiet figure early, stood out late while discussing his faith and talking tough on policy toward Iran and the Islamic State. Won applause by jabbing at Clinton, saying Russia and China “know more about Hillary Clinton’s email server than do the members of the United States Congress.”
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MIKE HUCKABEE
Held firm on the party’s right flank, especially on social issues. His call for recognizing unborn fetuses as persons with full rights ignited applause from the audience.
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BEN CARSON
Used humor to make his mark, quipping at one point that he wasn’t sure whether he was going to get to talk again. Conceded his lack of foreign policy credentials, but appealed for the votes of those eager to get new voices in the political arena.
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TED CRUZ
Sharp on illegal immigration. Took on his own party’s leadership, slamming the “Washington cartel” that supports “amnesty” for those living in the U.S. illegally. But the accomplished college debater lacked a breakout moment.
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MARCO RUBIO
Energetic and confident. Rejected idea the campaign is a “resume competition.” Aggressively pushed idea the GOP nominee must be focused on the future, using his standard line that the “the economy we live in today is dramatically different from the one we had five years ago.”
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RAND PAUL
An aggressor from the start. He was the first candidate to take on Trump after the real estate mogul raised the prospect of a third-party candidacy. His fiery exchange with Chris Christie over government surveillance programs will resonate well with his libertarian supporters.
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CHRIS CHRISTIE
Aggressive, but kept his notoriously hot temper in check. He picked his spots, including a robust defense of New Jersey’s economy. Showed flickers of why he was heavily courted by Republicans for a run in 2012.
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JOHN KASICH
Buoyed by a home-state crowd. Lifted his national profile by selling an optimistic vision for the country. Defended decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio and earned a rousing round of applause of saying that while he opposes gay marriage, he would support his children if they were gay.
(AP)
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4 Responses
Trump was the “star” but was he the protagonist or the antagonist? The hero or the villain? He announced he wanted to Ross Perot? And his previous suggestions suggest he would run as the moderate third party (with a conservative Republican on the left, and a radically left wing Democratic party on the right), meaning he wouldn’t necessarily doom the Republicans, and might win.
Trump has never been a social conservative, and has always been in favor of corporate welfare (i.e. not exactly a Tea Partier).
“has always been in favor of corporate welfare”
What Republican isn’t in favor of corporate welfare? Some talk the talk but few if any walk the walk.
Huckabee made a huge whopper of a lie, Rubio two, and Bush three.
Huckabee claimed that Obamacare cut Medicare by over $700 billion. It wasn’t a cut, it was a reduction in growth. And Paul Ryan’s budget plan included the same reduction; almost every Republican in both houses of Congress voted for it.
Rubio claimed that 40% of banks have gone under since the Dodd-Frank Act was passed. Actually, there were 6,841 commercial banks in the US as of 12/31/2009 and 5,643 as of 12/31/2014. That is an 18% reduction and part of that reduction is from mergers rather than failures. From 12/31/2000 to 12/31/2008, roughly the Bush 43 years, the number of commercial banks dropped from 8,315 to 7,088, a reduction of 15%.
Rubio also claimed that he has never supported exceptions to abortion bans for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, but he cosponsored S. 1670 in 2013 which contained such exceptions.
Bush claimed that there had been $19 billion in tax cuts while he was governor of Florida; the actual number is about $13 billion. Bush also claimed that high school graduation rates had increased by 50% while he was governor, the actual estimates of increase range from 4% to 18% based on statistics from Florida and federal government reports. Bush also claimed that the US spends more on education than any other country; according to OECD statistics Norway, Switzerland, and Luxembourg spend more.
Hooray for fuzzy math!
charliehall: The TEA PARTY’s big issue, is opposition to CORPORATE WELFARE and BAIL OUTS. McCain’s willingness to waffle on this is what caused many conservatives to skip voting for him. The Democrats are up to their neck in corporate welfare – bailing out unionized automakers, subsidizing hopeless “green” companies, helping make deals for the Donald Trumps of the world – remember which party made a stink about Kelso – the Democrats want to be able to seize people’s land for turning over to developers, and the Republicans want to make it illegal.
Trump running as a third party, especially if anyone to the left of Hillary is the Democratic nominess, would probably impact equally on both parties (or in a worst case scenario get him elected – though the electoral college system makes that unlikely).