Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

politics:

Rubio and Cruz clash at GOP debate; Trump and Bush go after each other

CNN’s Republican Presidential Debate

Steve Marcus

Businessman Donald Trump greets Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush watches during the Republican presidential debate Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, in the Venetian theater.

Main GOP Debate

Donald Trump speaks during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Venetian Hotel & Casino on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, in Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

GOP Las Vegas Debate Undercard

George Pataki, left, makes a point as Mike Huckabee looks on during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Venetian Hotel & Casino on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, in Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

Here are some takeaways from Tuesday night’s GOP presidential debate from the Venetian:

Jeb Bush main foe of Donald Trump

Early in the debate, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took a shot at businessman Donald Trump, calling him a “chaos candidate” and saying he would also be a “chaos president.” Bush took jabs at the Republican presidential front-runner at several other points in the debate, after which Trump fired back that Bush’s remarks were the result of a waning campaign.

“You started off here, Jeb (the center podium) and now you’re over there. Pretty soon, you’re going to be off the end of the stage,” Trump said.

Toward the end of the debate, Trump complained that CNN moderators repeatedly framed questions around his positions. Bush took yet another opportunity to jab Trump, saying that if he thought talking with CNN moderators was tough, how would he handle ISIS? Trump’s response?

“Oh, you’re a tough guy, Jeb. I know. Real tough,” he said sarcastically.

On the main stage, businesswoman Carly Fiorina didn’t take any overt digs at Trump, though later in the spin room with media she called Trump “the pied piper” and said Trump loves the attention he gets.

After the debate, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, who has endorsed Bush, said he performed well, especially compared to what Heller called a “food fight” between Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Heller saved his fiercest criticism for Trump, saying that the candidate was unqualified and “at some point this needs to come to an end.” That echoed what a campaign spokesman later called a “preparedness gap” between Bush and Trump.

Cruz and Rubio clash over military funding, foreign policy, immigration

Rubio’s first shot at Cruz came over Cruz’s vote to end bulk collection of metadata. He then took a jab at Cruz for a vote he took against defense authorization bills. The two also diverged over what to do with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad — Cruz favored keeping him in power while Rubio said he would not shed a tear if “anti-American dictators” were forced from office.

The two also tussled over a 2013 immigration reform bill, which Rubio worked on with Democrats. Rubio said he would be open to giving green cards to undocumented immigrants after a 10-year probationary period, while Cruz remained opposed to a path to citizenship.

“For Marco to suggest our records are the same,” said Cruz, “is to suggest that the arsonist and the fireman are the same because they are both at the scene of the fire.”

Substantive debate on Middle East policies

To an extent surprising to believe given the neoconservative consensus that guided the party a decade ago, the candidates differed dramatically on the role of the United States in the Middle East and around the world. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, drawing on his libertarian roots, rejected a notion that the United States ought to seek regime change in unfriendly states, including Syria, a position broadly supported by Cruz as well, who said that the United States lacked a plan for what would replace the Assad regime.

“We had a serious debate around regime change,” said Paul after the debate. “It’s important to note that Hillary Clinton is also in favor of it.”

Although almost all of the candidates agreed that a pause or halt to Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States was needed given what they argued was the nation’s inability to fully vet the immigrants, the candidates differed on what would be needed to defeat ISIS, with some arguing for ground forces and others disagreeing.

Candidates argue bout metadata and electronic wiretapping

Rubio and Cruz clashed over the NSA’s bulk collection of metadata, which Cruz voted to end. Rubio called ISIS “the most sophisticated terror threat we have ever faced” and called the metadata collection program “a valuable tool.” Fiorina said that Silicon Valley companies would be willing to help the government in counterterrorism efforts, but said they never had been asked. Trump called for “areas of the Internet” to be shut down to prevent ISIS from recruiting terrorists online, a policy Ohio Gov. John Kasich objected to.

Trump promises not to run as a third-party candidate

In the last few moments of the debate, Trump said he would not run as an independent candidate, should he not secure the Republican nomination. Some Republicans over the last week — including from Sen. Dean Heller — worried that a Trump third-party candidacy would guarantee the Democratic candidate, likely former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presidency.

“I’ve gained great respect for Republican leadership,” Trump said. “If I’m so fortunate to be chosen, I think I’ll do very well.”

Cruz makes nice with Trump

Despite sky-high expectations of a showdown between the two men, who are dueling for the lead in polls in Iowa, Cruz declined on multiple occasions to attack Trump directly.

Instead, Cruz cast himself as a more experienced politician who could enact realistic versions of policy proposals floated by the real estate mogul, including on questions of immigration. Despite calling Cruz a “maniac” on Sunday, Trump largely avoided direct criticism of his fellow Republican.

Ben Carson thoughtful on faith and politics

The retired neurosurgeon and perhaps most openly faithful of the major candidates faced an unexpectedly philosophical question from moderator Hugh Hewitt, who asked in light of his religious faith, whether he could order military actions as commander-in-chief that might lead to the deaths of innocent bystanders.

Carson said that as a surgeon, he would have to perform actions that patients might not like at the time, but in a fuller picture, were necessary. Although some in the audience seemed to object to the tone of the question, it was a strikingly honest acknowledgment of the role of political violence — and its justification.

Paul needed a home run, but hit a double

Rumors are flying that the national press is calling donors and staffers to prepare Paul’s political obituary in anticipation the candidate will withdraw from the race to focus on his re-election bid in his home state. Paul, whom opponents sought to cast as an isolationist, may not have moved the needle in a way that put those rumors to bed, but neither did he make any catastrophic errors.

Christie, Fiorina and Kasich all stayed the course

Chris Christie defended his hardline stance on Syrian refugees and emphasized his experience as the New Jersey governor and federal prosecutor.

Fiorina drew on her background at Hewlett-Packard multiple times, talking about the role of the private sector in aiding national security.

Kasich attempted to chart a middle course among the candidates, stressing the need for Republicans and Democrats to come together for the good of the country. “We’ll never get there if we are divided” along party lines, he said. “Before all of that,” he says, “we’re Americans.” (He also made a plea for the importance of winning his home state of Ohio that seemed calculated to win him a spot as the vice presidential nominee.)

Graham dominates second-tier debate

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham dominated the junior varsity debate with dramatic eye rolls and one liners that provoked an annoyed reaction hours later from Trump.

Graham has sought to portray himself as a solon on foreign policy, and showed a depth of experience that outpaced that of his rivals on the early stage. It may not be enough for the senator to win the presidency — but he did make a case for becoming secretary of state in a future GOP administration.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy