Mitch Perry
On MSNBC Frtiday morning, mega-pundit Mark Halperin said of Thursday night’s GOP president debate: “Ted Cruz did fine, Marco Rubio did fine.”
With all due respect, Mr. Halperin, that’s pure poppycock.
Cruz was supposedly the Big Dog on stage, what with the “elephant not in the room.”
He blew it, and probably any chance of winning Iowa (His principled stance against ethanol subsidies isn’t helping him there either). No Iowa, no nomination, it says in this column.
In a new twist, Fox News used video montages to set up several questions to the candidates. The one showing Cruz’ position during the discussion on comprehensive immigration reform in 2013 was devastating.
The other candidates joined in bashing him, but the idea that Cruz isn’t likable was palpable and encapsulated by Rand Paul‘s takedown.
“I was there, and I saw the debate,” Paul began. “I saw Ted Cruz say, ‘We’ll take citizenship off the table, and then the bill will pass, and I’m for the bill.’ The bill would involve legalization. He can’t have it both ways. But what is particularly insulting, though, is that he is the king of saying, ‘You’re for amnesty.’ Everybody’s for amnesty except for Ted Cruz. But it’s falseness, and that’s an authenticity problem, that everybody he knows is not as perfect as him because we’re all for amnesty. I was for legalization. I think, frankly, if you have border security, you can have legalization. So was Ted, but now he says it wasn’t so. That’s not true.”
All of the candidates on occasion have come across as whiny when they plead for the moderators’ attention (I still have echoes of “Anderson, Anderson,” during the Democrats’ first debate), but Cruz really came across as unlikable when he complained about being attacked.
CRUZ: “Chris, I would note that the last four questions have been ‘Rand, please attack Ted. Marco, please attack Ted. Chris, please attack Ted. Jeb, please attack Ted.’ [audience boos] Let me just say this –”
CHRIS WALLACE: “It is a debate, sir.”
CRUZ: “No, actually a debate is a policy issue. I would just say this: Gosh, if you guys ask one more mean question I may have to leave the stage!”
That was meant to be a joking reference to Donald Trump, but it wasn’t that funny.
Rubio was solid, and many analysts said he “won” the debate. That doesn’t really mean all that much, as we’ve seen, since you could argue Marco’s won all of the debates to date (despite what Trump says). It hasn’t translated too much at the polls, but my gosh, he’s going hard for that evangelical vote in the Hawkeye State, isn’t he?
When asked about a Time magazine cover story that said he was the “savior” of the GOP, Marco replied somewhat heavy-handedly, ” Well, let me be clear about one thing, there’s only one savior, and it’s not me. It’s Jesus Christ, who came down to earth and died for our sins.”
Jeb Bush is getting solid reviews, and he absolutely had his best performance to date. I’ll give it up to him throughout this campaign for not backing away (that much) from his previous stance on immigration, even though I would submit that’s the No. 1 reason he’s not doing better in the polls.
And what about Paul? The former “most interesting politician” in America, who wasn’t even allowed on to the main stage because of his paltry poll numbers at the previous debate, had a very solid night, bringing a much needed different perspective in the conversation. He was asked about the criminal justice system.
“I’ve been to Ferguson, I’ve been trying to look for solutions to our criminal justice problem,” he said. “I think something has to change. I think it’s a big thing that our party needs to be part of, and I’ve been a leader in Congress on trying to bring about criminal justice reform.”
What a shame that the Fox News moderators then didn’t ask any of the other candidates their thoughts on that issue.
Three days until Iowa …
In other news …
Marco Rubio may be ascendant in some new state polls, but the senator is apparently struggling with fundraising.
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Kathy Castor is no fan of hydraulic fracturing in Florida.
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NextGen Climate intends to work on grassroots activism in Florida — for now, anyhow.
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And is there any Democrat in Hillsborough County who wants to run in the newly created state Senate seat? How about an open House seat? Anyone?
