Analytics

Saturday, March 5, 2016

The 2016 Tenth GOP Presidential Debate

[Note: this is a review of last week's Houston pre-Super Tuesday debate; I'm doing a full debate series. I'm a little backlogged, but I expect to release this week's Detroit debate review later this weekend. Please note as always that linked/embedded videos are valid at the timing of posting but can be withdawn at any time without my knowledge.]

Tweets of the Night
This debate was the most entertaining to date with Cruz and Rubio for once tag-teaming on Trump, who had largely gotten a pass, except for Bush's occasional rebuke. I think most of the candidates were playing to attract Trump supporters if and when the inevitable Trump campaign imploded. After NH, SC, and NV wins and Trump threatening a crushing Super Tuesday breakaway sweep, Rubio and Cruz had no alternative. Since the SC debate, Bush left the field, leaving five.

This debate was particularly special to me because I lived in Houston for 7 years and earned two graduate degrees, my MBA and PhD, at the University of Houston on which campus the debate was held. As in past reviews, I'm not going to go blow-by-blow through the debate but discuss a few points of interest and assess performance

The first set of questions (surprise! surprise!) dealt with immigration (disclosure: I am for liberalized immigration, including abandonment of quotas, no mass deportations, legal status for aliens in good standing, expansion and reforms of temporary work programs). Trump hits his usual soundbites on building a wall, Mexico paying for it and deporting everyone. Trump is indignant over a former Mexican president saying they're not paying for Trump's f*king wall; oh, give me a break, Trump; for any interested reader, I posted a video sampling Trump's prolific public profanity on this blog earlier this week. Rubio hit Trump on the fact that about 40% of the unauthorized alien problem is overstayed visas and his own issue using unauthorized (Polish) workers through a contractor  on a NYC project. Cruz notes that Trump donated to 5 of the 8 senators behind the last failed Senate immigration bill. He also hits Trump on the illegal worker kerfuffle. Trump lashes back that the senators never hired anyone in the private sector, that Sheriff Joe endorsed him, that Rubio and Cruz are puppets of lobbyists. Trump's ad hominem attacks are routine by now, but his credibility has been damaged by Rubio and Cruz. I'm not sure Trump cultists really care. I think Kasich won the round by referring to Reagan/Bush pro-immigration reform perspective, no mass deportation, and a path to legalization vs. citizenship.

There were 3 more issues of interest: healthcare, taxes/budgets, and SCOTUS. Trump's socialized healthcare plan had no specifics beyond insurers marketing across states; Rubio turned the table on Trump, accusing him of repeating himself (this is in reference to Rubio's repeated soundbites for the NH debate, which Trump had been hitting him over); Cruz also blasted Trump for a socialized healthcare policy. Trump never had a good response on how his budget dollars add up with virtually no spending cuts beyond the "cut waste" mantra and two agencies, which barely make a down payment on the deficit. Finally, on SCOTUS/Scalia replacement, Trump really doesn't flesh out his criteria for selection beyond bashing Chief Justice Roberts and holding Cruz responsible for the nomination (Cruz responded that he preferred another justice on the court of appeals); Cruz suggested that Trump would not base a nomination on principle like originalism but on wheeling and dealing with the likes of Reid and Pelosi, who Trump had funded over the years.

Well, there was another point, but all candidates were willing to throw Apple under the bus on the FBI demand regarding a hackable version of iOS for the San Bernardino terrorist iPhone.

My final ranking (from high to low):

  • Rubio
  • Cruz
  • Kasich
  • Carson
  • Trump
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