“The bipartisan congressional budget deal will be an easy target for the GOP presidential field during Wednesday’s prime-time debate. And GOP leaders are bracing for their carefully crafted work to be treated like a punching bag,” Politico reports.
Rick Klein: “It may be physically and practically impossible to have a debate with Donald Trump that isn’t about Donald Trump, and the likelihood of a Trump headline increases with the emergence of a new front-running target. But the topics and timing of this debate could provide some interesting action a few feet away from center stage. In a debate focused on the economy, the three senators who will be on the main stage are fired up in opposition to a spending bill their GOP colleagues on Capitol Hill helped negotiate. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in particular seem primed for breakout moments.”
“Meanwhile, things are heating up in the establishment lane, with Jeb Bush and John Kasich sharpening their focus and their language coming in to Boulder; both have records to tout on the economy, too. The realization that Trump is vulnerable, with Ben Carson’s support soft, could spark a new dynamic in the race. Who can be the most outsider of the alternatives to the pure outsiders?”
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