“I would let him operate under a friend of mine, not necessarily me but a friend of mine.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by Politico, when asked if he would let Ben Carson run one of his companies.
“I would let him operate under a friend of mine, not necessarily me but a friend of mine.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by Politico, when asked if he would let Ben Carson run one of his companies.
First Read: “Another big takeaway from last night’s debate is that a showdown between Ted Cruz and Marco is coming — maybe not today or tomorrow. But it’s coming. Just note Cruz’s reference to sugar subsidies (which are important to Florida and its big political donors).”
Said Cruz: “You know, I mention that the 25 programs that I put today, that I would eliminate them. Among them are corporate welfare, like sugar subsidies. Let’s take that as an example. Sugar subsidies. Sugar farmers farm under roughly 0.2% of the farmland in America, and yet they give 40% of the lobbying money. That sort of corporate welfare is why we’re bankrupting our kids, and grandkids. I would end those subsidies to pay for defending this nation.”
“When you combine that with Cruz’s statement against illegal immigration, you see how Cruz is angling himself for a future showdown with Rubio.”
Rick Klein: “Donald Trump was the center of some of the most important action of the night, in a reminder that he doesn’t have to be loud or insulting to influence a presidential debate. His argument for building a border wall and forcing undocumented immigrants out of the country sparked a debate where the moderators weren’t even looking for one… His vision for the country, of course, is not unanimous inside his party. It earned Trump a Jeb Bush-John Kasich tag team –- in a series of exchanges that will resonate throughout the primary season.”
New York Times: “The splintering over immigration, in a campaign dominated so far by the personas, speeches and backgrounds of the candidates, illuminated the brightest dividing line between Republican hopefuls like Mr. Bush and Mr. Kasich, who favor a comprehensive immigration overhaul, and the many primary voters who have embraced Mr. Trump’s harsh language about immigrants in the country illegally.”
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Donald Trump picked “mogul” as his Secret Service code name, the Washington Post reports.
“Trump reportedly picked that power-laden code name for himself from a list of options, all starting with the letter ‘m,’ that was provided by the Secret Service in consultation with White House Communications Agency. The code name will not be finalized until Trump’s Secret Service protection begins at 8 a.m. Wednesday, so the name could still change overnight.”
Politico: “A federal judge set in motion a process Tuesday that could result in thousands more pages of emails and other records from…Clinton’s top aides being made public in the coming months as Clinton’s presidential campaign rolls forward.”
“You’re a liar, and you’re a cheater.”
— John Bel Edwards (D), quoted by the New Orleans Times Picayune, in a gubernatorial debate with Sen. David Vitter (R).
Politico: “This was the (relatively) harmonious and (modestly) party-building debate Republicans wanted after three trips to the flea circus. The Trump and Carson campaigns groused about the Democrats’ getting a free pass at their first debate in mid-October, and the FOX Business moderators responded by handing them the easiest 120 minutes of debate time the field has ever had. The questioning wasn’t precisely powder-puff, but the moderators mostly steered clear of the controversies that howled outside the venue all week.”
New York Times: “On Tuesday night, Mr. Bush, whose chronic struggles on the debate stage have unnerved his supporters and dragged down his standing in the polls, was a feistier and more assertive combatant, demanding more time from moderators, offering flashes of improvised humor and delivering crisper answers than he has in the past.”
“Whether it will be enough to turn around his flagging campaign is uncertain: Mr. Bush has a well-documented gift for gaffes and his creaky candidacy feels out of sync with the furious mood of the electorate. But on Tuesday, unlike in earlier debates, he no longer seemed as desperate to be somewhere else.”
Politico: “The politically and financially embattled former Florida Governor wasn’t great, but he finally showed a little life… Unfortunately for Bush, he is at his most passionate on issues where he is most politically vulnerable – immigration … and in defending his brother.”
The Economist: “Mr Bush’s performance was solid, though probably not enough to give his ailing campaign much of a jolt. He appeared competent and serious, but he had no youthful charisma, like Mr Rubio, or devilish flair, like Mr Cruz.”
“Organizers have canceled New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s planned presidential forum, set for next month in Iowa, following months of dispute over the event,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
The reason: No candidate agreed to attend.
“Donald Trump may have put in a less-combative performance during the fourth GOP debate Tuesday night aired by Fox Business, he remained atop several unscientific online polls after the event,” The Hill reports.
“While online polls are unscientific, they can help gauge online enthusiasm and engagement among followers of particular candidates who are watching the debate.”
Rick Klein: “Cruz and Rubio did find moments to break through, in a debate that didn’t shake things up so much as it seemed to confirm the status quo of a volatile race… Rubio and his rivals, though, made clear that the next chapter is still being written -– and is likely to be a messy one.”
The defining moment of the debate was a heated exchange over the practicality of Donald Trump’s proposed deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants. John Kasich, and then Jeb Bush, denounced the plan while Trump stood his ground. Ted Cruz later joined in defense of Trump’s position. Marco Rubio wisely stayed on the sidelines.
Trump won the exchange because he appeals to so many Republican voters who have lost patience with the “practical” solutions offered by establishment politicians. Immigration highlights this political divide nicely, but it was found in many other issues during the night, such as tax policy and trade.
Overall, Trump had his best debate yet and was the clear winner. The establishment should be very worried. He’s a real contender for the nomination.
Rubio and Cruz are both very good debaters and spoke directly to their supporters. It’s not a mistake they’re slowly moving up in the polls.
Carson succeeded at downplaying questions into his personal story over the last week but was very shaky when it came to foreign policy.
Bush was forgettable, which was sadly an improvement on his last debate.
Rand Paul had perhaps his best moment of the campaign attacking Rubio’s national security plans as too expensive. The problem is that his libertarian foreign policy views are not be held by the vast majority of GOP voters and Rubio swatted him down to much applause. But it was Paul’s first real opportunity to explain why he’s different than the others on the stage.
Kasich was, as Trump might say “high energy,” and made every effort to interject himself into most questions. He’s smart and probably understands the various policy issues better than anyone on the stage. But like Paul, it’s not clear his views reflect his party.
Carly Fiorina should be demoted once again to the undercard debate as she’s done little to build on her momentum of a month ago.
There were no big mistakes tonight, though Cruz nearly fumbled in a Rick Perry-like attempt to list government agencies he wanted to eliminate.
Overall, I don’t see this debate shaking up the race significantly. Trump and Carson remain in the top tier with Cruz and Rubio inching up as they get more exposure. Unless one of those four stumbles badly — which is entirely possible — it’s hard to see the others moving up.
The main debate will start at 9 p.m. ET and is scheduled to last two hours.
The remaining candidates will participate in an earlier debate at 7 p.m. ET, which is scheduled to last one hour.
You can watch the debates on the Fox Business Network.
Al Gore “politely but firmly declined” when People asked him if he supports Hillary Clinton for the president in 2016.
Said Gore :”It’s still too early, in my opinion, to endorse a candidate or pick a candidate. Everybody can look at how the presidential campaign is developing and get some pretty clear ideas about how they think it’s going to turn out, but I still think it’s premature. The election is still a full year away. I think I’ll wait to wade into it.”
“Any president who doesn’t begin every day on his knees isn’t fit to be commander in chief of this nation.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz, quoted by Vox.
“Top Jeb Bush donors will convene on a conference call after Tuesday’s debate, a critical moment in the former Florida governor’s campaign,” Politico reports.
“Donors from across the country have been invited to participate in the call, according to two sources familiar with the campaign’s plans. It will be hosted by senior Bush advisers Sally Bradshaw and Tim Miller.”
Hollywood Reporter: “News was once the loss leader of TV, and politics was the loss leader of news, the slog you waded through before crime, disaster, human interest, weather and sports. Two things changed that status.”
“Political gridlock and target-marketing techniques turned swing states into crucial battlegrounds, which meant vast advertising expenditures in local markets (and unlimited resources to spend, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court). Every midterm election and presidential cycle ups that ante. More than $3 billion was spent on local political ads in 2012 — out of a total local television advertising take of $17 billion. By some estimates, that could rise to as much as $5 billion in 2016, making politics the single biggest local television advertising category.”
“And then there was Fox News, handily beating all other cable news programming by aligning its product to a particular political market and sensibility.”
“I’m not some weirdo that’s out here just kinda running crazy, I’m the former governor of the state of Virginia. I’m the former chairman of the Republican National Committee.”
— Gov. Jim Gimore, quoted by BuzzFeed News, on being excluded from the GOP debates.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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