Last night’s Republican debate in Milwaukee began, as the first three did, with a pre-debate. This time, it was among the four candidates whose national polling has been stuck between 1 percent and 2.5 percent.
Chris Christie, demoted from the grown-up table, handled himself well, and provoked a lot of baseball analogies:
Watching Christie in this happy hour debate is like when Jim Palmer would get injured & have to go play a few games for the Hagerstown Suns.
— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) November 11, 2015
With the candidates left in the GOP undercard debate, Chris Christie is basically Babe Ruth playing against a bunch of little leaguers.
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) November 11, 2015
It’s like batting practice for Christie.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) November 11, 2015
Mike Huckabee also joined the junior circuit, and reached back for the Henny Youngman material.
I just heard an actual ear of corn call Mike Huckabee cornpone
— TheModernMan (@AceofSpadesHQ) November 11, 2015
Oh my shut up with the dumb, rude wife jokes.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) November 11, 2015
…but made some solid points:
Huckabee says something conservatives need to say more: it’s stupid and incorrect to say poor people are poor due to laziness.
— Timothy P Carney (@TPCarney) November 11, 2015
Bobby Jindal, a fixture of the undercard, tried to set himself apart by attacking the other candidates’ records…
Jindal: “let’s have an actual debate!”
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 11, 2015
Jindal to Christie: I’ll give ya a medal and a juice box, but it’s about results, not just talking about limiting spending. #gopdebate
— Jessica Chasmar (@JessicaChasmar) November 11, 2015
…but to little effect.
Christie: “I complimented Bobby. Imagine how much longer he’d go on if I’d criticized him.”
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) November 11, 2015
Rick Santorum again touted his support for the Export-Import Bank…
Santorum starts with “I’m a capitalist, not a corporatist.” Rails against picking winners and losers Pivots to support for Ex-Im bank. !
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) November 11, 2015
…while striking a pose.
I caught @GovMikeHuckabee LOLing at Santorum #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/UuTRL2qRYJ
— Shoshana Weissmann (@senatorshoshana) November 11, 2015
But the main action came an hour later, in the main debate. Unlike in the CNBC debate, the Fox Business crew of moderators did not make themselves the story.
How we feel watching a substantive debate with professional moderators. CC: @CNBC #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/mTcvGQrxzX
— Texas GOP (@TexasGOP) November 11, 2015
Debates are better when the moderators don’t openly despise all the candidates and the audience. #gopdebate
— jon gabriel (@exjon) November 11, 2015
I wish CNBC was hosting tonight’s debate. “By a show of hands: which one of you drew the poop swastika at Mizzou?”
— F. Bill McMorris (@FBillMcMorris) November 11, 2015
John Kasich, polling near the bottom among the major candidates, nevertheless led the field in interrupting…
John Kasich is a believer in the “time of possession” theory of debates.
— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) November 11, 2015
Kasich is the Webb of the debate. But whinier.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 11, 2015
Is Kasich drunk?
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 11, 2015
@MZHemingway A very oily crazy man who wanders downtown Pittsburgh hugging people and telling us we are beautiful looks just like Kasich.
— Justin A. Rick (@Justin_A_Rick) November 11, 2015
John Kasich be like pic.twitter.com/p4OhBDU2yL
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 11, 2015
…and generally getting on everyone’s nerves.
Kasich is like the personification of how I imagine people sitting at home arguing obscure fan theories on X-Files message boards must be.
— Peter Suderman (@petersuderman) November 11, 2015
John Kasich is like the guy you invite to your party because you feel bad for him and then you get stuck talking to him all fucking night
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) November 11, 2015
Jeb Bush, looking for a charismatic moment to spark his comeback, was an early Kasich victim…
BUSH: Hi KASICH: No BUSH: Hey now KASICH: Nope BUSH: But KASICH: [backs up steamroller] BUSH: Uh sir KASICH: [lays in bed vaping] K go ahead
— James Poulos (@jamespoulos) November 11, 2015
…but later found his stride on finance…
Jeb nails Dodd-Frank question, but the sad thing is you need to be a securities lawyer or Wall Street guy to really understand it.
— Jeff B@AoSHQDD (@EsotericCD) November 11, 2015
…and foreign policy…
Jeb’s best answer of the night by far was on the terrorism question.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 11, 2015
…while comparing Donald Trump’s strategic pronouncements to a game of … Monopoly?
In my feed: nerds debating which board game the murderous hellhole that is the Middle East is most like. #GOPDebate
— metacommentary (@metacommentary) November 11, 2015
Risk, you dolt. Call it RISK.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) November 11, 2015
Carly Fiorina was quiet early, but came out strong in the second half.
Here’s @carlyfiorina at this #GOpdebate pic.twitter.com/0jggqF0XcC
— el Sooper ن (@SooperMexican) November 11, 2015
Carly make a really interesting call for transparency in health outcomes. #GOPDebate
— Matthew Herper (@matthewherper) November 11, 2015
Carly: sorry, can’t hear you over people cheering me. #GOPDebate
— Moe Lane (@moelane) November 11, 2015
Ben Carson, the frontrunner in many polls, was calm and mostly effective…
On minimum wage, @RealBenCarson offers first competent answer on any debate, speaks movingly about black teen disemployment.
— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) November 11, 2015
Actually thought that was an excellent articulation from Carson of the idea that people can be trusted to do good with their own money.
— (Stephanie) Slade (@sladesr) November 11, 2015
…but, at times, less than coherent…
Ben Carson, would you break up JPMorgan Chase? Let me tell you about stuff in my shopping cart going up by 5 cents.
— Felix Salmon (@felixsalmon) November 11, 2015
Carson is exaggerating a bit there. https://t.co/x1uuM74kj7
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) November 11, 2015
Carson doing his best Miss Teen South Carolina impression on this Syria question.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 11, 2015
…and occasionally soporific.
90 seconds of Dr Ben Carssnnnnnnnoooore
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) November 11, 2015
How does Ben Carson have 3 kids his voice is like a thousand ambien
— Joel Pavelski (@joelcifer) November 11, 2015
Trump, recently displaced from the top of the polls, had flashes of normalcy…
It freaks me out when Trump gives a normal, convivial answer like that.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) November 11, 2015
…but mostly shot from the hip…
Trump: tpp is a very very bad deal that I know nothing about.
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) November 11, 2015
Trump: “I got to know Putin very well bc we were both on 60 Minutes.” WUT?
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) November 11, 2015
…and even got shut down by low-energy Jeb.
That was maybe Jeb Bush’s best moment in any debate so far. Cuts off Trump w/ knowledgable, forceful answer on a serious topic.
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) November 11, 2015
The candidates agreed on many of the questions, and directed much of their fire toward Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, but where there were policy disagreements, the liveliest parts of the evening mostly involved Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul.
As Santorum had earlier in the evening, Rubio praised welders and encouraged young people to enter the trades:
Rubio: “We need more welders and fewer philosophers.” #GOPdebate
— Razor (@hale_razor) November 11, 2015
Rubio just dropped 10 points among philosophers. #GOPDebate
— Ron Nehring (@RonNehring) November 11, 2015
Cruz discussed entitlement reform, and set his sights on Rubio.
What you’re watching right now is Cruz loading the barrel for his eventual attack on Rubio.
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) November 11, 2015
He also promised to eliminate the IRS…
Ted Cruz wants to abolish the IRS. To be followed by establishing a new agency that does exactly the same thing.
— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) November 11, 2015
…along with several other cabinet departments, with special attention to one of them:
What is it with Texans remembering what agencies they’d cut?
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) November 11, 2015
we have two departments of commerce? dang, we should cut one!
— Sarah McLaughlin (@sarahemclaugh) November 11, 2015
HEDLEY LAMARR: “You said cut Commerce twice.” TED CRUZ: “I like cutting Commerce.” #GOPDebate
— Donny Ferguson (@DonnyFerguson) November 11, 2015
Later, Paul and Rubio clashed over the choice between isolation and intervention…
The Rubio vs. Rand exchange was the good kind of sparring: highlighting policy differences + fighting about things that matter. #GOPDebate
— Erika Harold (@_ErikaHarold) November 11, 2015
Rand Paul is gonna regret this zing at Rubio. That’s gonna leave a mark. He just opened the door for foreign policy. Boom. #GOPDebate
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) November 11, 2015
Sen. Paul took the bait. He was on firmer ground attacking Rubio on tax credits. But he couldn’t resist the isolationist talk.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) November 11, 2015
…and Cruz tried his best to jump in.
Cruz: Oh, please! Let me triangulate!
— Jesse Walker (@notjessewalker) November 11, 2015
Cruz’s sugar subsidies diss is a shiv aimed at Rubio… though I’m not sure the primary voter gets that.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) November 11, 2015
This debate was more orderly than the last, and gave the voters a good opportunity to evaluate the candidates’ positions. But the evening ended with one question on everybody’s mind:
So who does Kasich’s supporter shift to after tonight?
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 11, 2015
