Republican candidates clash for third debate, though not with each other

Republican+presidential+candidate+Donald+Trump%2C+speaking%2C+has+been+the+republican+front+runner+for+quite+some+time.

Robert Gauthier // MCT Campus

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaking, has been the republican front runner for quite some time.

For the third time since August, Republican candidates squared off against each other in a debate held at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. The debate was moderated by CNBC journalists Becky Quick, Carl Quintanilla, and John Harwood. This debate, which featured the top ten candidates, differed from ones in the past, as they were not criticizing each other, but rather uniting for a common cause: ending media bias.

The opening statements started off with center-right Governor John Kasich (Ohio), who began by saying that the country’s number one priority should be to balance the budget and to strengthen as well as reform Medicare and Medicaid. Kasich, who served as the House Budget Committee Chairman from 1995-2001 under a Republican-led Congress and Bill Clinton’s administration, was the chief architect of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which balanced the budget for the first time since 1969.

“The Republicans are pulling too far to the right and Democrats are pulling too far to the left. This takes away from substantive, feasible ideas. That is why I support Governor Kasich,” MHS senior Ryan McDonald said.

A few candidates down the line came the youthful senator from Florida, Marco Rubio. Rubio opened up by saying: “Our best days are not behind us…” a direct contrast with Jimmy Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” speech delivered in 1979, in which he proclaimed that the door to our great past had been forever closed.

The quiet Dr. Ben Carson, who leads Donald Trump in the most recent poll, made reference to Ronald Reagan’s “11th Commandment” in his opener, which states “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Carson continued to display his quiet and gentle personality throughout the debate. Not once did he mention that he was leading the Republican circuit— a stark contrast from Donald Trump, who frequently mentioned his standing in national polls in the preceding months.

“Too many times we expect our politicians to be charismatic like John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan…at the same time we forget that they too need intelligence,” AP United States History and Government teacher Mr. Tim Thieke  said when asked if Ben Carson’s quiet disposition is unsuited for the presidency.

Rather than go after Senator Rand Paul right off the back as in the previous two debates, Donald Trump instead took a more reserved position most likely because he no longer leads in the national polls. Mr. Trump also seemed to be a more unifying figure on this night rather than a divisive one,  even referring  to Dr. Ben Carson as just “Ben,” as if the two were the best of friends.

“Trump has added a lot more interest because he’s a character and he’s definitely not worried about offending people. This in turn forces other candidates to go above and beyond” Mr. Thieke said.

After the opening statements John Harwood opened up the questioning by belittling the Trump campaign as a “comic book version of a campaign.” This led to discussing Trump’s tax plan. The Tax Foundation claims that Trump’s tax plan would cut spending by up to $11.98 trillion over the next decade, eventually creating 5.3 million more full time jobs.

Next came the Carson tax plan; a tax plan of Biblical proportions… literally. Carson plans on using a 10% flat tax and also plans to stimulate the private sector by cutting many of the 645 government agencies.

Then the stage turned back to John Kasich who criticized both tax plans and called them “fantasy economics.” Trump then accused Kasich of the fall of Leeman Brothers in 2008 housing market crash and said “John, you’re on the end of the line for a reason,” similar to how he went after Rand Paul (who was on the other end) in the previous debate.

At a later point in the debate, Senator Rubio made the significant statement that  “I’m not running against Jeb Bush, I’m not running against anyone on this stage, I’m running for the White House so Hillary Clinton doesn’t win.” This was perhaps the first example of indirect pushback against the moderators of the debate, which would later manifest itself in more outspoken measures.

Soon after came arguably the most important moment in the history of United States presidential debates and perhaps American political discourse. Carl Quintanilla asked this question: “Congressional Republicans and Democrats are about to strike a compromise to raise the debt limit, prevent a government shutdown… Does your opposition to it show that you’re not the kind of problem solver American voters want?”

“The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media,” Ted Cruz said, clearly fed up with the moderators’ style of questioning. This line received the most thunderous applause all night. Cruz went on: “This is not a cage match… Look at the questions: Donald Trump are you a comic book villain? Ben Carson can you do math? John Kasich will you insult two people over here? Marco Rubio why don’t you resign? Jeb Bush why have your numbers fallen? How about the substantive issues the American people really care about?” More thunderous applause followed. A minute of confusion followed as the moderators wouldn’t let Cruz answer the question they actually asked him, as well as Kasich, Trump, and Paul trying to get a word in. After this, more civilized debate followed but the attitude of the debate was clearly swayed by the outburst from Cruz.

“The debate was a train wreck. There were only loaded questions that aimed to provoke tension between the candidates,” senior John Merz said.

Next the moderators decided to take the time to go after Ben Carson who at this point hadn’t spoken since his opening statement. It is interesting to note that in all debates Carson never interrupts or jumps into any conversation, he only waits to be questioned. This is a  tactic that as of now is proving to be highly successful for Carson. They asked him a relatively pointless question that has nothing to do with the 2016 race and continued to show how the liberal media feels the need to put words into the mouths of GOP candidates. The question asked was asking Carson why he would serve on the executive board of Costco considering they are very friendly to gays.

Carson, with all civility, fired back by saying that “Obviously you don’t understand my views… The Constitution protects everyone and there is no reason to not be fair.” Again, this question is relatively meaningless but just continues to prove to liberal bias.

This debate clearly exposed the bias within the American media.  “I think the real losers were the moderators, while Ted Cruz was a clear winner,” AP Government teacher Ms. Suzanne Borger said.

Since this debate, the Republican National Committee has severed its ties with CNBC. The next debate will be held on FOX Business on Tuesday, November 10th at 9PM ET in Milwaukee, WI. To be eligible for the main card debate candidates must have at least 2.5% in the four most recent national polls.

Many MHS students are looking forward to the 2016 presidential election, as current seniors will be eligible to vote as college freshmen and current juniors and sophomores will be in MHS while it is all going on. Regardless of who gets the nomination, they will have a great challenge in front of them with their Democratic opponents Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. In any case, the next President will face the very tough challenge of rebuilding a broken nation.

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