On August 6th, 10 of the 16 Republican presidential candidates took the stage for the first G.O.P. debate. These 10 were put in the Fox News spotlight during prime time while the other 6 were left to debate earlier in the evening. The dominating 10 included Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Dr. Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, and Rand Paul. Of course, the debate’s purpose is to get people talking, which it certainly did. It was meant to help us better understand where each candidate stood in regards to particular issues such as the Iran nuclear deal and funding of social security. However, perhaps all that was spoken about after the debate was the way in which Mr. Trump asserted himself, and rudely so.
From the beginning of the debate, Trump had our attention. The candidates were asked if there was, “Anyone on stage, who is unwilling tonight to pledge their support to the eventual nominee of the Republican party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person, raise your hand now if you won’t make that pledge tonight,” and up goes Donald Trump’s hand. Paul immediately jumped at the chance to attack Trump, starting the night off on an interesting note.
Megyn Kelly moved forward, questioning Dr. Carson and his understanding of the government after he previously he had admitted in the past to needing to “study-up.” Mr. Carson replied that everyone has a brain, everyone needs to take the time to learn, and that’s exactly what he did and continues to do.
Rubio appeared to be very well practiced—almost too much so—as if he was reading for a script. However, his jabs at Hilary Clinton were well placed, so props to whoever wrote his script.
Bush was asked if he was worried about “dynastic politics,” to which he replied that he was his own person and then continued to list off what he had accomplished in Florida. In regards to illegal immigration, Bush was asked about his “act of love” explanation for the increased number of elements. However, he did agree that we need to stop using this as a “wedge issue,” and make some progress. “Not amnesty,” but making it possible with a monetary fine paired with reachable checkpoints over an allotted period of time.
Kelly then began with Trump about his derogatory comments towards women, with examples on his Twitter page. She asked him if he thought that this kind of here we have, arguably, the most infamous moment of the night, “I don’t frankly have time for total, political correctness,” Trump declared. As if he couldn’t process what he was saying before he said it, he vomited up a remark about Kelly, saying, “what I say is what I say, and honestly Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry, although I could probably maybe not be based on the way you’ve treated me, but I wouldn’t do that.”
Cruz answered to the Facebook questions about Kate Steinle’s law (a mandatory 5 year prison term for an illegal that was deported and then returned to the country.) He said he has tried to get the law passed in the Senate, but the leader of the G.O.P. blocked it. He blamed this on the idea that people don’t want to enforce the laws that are made.
Christie, a republican governor in the blue state of New Jersey, spoke about terrorism and his right to blame Senator Paul’s opposition to the NSA’s collection of phone records on making the United States weaker and more vulnerable. Here we had another memorable moment of the night—he said he will make “no apologies ever” for keeping civil liberties while still protecting the American people. Paul then said he wants to collect “more records from terrorists and less from innocent Americans,” to which Christie questioned how we can know who is innocent and who is guilty. Christie finally defended himself when Paul referred to his hug with President Obama after Hurricane Sandy, to which Christie said it was not an act of politics, but emotion.
Walker was questioned about this stance on abortion—he was questioned about his stance on being pro-life except in the case of the life of the mother. It seems as if abortion will be one of the deciding factors in the election of the next president.
Huckabee took a stronger stance then Walker, announcing that we know we have “clear scientific evidence” that the unborn child is in fact a person who has rights under the law
Paul called himself the “leading role in America for not arming Isis.” However, his night of debating was less than memorable. His accusations towards Trump at the start of the debate and argument with Mr. Christie seemed like nothing more than an eager attempt to get airtime.
Kasich discussed prison rates involving the mentally ill. He said he would rather treat them and get them on their feet then pay to house them in jail where they aren’t on the road to recovery. The Governor of Ohio also explained that he could disagree with the idea of gay-marriage from a religious standpoint, but still love someone who agrees with it.
Candidates had their good and bad moments—some more bad then good, actually. All I can say is that I am grateful that we do not have to vote for another year, because as of right now this is looking like less of a presidential race and more of a catty popularity contest.