Marco Rubio for missing Senate votes while campaigning for the White House and today, again mentioned Rubio’s Senate attendance.
Advertisement
Graham also talked about the Benghazi hearing and said Clinton was the loser. I hope you want someone with a servant’s heart that acts on principle. One slide said: “Those who have looked into Marco’s background in the past have been concerned with what they found there”.
Bush’s campaign has been struggling for months. The graveness of the situation became tangible last week when layoffs and salary cuts were instigated by his campaign, and word went out that the candidate and his staff would focus more on early-voting states like Iowa.
Bush told Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin that speculation in the media and elsewhere that his bid for the Oval Office could end soon is far off base. “I have enough self-awareness to know that”. “I eat nails when I wake up, then I have breakfast”.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee called the debate a “train wreck”, and noted that CNBC achieved something he thought impossible: Bringing “all the candidates together in a complete agreement that we won’t do any more debates on NBC if they’re going to run them like that”. “Honest to goodness, I have not seen even a dip in the energy that I am seeing and feeling out there in the state”, exclaimed Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann.
The subtle shot at Bush is part of Rubio’s appeal to voters exhausted of the Bush family owning the past two Republican presidencies.
“I have enough humility to know that I’ve got to get better”, he told reporters.
But the key, unveiled by Bush in a donor conference and reinforced after Wednesday’s debate, is how they fare against each other, and Iowa is the first test. “When they go down, you don’t insult Iowa voters, because they are the same discerning voters whether your polls are going up or going down”. “You learn from Iowa voters, so it is a joy to be here”. Rand Paul of Kentucky on the stage, is making a play to consolidate the conservative wing of the Republican Party ahead of the February 1 Iowa caucuses.
Huckabee won the 2008 Iowa Caucuses and he says it’s because he took the time to meet potential Caucus-goers “person-to-person”.
After his speech, Rubio was mobbed by supporters and journalists. The Florida senator walked away with most of the accolades and on Friday earned the backing of Paul Singer, an influential Republican mega-donor who was also being courted by Bush. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has declined to endorse anyone in the presidential primary before the Iowa caucuses.
During the debate, he chided Sen. “And then Iowa came – What… are you people doing to me”, Trump said Tuesday night in Sioux City. “None of those three have ever been accused of being pussycats”, he said.
Jamie Steen, a stay-at-home mother from Ankeny, Iowa, said she’s still considering Cruz, but is leaning toward Rubio. “It was good to see that”, she said. Wednesday night’s attack from Bush backfired.
I will discuss the speeches and audience reaction later.
Each presidential hopeful will receive 15 minutes to address the crowd.
First, these debates are becoming less and less about who’s going to be the best logical choice for leading a nation, but rather who’s the best looking, richest, or most entertaining. Christie asked, before delivering this answer: “I am ready to beat Hillary Clinton”.
Rubio is now third in the Republican primary with 9.6 percent support, according to a RealClearPolitics average of national polls.
“Our country is in crisis and we need to stand up and lead to turn it around”, Cruz said.
Advertisement
Fewer debates is not the solution, Jindal said Friday in Iowa. “If he doesn’t, it’s over”.
