Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Carly Fiorina and George Pataki pose for photographs at the beginning of a presidential forum hosted by FOX News and Facebook at the Quicken Loans Arena August 6, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio.
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The choice on who to include was a tough one for Fox, which had to decide exactly how to fit so many candidates on stage amid a ballooning field.
When Fox News announces Tuesday who will make the cut for Thursday’s prime-time debate – the first of this cycle – several will be relegated to a B-Team forum earlier that evening. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum pointed out that he won 11 states against Mitt Romney in 2012.
“He’s got to be just livid”, O’Connell said. But moments after Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal made a point of criticizing Obama for his unwillingness “to say the words ‘radical Islamic terrorism, ‘” the debaters couldn’t even agree on what to call the foremost proponent of Islamic terrorism. “I didn’t. Maybe it’s because I haven’t given money to the foundation or donated to his wife’s Senate campaign”, she said. And there’s the guarantee of finding like-minded voters; 47 percent of voters who described themselves as “consistently conservative” said Fox was their main source of news about government and politics, according to a 2014 survey by the Pew Research Center.
I suppose if you wanted to put a positive spin on it, at least it was a Trump-free zone. Perry asked.
While the candidates peppered their remarks with barbs about Clinton, they avoided lengthy attacks on her record as secretary of state and the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya.
Fiorina referenced news reports that former President Bill Clinton contacted Trump to encourage him to run. She was sharp on national security. Lindsey Graham went further by saying he supports sending ground forces to fight extremists in Iraq and Syria. “And you’re not serious about destroying ISIL”.
It might be tempting for a guy like Governor Perry to skip the dregs’ debate altogether. Lindsey Graham, a seasoned legislator and John McCain clone, joined by his now famous cellphone and his weird Bill-Clinton-wishes-he’d-thought-of-that rotating first lady proposal.
Now bespectacled and by his estimation better-studied, Perry talked up Texas’ economic growth and a muscular foreign policy. Later, he said, “I said, ‘Didn’t you resent America for not letting you be with their father?’ ” Santorum said.
13 year-old internet marvel C.J. Pearson thinks President Obama’s time in office has divided the country and the best man to bring it back is none other than Ted Cruz.
That enraged Sen. Rand Paul, who said Trump was “already hedging his bets because he’s used to buying politicians”. Sorry, NASCAR fans, but those who tuned in hoping to see one or more of these candidates crash and burn left disappointed.
Mr Perry and Ms Fiorina came out swinging against the White House’s Iran nuclear deal.
The big question about Trump is whether he will play it safe now that he has a double-digit lead in the polls or keep shooting from the hip and making the kind of bold statements that got him that lead in the first place.
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“I’m fluent in Clinton speak – I’ve been dealing with this crowd for 20 years”, Graham said. They should be grateful for that-even the two of them together were hopelessly outgunned.
