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After raucous debate, GOP’s rowdy 2016 field is back at work

“It’s not easy with 10 people debating”, said Jeb Bush, referring to the candidates leading in the polls who were invited to the main debate, seven more participated in a pre-debate forum.

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Undoubtedly, the reason for the record ratings was Trump. Today, he was back on TV, telling morning talk shows that he couldn’t recall insulting women in the past.

Trump told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he’d have to take “a very serious look” at those purported comments. “She’s playing the old game everybody plays, and we better be ready for it”.

He will not need to look far. Trump’s Twitter feed is sprinkled with insults to women – and some men – that use words such as “dog”, “ugly”, “dumb”, “stupid” and “disgusting”.

But arguably the payoff will be hour-long speeches from the would-be White House residents, kicking off with an address by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday morning.

A day after holding his own in the early debate of second-tier GOP presidential candidates, former Gov. Rick Perry appeared Friday at RedState Gathering, a two-day, grass-roots event in Atlanta, acknowledging his standing in the race with a quip. After making a swing although New Hampshire, Bush can be there Saturday – together with Texas Sen.

The Republican presidential candidates speaking at RedState are: Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen.

Christie advised the RedState crowd on Friday that his management of a Democratic-leaning state makes him “battle examined for Washington”.

That message is the anchor of Christie’s pitch as he tries to stand out in the 17-candidate GOP field. When asked how a governor from the Northeast could convince Southerners to vote for him to hold the highest office in the land, Christie joked that the Deep South would get used to his accent.

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Once the party’s star, begged by insiders to run in 2012, the New Jersey governor is diminished by a bridge closing scandal and fiscal problems in his home state. Christie said Americans from all regions care about a sound economy, national security and individual liberty. “Don’t worry about it”.

Video: Gov. Rick Perry At RedState Gathering