Christie tried to make the case based on his work with Democrats and electability in New Jersey that he could draw bipartisan support in a general election against Clinton.
Advertisement
After Jindal trained his fire on Huckabee, accusing him of presiding over increases in taxes, spending and government payroll as Arkansas governor, Christie pounced – on Hillary.
Jindal also attacked Christie for expanding Medicaid health care programs for the poor under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
Due to their even lower poll numbers, former NY Gov. George Pataki and U.S. Sen. He also took aim at Christie’s record in New Jersey and Huckabee’s in Arkansas. When Christie repeatedly refused to take the bait and respond, Jindal condescendingly told him, “Chris, I’ll give you a ribbon for participation and a juice box, but in the real world it’s about results”.
“The reason we keep losing nationally is we try to be cheaper versions of the Democratic party”, said Jindal. “Don’t worry about Huckabee or Jindal, worry about her”. Rather than wallow in the reality that he’s further than ever from the White House, Mr. Christie adopted the pose of a front-runner.
Christie hit Obama for a “weak and feckless” foreign policy, and vowed to cyber-retaliate against China if they continue to launch hack attacks against the United States, Huckabee, meanwhile, warned the nation against admitting refugees from Syria, saying a few potential terrorists could be smuggled in. “I’ll tell you this, the first thing I’ll do with the Chinese is I’ll throw – I’ll fly Air Force One over those islands”. Rick Santorum said better job training for people coming out of high school is key to strengthening the manufacturing industry.
“If you think that Mike Huckabee won’t be the kind of president that will cut spending… wait until you see what Hillary Clinton will do. But for the debate and republican candidates I think it’s important, I think we’re going to finally get to a set of issues that matter to the American voter”. He said he’s won as a conservative in a Democratic state.
“We’ve got to get a lot smarter about how we focus our conversation going forward, and you can count on this, that’s the way I’m going to focus my conversation”, he said.
“Wanting to cut is one thing, actually cutting is another”.
The approach couldn’t have been more different from that of an aggressive Bobby Jindal.
Huckabee and Christie were both dismissed from the main debate stage after not reaching the 2.5% threshold in national polls.
Advertisement
The governor said on two occasions that he would prosecute Clinton in a debate forum if he was the GOP presidential nominee and on the stage with the former Secretary of State in September.
