John Dickerson, host of Face the Nation and one of the panelists on the essential Slate Political Podcast, argued on that podcast last week that the obvious move is for Trump to make himself look reasonable, to hang onto his base but still bring others into the fold.
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The debate, the first of nine sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, will be from 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, televised on FOX News.
Seven. The number of announced candidates who are willing to join the farm team.
Ironically for a frontrunner, Trump has nearly nothing to lose in tonight’s debate.
“In one sense it’s advantageous for us because Trump is stirring up trouble for his own party”, Pablo Manriquez, a DNC spokesperson told FNL.
First, leaving out the sitting governor of the state in which you are holding the debate could make for some potentially bad press in advance of the show, some potentially tangled logistics for Fox’s crew and equipment, and perhaps most importantly, a potentially lower viewing audience in a swing state – a state most GOP strategists see as crucial to winning the White House next year. He’s hoping his appearances and his specific policy proposals will help him in the long-run.
My housemate said he would rather have his teeth pulled than watch the debate tonight. “Donald Trump made it about immigration”.
Well, nearly everybody else.
“However improbable it is that Trump emerges as the nominee, I would not bet against him”, Trippi said.
Can Trump convince voters that he really could be president?
His brash off-the-script style offends some but has distinguished Trump from a packed field of candidates, who have furiously tried to garner the same level of attention. His chances of attracting the backing of the remaining 80 percent of the party are nil. It’s unclear if any of his competitors will challenge him directly.
There are 17 official candidates running for the republican nomination.
“I haven’t talked to a pastor yet who is supporting Donald Trump“, said Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, in an interview with The Washington Post.
That’s because, while Trump’s support within the party at the moment appears to be relatively substantial compared to the rest of the presidential field, it is also limited. Rick Santorum came close with “secretive and untrustworthy”.
Find out where the GOP debaters stand on the issues that matter to you!
That’s an important, but subjective question, depending on the candidate, says GOP consultant Matt Mackowiak. “You should have seen Fiorina!” might be the best buzz to have this early in the race. And Jindal, still serving as Louisiana’s governor, looks like a Huckabee wannabe. The point is she did so well in this debate that there will be an enormous amount of buzz about her. Things go viral when people spread the word. They couldn’t be more out of sync with the broad majority of folks who want an economy shaped by principles of fairness and growth, led by the middle class. These candidates are too busy chasing an elite group of billionaires-the Koch brothers and others-who keep their campaigns afloat.
As the Cleveland debate approaches, many commentators agree Mr Trump is causing a headache for the Republican party.
Trump has repeatedly said he has no plans to go on the attack unless others strike first.
Bush could have the most to lose Thursday night.
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It would be impossible to collect all of his bluster in one place but in recent weeks, he has managed to call Mexican immigrants rapists and drug runners, branded a breastfeeding mother as “disgusting” and angered Republicans by arguing that Senator John McCain, a former POW, couldn’t be a war hero because he got himself captured. In that respect, he is enough like Bush to be a real threat, if he can manage to draw enough support to stay alive through the Trump storm.
