“I’d vote for him over Hillary Clinton”, Santorum said on Morning Joe on August 7, the morning after the first official debate. And Carly Fiorina stood out, albeit in a less watched forum.
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The debate generated more interest than any Republican or Democratic debate ever, and it’s now one of the highest rated cable television programs of all time, the Nielsen ratings service reported Friday. Seventeen Republicans are seeking the party’s nomination, but only 10 were invited by debate host Fox News to participate in the main event based on their showing in recent polls. Meanwhile, let’s not forget that there’s another debate as soon as next month.
Here are the other highlights. This time, he angrily defended his use of terms such as fat pig and dog to describe women, drawing laughs from the GOP audience, but a cold stare from the Fox News moderator. Those who think of Fox News as little more than a shill for the Republican Party, whose negative view of the network comes mostly from what they’ve heard from comedian Jon Stewart and left-wing bloviators, had to be pleasantly surprised by what they saw.
“Donald Trump just adds lovely flair to the equation”.
Jeb Bush, the brother and son of past presidents, claimed that he’s earned the nickname “Veto” Corleone at the Florida Statehouse. “I wonder what the ratings would have been if I wasn’t in the mix”, he said.
Clinton, in Los Angeles, said in Los Angeles she’s often left in a “state of disbelief” by what she hears from some of her 2016 rivals. Asked at the outset about specific mistakes he’s made on foreign policy, he punted with a non-answer. You take a look at her, she’s a slob. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie acquitted himself well, too.
Probed on whether he could accept abortion to protect the health of the mother, the Wisconsin governor flatly denied that pregnancy can endanger a woman’s life: “I believe that that is an unborn child that’s in need of protection out there, and I’ve said many a time that that unborn child can be protected, and there are many other alternatives that can also protect the life of that mother”. Is he running for his own entertainment? They’re not stupid, he said in dismissing an earlier comment, but they are unwilling to upset the status quo.
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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee rejected the idea of allowing transgendered Americans into the armed forces. As long as Trump is in the race, many may just be tuned in for the show. The big mystery here, though, is where will his supporters go now that he appears to have been taken down a peg? Paul’s likely reinforced his appeal to the libertarian wing, and helped move his quiet campaign out of the doldrums. Marco Rubio of Florida, who some saw as smooth and nearly Obama-esque in a hopey-changey kind of way. He courted controversy with the Republican establishment by refusing to rule out an independent bid for the White House and bristled when accused of making offensive remarks about women.
