Column: GOP holds second debate
On September 16, 2015, the second of 11 Republican debates
took place at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. It was
hosted by CNN and moderated by Jake Tapper, Hugh Hewitt, and Dana Bash. It
followed the criteria of the first debate: a secondary debate for
bottom-ranking candidates, then a prime-time debate. Each candidate had a
minute to answer questions and thirty seconds for follow-ups.
The candidates in the smaller-scale debate were Lindsey Graham,
Bobby Jindal, George Pataki, and Rick Santorum. I thought that Lindsey Graham
did a much better job than in the first debate. He did a good job answering
questions, but he seemed to turn every question into the subject of radical
Islamic terrorism. In my opinion, George Pataki didn’t really stand out. He
answered questions well, but didn’t really connect with voters. Rick Santorum
and Bobby Jindal were both extremely confident and gave great, descriptive
answers, even if some of their answers were contrary to each other.
It seems that the first ten minutes of the debate were a battle
between Donald Trump and the GOP. Eventually, Ohio governor John Kasich told
everyone how ridiculous the argument was. He said they should be talking about
important issues. There were many great topics for debate including the Iran
nuclear deal, illegal immigration, and birthright citizenship. Ted Cruz, Scott
Walker, Mike Huckabee, and Carly Fiorina described the dangers of the Iran Nuclear Non-Proliferation Deal and
why it should be terminated on their first day in office. Rand Paul argued that
this is a terrible deal, but we shouldn’t take negotiations off the table. On
illegal immigration, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, and Carly
Fiorina all agreed a wall should be built. Later, Donald Trump and Rand Paul
criticized birthright citizenship, and Carly Fiorina defended it.
In this debate, there were several fights between specific
candidates. When asked about nuclear weapons, Trump completely changed the
subject to why Rand Paul shouldn’t have been on the main stage. There was an
ongoing conflict between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush that covered everything from
women’s health care to illegal immigration to speaking Spanish in America. A
highlight of the debate was when Donald Trump attacked his brother, George W.,
for giving us Barack Obama, Jeb Bush responded, “When it comes to my brother,
there’s one thing I know for sure. He kept us safe.” Trump criticized Jeb Bush
because he said that he would cut some of the budget for women’s health care.
Jeb Bush apologized and admitted that’s not what he meant, but Donald Trump
continued to say he understood what Bush said and was shocked. Later, when
Carly Fiorina was asked about Trump insulting her face and calling her ugly,
she answered, “Mr. Trump says he understood clearly what Governor Bush said. I
think women everywhere understood what Trump said about me.”
Donald Trump supporters would probably say he had a good night,
but his critics would say otherwise. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, also known
as “the outsiders,” did very well. Ben Carson gave good answers; Fiorina
had a fiery temperance. You knew she meant business. Senators Marco Rubio, Ted
Cruz, and Rand Paul all got their points across well. Mike Huckabee did a great
job commenting on the issues and explaining his positions. Jeb Bush did much
better than in the first debate. Last night, he seemed confident, did a great
job answering questions, and was well-prepared. Chris Christie seemed ready and
knew his track record well. John Kasich made good points, but seemed unsure of
himself. All in all, it was a good debate.
--Pierson Castor, LSNews.org Political Columnist
Edited: BP
