Republican candidates debate absent Trump

In a debate boycotted by frontrunner Donald Trump, a shared aversion to him appeared to be a point of agreement among the other Republican presidential aspirants who sought to undermine one another. Mr. Trump addressed a separate rally where he raised funds for military veterans and took potshots at his opponents.

Mr. Trump skipped the debate over disagreements with Fox News that hosted it, particularly over one of the moderators, Megyn Kelly. Ms. Kelly had in an earlier debate asked Mr. Trump whether his comments denigrating women were suitable for a presidential candidate. Mr. Trump turned his ire on Ms. Kelly after the debate, saying that “she had blood coming out of her eyes… or wherever”. His tirade against her continued and on Friday, he retweeted a supporter who called Ms. Kelly “bimbo” and later justified it in an interview. Mr. Trump said he got an apology from Fox, but it was too late to rethink; the network said Mr. Trump demanded $5 million for his charities, in return for his participation, which was not acceptable to it.

“Let’s address the elephant not in the room,” Ms. Kelly opened the debate with a question to Senator Ted Cruz, who is Mr. Trump’s closest rival. “Donald Trump has chosen not to attend this evening’s presidential debate. What message do you think that sends to the voters of Iowa?” “I’m a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid fat and ugly…,” Mr. Cruz responded, imploring a common cause with others against Mr. Trump. Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz are considered insurgents devoid of experience, inadequate in temperament and inconsiderate of the Republican Party’s moorings by the rest — and that became apparent soon.

“You now want to trump Mr. Trump on immigration,” Senator Marco Rubio told Mr. Cruz, reminding him of his earlier stance that supported legalising illegal immigrants. Jeb Bush reminded others that he had been taking on Mr. Trump from the beginning while others remained silent. “I kind of miss Donald Trump. He was a little Teddy Bear to me. We always had such a loving relationship,” Mr. Bush joked.

Mr. Rubio and Mr. Cruz had heated exchanges as both sought to disown and deny their earlier support to amnesty for immigrants.

Mr. Cruz said his plans were to revive the Reagan legacy — a social coalition of libertarians, conservatives and evangelicals and in government, total deregulation of the economy that will create a boom that will in turn support a new wave of American militarisation.

Discussing the American victory in the first Gulf war as a pointer for the current situation, the candidates drew different lessons. Mr. Cruz thought it was “saturation bombing” that won the war for America in 1992 and wanted the same to eliminate the Islamic State, while Mr. Bush and John Kasich said it was the coalition of Muslim countries that won the war. Mr. Bush and Mr. Kasich warned against anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Senator Rand Paul, though polling very low, stood out in the crowd with his libertarian positions against surveillance, security state and calling for better integration of African-Americans. “We cannot incarcerate another generation of black people. Our party needs to be part of the solution,” Mr. Paul said, referring to the disproportionate incarceration of the African-Americans in drug cases.

Mr. Rubio, who could potentially be the rallying point for the Republican establishment if Mr. Bush does not gain ground soon, appeared to be on overdrive to win over the evangelical voters. At one point he said, his life’s goal was to “live in eternity with my creator”. Asked whether he could be the saviour of the party, he said, Jesus Christ was the only saviour.

Trump for veterans

Meanwhile, only miles away from the debate venue, Mr. Trump addressed a gathering with his newfound interest — welfare of veterans. Veterans have not been spared of Mr. Trump’s diatribe earlier. DonaldTrumpforvets.com was set up hours before the event — and MSNBC discovered that the domain name was bought only for one year, raising doubts over his long term commitment — and Mr. Trump declared that more than $5 million was raised. Mr. Trump said the donations came from people who wanted to contribute to his campaign but were unable to, because he would not accept donations. “All of them are taking money from special interests. I was so greedy all my life. N

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IS: Republican candidates question Obama claim

Republican aspirants for presidential nomination competed with each other in the debate on Thursday night to prove one point that they all agreed on — that the U.S. was facing a severe existential threat from Islamist jihad. President Barack Obama had on January 12 said the IS was “not an existential threat’ to the U.S. but the Republican candidates rejected the argument.

Front runners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz attacked each other with ferocity unseen until now, ahead of the Iowa caucuses on February 1 with which the candidate selection process will formally begin. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has increased his national lead over Mr. Cruz to 13 percent, a jump from five percent a month earlier.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz picked on the brief detention of U.S sailors by Iran to drive home the point about American decline and weakness but spent considerable time undermining each other.

“It was heartbreaking, but the good news is, the next commander in chief is standing on this stage,” Mr. Cruz said of the photographs of American sailors in Iranian custody. He added that once Mr. Obama ceases to be president, any country that dares the U.S would face its “full fury and force.”

Mr. Trump has been harping on the fact that Mr. Cruz was born in Canada and questioning his eligibility to run for president. Mr. Cruz could defend his position on the birth issue, but his attack on Mr. Trump by questioning his “New York values,” possibly boomeranged. Mr. Cruz defined New York values as “socially liberal, pro-gay marriage, focused on money and the media” and added for effect that few conservative came from there.

Mr. Trump turned the table on Mr. Cruz by recalling New York’s response to the September 11 terror strikes. “The people in New York fought and fought and fought, and we saw more death, even the smell of death — no one understood it,” Mr. Trump said. “And we rebuilt downtown Manhattan, and everyone in the world watched and loved New York and New Yorkers. And I’ll tell you, that was a very insulting statement that Ted made.”

Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz, at the first and second slots, have positioned themselves as anti-establishment candidates; former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Ohio Governor John Kasich claimed to be more presidential by opposing the anti-Muslim rhetoric of the front runners and favoring a globalized economy, while Florida Senator Marco Rubio and New Jersey Governor Chris Christy appeared to be positioning themselves in the middle of the spectrum by not completely rejecting the anti-Muslim, anti-migration, anti-trade rhetoric of the front runners.

Encouraged by the traction that his extreme views gain among the Republican primary goers, Mr. Trump reiterated them all today, albeit in a calmer and more measured way compared to his earlier speeches. His argument for punitive measures against Chinese trade was questioned by Mr. Bush and Mr. Rubio who said it would adversely affect American customers. Mr. Bush and Mr. Kasich also argued that the war against IS could be won only by forming alliances with Muslims countries. “Will you bar Muslims from India and Indonesia also?” Mr. Bush asked Mr. Trump when he said he stood by his plans to “temporarily ban” Muslims from entering the U.S. 

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Nothing like family to win over voters, unless your name is Bush

One closes every speech with the heartfelt tale of his bartender father; another invokes her newborn granddaughter while musing about future generations.

And then there are the far more famous father and brother who seldom get a mention unless explicitly asked about.

Family members may not be physically present for the most part on the 2016 presidential campaign trail, but their presence is routinely felt as candidates crisscross the country seeking ways to resonate with voters.

Rubio’s humble beginnings

An integral part of Marco Rubio’s pitch are his humble beginnings, as the son of Cuban immigrants who worked as a bartender and a maid — struggling, like so many, to make ends meet for their children.

“That journey from behind that bar to behind this podium — that’s the essence of the American dream,” the Florida senator says at the end of his stump speech.

Texas senator Ted Cruz, also Cuban-American, paints a similar picture for his audiences with the story of his father, Rafael Cruz. “He arrived with only $100 sewn into his underwear” after fleeing the Batista dictatorship, Mr. Cruz says, in an ode to the promise of America.

For Hillary Clinton, it’s granddaughter Charlotte who gets a starring role to show off the Democratic frontrunner’s more relatable side. There have been references to babysitting and the many firsts that Clinton says she and husband Bill celebrate as though “nobody has ever done it before”.

And as a staple, she concludes many speeches by holding up Charlotte as a primary source of concern for future generations. “You should not have to be the grandchild of a former President to know that you can make it in America,” Ms. Clinton has said.

At a time when politicians are more disliked than ever before, the family tales that might seem trite to insiders are instead a campaign’s best weapon to humanise a candidate. Rather than seeming “out of touch”, a frequent criticism of those seeking the presidency, relatives can be effectively deployed to persuade voters that a candidate does, in fact, understand the struggles of everyday Americans.

At a recent event in Iowa, Mr. Rubio rolled out a plan for veterans with his brother — a former Army Green Beret — by his side. But not every sibling or parent is viewed as an asset on the campaign trail.

Behind the scenes, Jeb Bush’s influential family have rallied behind him in courting an extensive network of donors — and keeping troops in line as the former Florida Governor’s campaign has fallen in dramatic fashion. But in public, Mr. Bush has been reluctant to embrace his legacy as the son and brother of U.S. Presidents number 41 and 43.

Even as Mr. Bush has professed his love for his family — his dad, he often says, “is the best man I’ve ever met” — he has repeatedly insisted, “I’m my own man.”

W’s troubling legacy

The implications of George W. Bush’s complicated record were evident even before Jeb Bush formally entered the race — notably when it took days for the younger Bush to definitively state his view of the Iraq war when asked if it was, in hindsight, a mistake.


If Jeb would really rather keep his family in the wings, Mr. Cruz, the surging conservative seems sometimes at risk of being overshadowed by his own preacher father.

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