Fox Business Network and the Wall Street Journal hosted the fourth round of Republican presidential debates Tuesday night in Milwaukee and the stakes were high. This was supposed to have been a homecoming for Scott Walker but the Wisconsin governor has already bowed out of the race. Two candidates who had been in included in the main event debates -- Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee -- were dropped to the undercard while two other Republican hopefuls -- Lindsey Graham and George Pataki -- didn’t even make it for a repeat performance to the junior varsity event.
Unlike CNBC’s debate last month, the moderators actually stuck to the stated topic of the economy and didn’t engage in gotcha questions. Despite all of that, international policy played a large role in the second half of the debate. Some of the expected dustups -- Jeb Bush vs. Marco Rubio, Donald Trump going after Ben Carson -- didn’t happen, while dark horses like John Kasich and Rand Paul went on the attack.
WINNERS
Ben Carson. Under fire after reports of his mispeaking about his past, Carson needed a strong debate performance. He did exactly that. Asked about those reports, Carson’s low key response, turning fire back to Hillary Clinton’s handling of Benghazi, was music to primary voters’ ears. Carson also made a strong case for not raising the minimum wage and using a training wage to help teenagers find jobs, arguing it would help young African-Americans who need economic opportunities. The other candidates on the stage helped Carson out by not pressing the matter. When asked about taxes, Carson offered a compelling case for tithing and charity and how it helps people rise out of poverty. There are still holes in his game, of course. Asked about Middle East policy, Carson spoke in generalities before calling to make jihadists “look like losers” in a confused, rambling answer. Carson had a far better first half of the debate than second, but he looked comfortable, survived last week’s media reports and did nothing to hurt his stint at the top of the polls. Offering grim numbers at the end, the doctor had a powerful closing. A strong night for Carson who is still riding high in the polls.
Chris Christie. The New Jersey governor was relegated to the undercard, but he made the most of it. Christie was strong Tuesday night, keeping his fire against Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, using the same game plan Carly Fiorina did in the first junior varsity debate. Even as Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal took the gloves off to go at it, Christie flipped the script and stole the moment from both of them. He was excellent in telling stories, relating his conversation with a New Hampshire woman about struggling to pay the bills and about how Chinese hackers stole his Social Security number and his fingerprints. In one of the few moment focused on foreign policy in the undercard debate, Christie talked tough against China. Turning to law enforcement, he promised police officers across America he would “have their back” if elected president. Christie took aim at Clinton in his closing remarks, noting she said she was prouder of her GOP opponents than any of the other enemies she has made. How much this helps Christie remains to be seen; he did have strong showings in the second and third debates after all. But, stuck on the undercard, Christie did what he had to do while not engaging with Jindal, who is even more of an underdog than the New Jersey governor.
Ted Cruz. The Texas senator did exactly what he wanted to do Tuesday night. Cruz made the case against amnesty and being tougher on immigration while not getting into spats the way Donald Trump did. He also made his case for his tax proposals, arguing it will help spur economic growth. Cruz has been one of the sharper debaters in the early contests and Tuesday night was no different. When Rand Paul and Marco Rubio pounded away at each other over military spending, Cruz won the moment saying, "If defending this nation is expensive, try not defending it." If Carson and Trump fade, Cruz is well positioned to win over conservatives and Tuesday night helped boost his stock. One caveat: Cruz offered a subtle shot at Rubio when talking about how much the sugar industry spends to lobby the government. That might raise eyebrows among political junkies, especially in Florida, but it was too subtle for most viewers to pick up on.
Fox Business Network. After CNBC’s fiasco handling the third debate, Fox Business Network didn’t exactly have a tough task in doing better. There were some misfires to be sure -- most of the candidates in the undercard debate ignored a question about Democrats they admire in Washington -- but, on the whole, Fox Business Network did well. Moderators did a far better job on Tuesday night in offering substantive questions than their predecessors in other debates. There were some flaws, of course, and the moderators often got brushed aside, especially as John Kasich and Donald Trump clashed on immigration in the first hour of the debate, but, mostly, they controlled the flow of the debate. Some of the candidates -- Carly Fiorina in particular -- made a habit of ignoring the bell. Generally, though, Fox Business Network did a solid job and easily lapped CNBC.
Marco Rubio. Moving up in the polls, Rubio had a solid night. He offered details on his family’s rise while speaking against raising the minimum wage and offered a strong case for America’s economic future. Rubio weighed in on the changing economy and went to bat for vocational training. When challenged by Rand Paul on calling for military spending, Rubio went to one of his strengths and called for a more active foreign policy. Even as there’s increasing focus on Rubio’s financial history, the senator from Florida did not face any questions on the matter on Tuesday night. He also scored points at the end when he went after Dodd-Frank and saying a contest pitting him against Hillary Clinton “would be a generational choice.” Like Ted Cruz, Rubio has generally been strong in most of the debates and Tuesday night was no exception.
LOSERS
Mike Huckabee. Stuck on the undercard debate for the first time, the former Arkansas governor was something of an afterthought. Huckabee never got a chance to respond to some of Jindal’s attacks and wasn’t able to focus on social and religious issues, something Rick Santorum was at least able to do. While Huckabee was the first candidate to talk about reforming the VA and thanking veterans, Santorum scored more points there as he talked about giving veterans more options for health-care while still saying the VA had a large role to play. To be sure, Huckabee had some big moments, including offering a strong closing and a good synopsis of the Fair Tax proposal but they were few and far between. Huckabee’s folksy charm played well when he ran for president in 2008 but it’s simply not working this time out. Sharing the stage with fewer candidates, the former Arkansas governor needed to be more of a factor on Tuesday night than he was.
John Kasich. The Ohio governor tried to score points off Donald Trump by going after him on immigration, but he played his cards wrong. Kasich’s “think about the children” mantra bordered on the cliche and his infighting with Jeb Bush did not help matters. Kasich was often all over the place in his responses, too unfocused to really be effective. Constantly bringing up his record as chair of the House Budget Committee back in the 1990s instead of his record in Columbus seemed an odd move for Kasich. The Ohio governor did not help his standing by trying to interrupt the moderators on a few occasions. By going after Trump, Kasich probably increased his standing as the mainstream media’s favorite candidate in the GOP race but that never helped the likes of John Anderson and Jon Huntsman. Kasich will find it tough to generate oxygen outside of his home state and perhaps in New Hampshire. Still, Kasich had his moments. His pushback against Ted Cruz saying he would not bail out Bank of America if it failed should have been a solid moment as he drew a line between executive experience and a legislative background in the White House, but he ended up bungling his point. A bad night all around for the Ohio governor. Easily the biggest loser on Tuesday night.
Paul Ryan and Scott Walker. These Wisconsin Republicans were cheered by the crowd between the two debates but neither of them got much in the way of attention from the candidates. Carly Fiorina gave Walker a shout-out in the main event debate. It’s a telling sign how much Walker’s underwhelming presidential bid has hurt him on the national level with Republicans. Despite being the new speaker of the House, Ryan received even less attention and none of the candidates acknowledged him. Not exactly a sign of confidence in the new speaker who failed to carry Wisconsin when he was Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012. They were near invisible men as their party’s presidential candidates came to their backyard.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
