The Republican presidential candidates debated in South Carolina Saturday night under the shadow of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
This led to a bit of a pall over the start of the debate as candidates offered a more somber tone than they had in previous debates. But things grew testy as the night wore on, with some memorable clashes between businessman Donald Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
After the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, the Republican field thinned out. Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina, both of whom had done well in earlier debates, came to the end of the road and dropped out of the contest. The race then turned to South Carolina, where Trump leads the polls, and Nevada.
With fewer candidates in the race, GOP hopefuls are starting to focus more on each other than on the Democrats. There weren’t many references to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Saturday night as the Republicans were more concerned with each other.
Here’s a look at some of the winners and losers in the CBS-televised debate:
Winners.
Jeb Bush. A good night for the former Florida governor, who frankly needed one. The military community plays a large role in South Carolina and Bush scored points by going after the sequester and urging a stronger military. Donald Trump went after Bush on foreign policy in the first attack of the debate, making the former Florida governor look like a contender. Bush handled Trump’s attack well, firing back on him over his praise of Vladimir Putin. Defending his family, Bush scored points against Trump and stressed his credentials to be commander in chief. Bush also cited John McCain as the battle intensified with Trump over immigration. With a shoutout to South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Bush also did well against John Kasich, hitting the Ohio governor for agreeing to expand Medicaid as part of Obamacare. The former Florida governor did make some missteps, hitting past Republican presidents for nominating Supreme Court justices who didn’t have a record. That’s pretty much what his father did with David Souter and, to a lesser extent, Clarence Thomas. Bush tried to become the story of the night by going after Trump. The former Florida governor has been bouncing back in the debates after some bad performances last year. Of course, Bush’s supporters can be excused if they ask why the former Florida governor didn’t offer this kind of performance in the summer and fall.
Ted Cruz. A solid if not great night for the Texas senator. Cruz will take it. With his background, including working as a Supreme Court clerk, Cruz could have descended into legal jargon in his take on whether Obama should be given a chance to replace Scalia. Cruz was also good on foreign policy and taxes. When the debate turned to immigration, Cruz turned his fire to Marco Rubio and had the better of the exchange. Still, Cruz got lucky there because Ben Carson did not press him on his campaign’s actions on the night of the Iowa caucus. As the debate began to wind down, Cruz started drawing fire from Donald Trump over ethics, while the Texas senator pushed back on social issues, including hitting the reality TV star for backing Planned Parenthood. Cruz showed no hesitation in going after Trump and Rubio Saturday night and he gave better than he got.
John Kasich. Despite a second place showing in New Hampshire, the Ohio governor doesn’t look as if he will play well in South Carolina. Kasich’s performance probably won’t change that, though he did well enough in most of the debate. To be sure, Kasich had some fine moments as he tried to stress his ability to unite the nation and showcased his foreign policy views. Kasich generally avoided fire outside of Jeb Bush jabbing him for expanding Medicaid, another sign that his rivals don’t think the Ohio governor will play in the Palmetto State. Trying to be the grownup on the stage, Kasich’s attempts to be above the fray will play far better in other states than in South Carolina and he did well when he played the electability card. Even if he doesn’t want to put much into South Carolina, Kasich did enough to position himself in other states. And showcasing his faith in his closing statement certainly won't hurt him in the Palmetto State.
Marco Rubio. After a disastrous debate performance before New Hampshire, Rubio plummeted in the Granite State and needed a strong showing Saturday night. He offered a nice tribute to Antonin Scalia and praised George W. Bush’s handling of national security while jabbing Bill Clinton for not killing Osama bin Laden. While the first half went well enough for Rubio, things were a little bumpier in the second half, as the debate turned to immigration. One thing’s for sure: Rubio did not miss Chris Christie, who went after him in the last debate. Even with Ted Cruz pressing him on immigration and Rubio’s counterattack, the Florida senator faced far less pressure this go-round, but he can’t be happy with Bush’s strong showing Saturday night. Regardless, this was a far better debate than the last one for Rubio.
Losers.
Ben Carson. The celebrated surgeon was a non-factor in New Hampshire and is making a last stand in South Carolina. There were some good moments for Carson, including when he opened the debate by calling for more civility and questioning lifetime terms for Supreme Court justices. Carson made a mistake when he played the martyr, thanking moderators for including him in the debate. It only served as a reminder of how his campaign has collapsed since the early fall. Another misstep was constantly plugging his website instead of talking about his own positions. Somehow Carson never went after the actions of Ted Cruz’s team in the Iowa caucus, even when he demanded time to respond when his name was mentioned. Marco Rubio and Donald Trump hit Cruz on that matter, but Carson shrugged it off. Still, after fourth place in Iowa and taking only 2 percent in New Hampshire, he needed a far stronger performance Saturday night than he delivered to get back in the race.
South Carolina Republican Officials. Where was the love for the GOP team in the Palmetto State? Jeb Bush gave a tip of the cap to Nikki Haley and Lindsey Graham but that was about it. Marco Rubio did not showcase his endorsements from Tim Scott and Trey Gowdy, though he praised Haley toward the end of the debate. Ted Cruz did not highlight Joe Wilson and other South Carolina Republicans backing him. It was a bit odd, especially after the candidates tripped over themselves trotting out their endorsements in Iowa and New Hampshire and mentioning them in the first debates.
Donald Trump. Leading in the polls in South Carolina and at the national level after his big win in New Hampshire, Trump had a weak performance. He offered a solid start, praising Scalia and urging Senate Republicans to stand against President Barack Obama nominating a replacement. But when things came to international issues, Trump came up short in his spat with Jeb Bush over foreign policy and his past support for impeaching George W. Bush was raised by the moderator. Trump was too aggressive Saturday night, jumping in and interrupting Bush on several occasions, even bringing up 9/11 and sounding like George W. Bush’s worst critics. That’s not a good strategy in South Carolina, the state that helped send two Bushes to the Republican nomination and the White House. Trump did not have enough opportunity, especially at the start of the debate, to talk about economic development, one of the the issues which has helped him move to the top of the polls. Things went more his way in the second half, especially as he turned to immigration and he went after Bush once again. But the second half of the debate also saw Trump come up short when he got into a spat with Ted Cruz. Trump tried to hit Cruz on ethics but ended up being attacked for past support for Democrats and even Planned Parenthood. Not the best of nights for Trump, especially as the questions -- including being asked about his use of profane language -- did not help him.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
