FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Photo: AP
Where has this Marco Rubio been during debate season?
For those of us who have watched the debates, screamingly frustrated at Rubio and Ted Cruz for wasting time attacking each other while Donald Trump scampers unscathed to the nomination, last night’s GOP debate in Houston was a satisfying evening indeed.
Though it was a messy debate, with the second hour so out-of-control that CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer could only throw his hands up in frustration, it made for great television for those of us watching, which apparently included John Kasich and Ben Carson.
Finally realizing that, with five days to go before Super Tuesday and Trump gathering delegates by the score, Cruz and (particularly) Rubio came out swinging. Trump was ready and had his arsenal of insults at hand. Referring to Rubio and Cruz respectively, Trump remarked at one point, “This guy’s a choke artist, and this guy’s a liar.” It came off stale and canned.
People have tried to take down Trump in a myriad of ways, and none of them have worked. “He’s not a real conservative”…”He once favored partial birth abortion”… “He invited Hillary Clinton to one of his many weddings”… All these have been tried and nothing has stuck.
Rubio did a smart thing last night — he attacked Trump where his perceived strength is…as a businessman. Time after time, Rubio referred to Trump’s many bankruptcies, his wealth being built on inherited money, Trump’s reliance on illegal immigrants to build Trump Tower, and all of his punches landed, and their effect was visible on Trump’s face. No one had hit him in a debate the way that Rubio hit him last night.
The other smart ploy that Rubio used was taking up topics that no one had yet seriously mentioned — Trump’s neutrality in the Israel/Palestine conflict and, most effectively, the fiasco that was the unaccredited Trump University, which was not an actual college but a series of seminars that students, who were promised to learn the secrets of Trump’s real estate success, paid upwards of $35,000 to attend. Those who bought into Trump’s blarney put almost $40 million into his pockets, but now the State of New York and several students have sued the real estate mogul for misrepresentation. I’ve been shocked that none of the candidates had previously brought up this farce, and Rubio was smart enough to spring it last night on Trump, who was momentarily taken aback.
Let’s check out the scorecard:
WINNER:
Marco Rubio — In addition to attacking Trump on his business record, Rubio did one more thing that no one has been able to do on the debate stage — he mocked him. When Rubio went after him, Trump fell back on one of his familiar attack lines again and again, ending with a reference to Rubio repeating himself in the New Hampshire debate. Rubio immediately turned that around and said that Trump just repeated himself five times in the last five seconds, prompting the crowd to cheer. Rubio had better be careful now that he has unleashed the beast, but, being down double digits to Trump in the March 15 Florida primary, he has little to lose by going on the attack.
LOSERS:
Donald Trump — This was the first debate where someone seriously laid a glove on him, and he reacted with surprise and annoyance. Trump can take many things, but being laughed at is not one of them, and it showed on the glower on his face throughout the debate. Trump is in no danger of losing the majority of the states voting in this Super Tuesday’s primaries, but Rubio has finally found the key to getting under the billionaire’s skin.
Ted Cruz — Like Rubio, Cruz needed to step up against Trump if he wanted to keep the billionaire from winning Cruz’s home state of Texas on Tuesday, and, though he displayed a little bit of life early in the debate — he called out Trump on his taxes and, at one point after a particularly loud attack by Trump, said, “Donald, you can get back on your meds now. You can relax.” — Cruz began to fade from view in the debate’s second hour. The most trained debater onstage last night, Cruz needed to bring it, and he didn’t.
John Kasich — The Ohio governor made the mistake of thinking that a series of well-prepared cogent arguments would carry the day. Silly rabbit. With reasoned arguments in response to the nonsense that was going on at the other side of the stage, Kasich seemed like he was in another movie entirely. It was a textbook debate performance, which will do him absolutely no good with an electorate that has little interest whatsoever in textbooks.
Ben Carson — I was amazed that for the first 45 minutes, Carson avoided his usual complaints about not being asked a question. At that point, though, the whining resumed in earnest. After about an hour, his Ambien kicked in, and that was that.
[UPDATE]
That was Thursday, but Friday began a whole new roller coaster. Rubio began his victory lap on the morning shows, and it appeared that the day’s news cycle would belong to him. Trump, however, would have none of that.
At a hastily-called Friday afternoon news conference, Trump unexpectedly trotted out NJ Governor and former rival Chris Christie, who promptly proceeded to endorse the Trump candidacy. This is by far the highest-profile endorsement that Trump has received, and Christie’s establishment credentials give the Trump campaign at least the aroma of legitimacy.
There is, of course, no love lost between Christie and Rubio. When, at the end of 2015, Christie was beginning to get traction in New Hampshire, Rubio came in with his Super PAC and stopped Christie in his tracks with a series of negative ads. Christie’s a Jersey guy — he may forgive, but he never forgets.
Then there was the notorious New Hampshire debate where Christie called out Rubio for his robotic repetition of talking points, an attack which, though it blew up Christie’s campaign, did serious damage to the FL Senator, dropping him to a 5th-place finish in the Granite State primary. While Trump hardly needs an attack dog — unlike most candidates, he’s happy to do the dirty work himself — Christie has the potential to be a lethal surrogate on Trump’s behalf.
Rubio may have won the battle, but Trump is likely to win the war.
