The fifth Republican presidential debate of the 2016 cycle is in the can. Here’s what we learned:
- It was long on substance. Candidates were asked about national security issues, immigration policy, government surveillance and naughty things the candidates have said about each other on the campaign trail.
- Florida senator Marco Rubio and Texas senator Ted Cruz locked horns over Rubio’s support for immigration reform and Cruz’s support for reining in NSA surveillance. Both fought expertly. No clear winner declared.
- Donald Trump said he had no plan to run as a third-party candidate. “I am totally committed to the Republican party,” Trump said.
- Former Florida governor Jeb Bush repeatedly attacked Donald Trump, calling him the “chaos candidate” and saying “You’re not going to insult your way to president of the United States.”
- Was it such a fight-y night? Not really – neither Cruz nor Rubio, nor New Jersey governor Chris Christie, opted to tangle with Trump, who himself passed on an invitation to hit Cruz.
- Christie did, however, call president Obama a “feckless weakling.”
- Did Trump botch a question about the country’s triad of nuclear defenses, sub-plan-silo? He didn’t answer a Q about which needed updating most urgently.
- Rubio left the door open on a path to citizenship for some undocumented migrants, a heresy in some corners of the party. “I personally am open to people having the possibility of applying for a green card,” he said – after 10 years’ probation and strict tests.
- Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator, did go after Trump, who he said wanted to shred the constitution. Trump pretty much ignored him.
- A substantive big-picture debate broke out over whether it’s better for the US national security to have dictators in the Middle East. Also unresolved.
- Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina quoted Thatcher: “Margaret Thatcher once said, if you want something talked about, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.”
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