Strict Standards: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_flexi_customcode/tmpl/default.php on line 24

Strict Standards: Non-static method modFlexiCustomCode::parsePHPviaFile() should not be called statically in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_flexi_customcode/tmpl/default.php on line 54

Strict Standards: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/noahjames7/public_html/components/com_grid/GridBuilder.php on line 29
Photo
The Undercard: Focus on Donald Trump at ‘Undercard’ Debate Irks Low-Polling Candidates
From left, George E. Pataki, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal and Lindsey Graham on stage Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.Credit Pool photo by Max Whitaker

He was not on stage, but Donald J. Trump loomed large over parts of the so-called undercard debate on Wednesday when four candidates appeared at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., and moderators asked if Mr. Trump should be exempt from Reagan’s “11th commandment” not to criticize fellow Republicans.

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana called Mr. Trump a “narcissist who only believes in himself.” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina criticized the party’s “leading candidate” for absorbing foreign policy from television. George E. Pataki, the former New York governor, tried to wriggle out of an earlier suggestion that he would not vote for Mr. Trump, but said Mr. Trump was “unfit” to be president.

Eventually, Mr. Pataki expressed exasperation at the focus on Mr. Trump. “This is an important election with an enormous number of challenges facing the American people,” he said, “and the first four questions are about Donald Trump.”

The debate was still dominated by matters of policy, and thanks to a live audience and the fact that there were only four candidates on stage, there was more than enough time for each of the men to speak. And they showed some sharp differences among them, providing a contentious warm-up forum before the Big 11 debate later in the evening with the top tier of candidates.

Continue reading the main story

Highlights from the G.O.P. Debate

Another lively factor was Mr. Graham, an inveterate quipster, who at one point said: “I wasn’t the best law student. By the end of this debate, it would be the most time I’ve ever spent in any library.” He proposed more bipartisan cooperation in Washington through social interactions. “That’s the first thing I’m going to do as president: We’re going to drink more,” he said to laughter.

There was much at stake for the four candidates, who had failed to make the main debate — which started a short time later on the same stage — because not one was above 1 percent in an average of polls consulted by CNN, the debate’s sponsor. To maintain their viability as the Republican race continues, they needed to win over not just voters but also, even more important, donors. The example of a candidate who did not — former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who dropped out last week for lack of money — could not have been far from anyone’s mind.

Between Mr. Graham and Mr. Pataki, two moderate Republicans, and Mr. Jindal and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, two social conservatives, there were sharp disagreements over the minimum wage, immigration and Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was briefly jailed this month for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Mr. Pataki said he would have fired Ms. Davis. “We have to uphold the rule of law,” he said.

Mr. Santorum strongly disagreed, saying the Supreme Court had been “abusive” to the Constitution in overturning state bans on same-sex marriage. “We need a president and a Congress to stand up to a court when it exceeds its constitutional authority,” he said.

Mr. Pataki shot back: “My response is kind of, ‘Wow.’ You know, we’re going to have a president who defies the Supreme Court because they don’t agree?”

Continue reading the main story

On immigration, Mr. Graham, who supports a path to legal status for unauthorized workers, tangled with Mr. Santorum, who does not. “What are you going to do with the 11 million?” Mr. Graham asked, referring to the number of immigrants in the country illegally.

Mr. Santorum said he would tell “the 11 million that they have to return to their country of origin.”

Mr. Graham prodded him, asking how successful he had been when he pushed for an immigration overhaul in the Senate.

“It went nowhere, because we had a president back then who was for more comprehensive immigration reform,” Mr. Santorum said.

“George W. Bush,” Mr. Graham said.

Continue reading the main storyThe Undercard: Focus on Donald Trump at ‘Undercard’ Debate Irks Low-Polling Candidates

Who Is Running for President?

“That’s right,” Mr. Santorum said.

“Who won with Hispanics,” Mr. Graham added.

Mr. Jindal sought to position himself as an outsider to Washington, the reason Republican voters have made two nonpoliticians, Mr. Trump and Ben Carson, a retired surgeon, the leaders in polls. “I am tired of this surrender caucus,” Mr. Jindal said, referring to Republican leadership in Congress. “I am angrier at Republicans in D.C. than I am at the president.”

Toward the end, the debate returned, inevitably, to Mr. Trump.

After Mr. Pataki said he would end tax breaks for Wall Street “fat cats,” he was asked if he agreed with Mr. Trump on raising taxes for hedge-fund titans.

“It’s hard for me to say I’m with Donald Trump on anything, but on this issue, I agree with him,” he said.

After the debate, the four candidates posed for pictures with the 11 candidates from the top-tier debate, the first time the full field had appeared together in the campaign.

Read more http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/640350/s/49eb62ad/sc/7/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A150C0A90C170Cus0Cpolitics0Cfocus0Eon0Edonald0Etrump0Eat0Eundercard0Edebate0Eirks0Elow0Epolling0Ecandidates0Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm


Strict Standards: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_flexi_customcode/tmpl/default.php on line 24

Strict Standards: Non-static method modFlexiCustomCode::parsePHPviaFile() should not be called statically in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_flexi_customcode/tmpl/default.php on line 54

Find out more by searching for it!

Custom Search







Strict Standards: Non-static method modBtFloaterHelper::fetchHead() should not be called statically in /home/noahjames7/public_html/modules/mod_bt_floater/mod_bt_floater.php on line 21