1. Jeb Bush doesn’t get why people object to political dynasties.
At all. Even his mom understands it more than he does. Look at his answer to a question the moderators posed on this subject:
BAIER: Governor Bush, you have insisted that you’re your own man. You say you have a life experience uniquely your own. Not your father’s, not your brother’s.
But there are several opponents on this stage who get big- applause lines in early voting states with this line: quote, “the last thing the country needs is another Bush in the Oval Office.”
So do you understand the real concern in this country about dynastic politics?
BUSH: Absolutely, I do, and I’m gonna run hard, run with heart, and run to win. I’m gonna have to earn this. Maybe the barrier — the bar’s even higher for me. That’s fine.
I’ve got a record in Florida. I’m proud of my dad, and I’m certainly proud of my brother. In Florida, they called me Jeb, because I earned it.
I cut taxes every year, totaling $19 billion. We were — we had — we balanced every budget. We went from $1 billion of reserves to $9 billion of reserves. We were one of two states that went to AAA bond rating. They keep — they called me Veto Corleone. Because I vetoed 2,500 separate line-items in the budget.
I am my own man. I governed as a conservative, and I govern effectively. And the net effect was, during my eight years, 1.3 million jobs were created. We left the state better off because I applied conservative principles in a purple state the right way, and people rose up.
Uh, that’s great, Jeb. Jobs, balanced budgets, vetoes, all good stuff. Also all pretty much irrelevant to what Baier asked. Ditto for purposing to “run with heart,” whatever that focus-grouped nonsense phrase is supposed to mean.
At the end of the day, no matter how much heart you involve in campaign, it’s still a heart built from Bush DNA. So the question is not whether you’ve done some good stuff as governor but whether you’ve been so incredibly amazing in every way that we should turn this election into a coronation and be done with it.
2. Once again, a Paul gets the short end of the stick.
In 2008 and 2012, Rep. Ron Paul was given notoriously little speaking time in the Republican debates—as little as 89 seconds one time—and it seems Fox has every intention of carrying on that tradition with his son. Last night, Rand Paul made frequent interruptions, but as Rare’s Jack Hunter points out, failing to do so would have seen him nearly disappear from the screen.
3. The winner of the Twitter primary is…Ben Carson?
While Carson complained about his actually very respectable talking time, his sleepy performance was evidently resonating on Twitter, as he picked up the most new followers during the debate. Christie gained the fewest. Carson also got the biggest spike in Google search traffic (other than Donald Trump).
4. Donald Trump’s refusal to pledge support…
…for the eventual Republican nominee is not unreasonable. It will feed not entirely implausible rumors that he is a Democratic mole, of course, but on face value this decision is hardly the worst thing Trump has said or done. Though I’d hazard a guess, as Paul did, that Trump’s noncommittal stance is more self-serving than principled, it makes sense to refuse to back a still-unknown nominee. His apparent opinion that refraining from a constant stream of insults about women’s looks is being “politically correct,” on the other hand…
5. The Paul-Christie exchange over domestic surveillance was refreshing.
Here’s the transcript, via the Washington Post:
PAUL: I want to collect more records from terrorists, but less records from innocent Americans. The Fourth Amendment was what we fought the Revolution over! John Adams said it was the spark that led to our war for independence, and I’m proud of standing for the Bill of Rights, and I will continue to stand for the Bill of Rights.
(APPLAUSE)
CHRISTIE: And — and, Megyn? Megyn, that’s a — that, you know, that’s a completely ridiculous answer. “I want to collect more records from terrorists, but less records from other people.” How are you supposed to know, Megyn?
PAUL: Use the Fourth Amendment!
CHRISTIE: What are you supposed to…
PAUL: Use the Fourth Amendment!
CHRISTIE: …how are you supposed to — no, I’ll tell you how you, look…
PAUL: Get a warrant!
CHRISTIE: Let me tell you something, you go…
PAUL: Get a judge to sign the warrant!
CHRISTIE: When you — you know, senator…
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: Governor Christie, make your point.
CHRISTIE: Listen, senator, you know, when you’re sitting in a subcommittee, just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that.
(APPLAUSE)
When you’re responsible for protecting the lives of the American people, then what you need to do is to make sure…
PAUL: See, here’s the problem. CHRISTIE: …is to make sure that you use the system (ph) the way it’s supposed to work.
PAUL: Here’s the problem, governor. Here’s the problem, governor. You fundamentally misunderstand the Bill of Rights.
Every time you did a case, you got a warrant from a judge. I’m talking about searches without warrants…
CHRISTIE: There is no…
PAUL: …indiscriminately, of all Americans’ records, and that’s what I fought to end.
I don’t trust President Obama with our records. I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.
(APPLAUSE)
KELLY: Go ahead, governor.
CHRISTIE: And you know — you know, Senator Paul? Senator Paul, you know, the hugs that I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who lost their people on September 11th.
Those are the hugs I remember, and those had nothing to do — and those had nothing to do with politics, unlike what you’re doing by cutting speeches on the floor of the Senate, then putting them on the Internet within half an hour to raise money for your campaign…
KELLY: Alright.
CHRISTIE: …and while still putting our country at risk.
Did Paul fulfill his promise to stand out on foreign policy? Not as much as he could have, but his defense of the Fourth Amendment was to his credit.
As for the specifics of this exchange, Christie’s point about fundraising with speech clips continues to be bizarre. Isn’t that what every politician does? If people like what you say, they give you money so you can keep saying it.
While who “won” this exchange seems to be the subject of some disagreement, one moment toward the end could unfortunately tilt it in Christie’s favor: When the New Jersey governor callously used the victims of 9/11 in service to his own political gain, Paul rolled his eyes a little.
It was an understandable reaction to a particularly shameless piece of politicking, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that eye roll—intentionally misunderstood as a reaction to 9/11 itself—pops up in attack ads.
FoxNews/Screenshot
