It probably isn’t true that CNBC asked the Republican candidates to wear a metal plate with a number around their necks and face the camera, no smiles allowed. But this was less a debate, with the otherwise able CNBC reporters and analysts teasing out the candidates’ views on economic issues, than it was an attempt to stimulate candidates to attack one another or, failing that, to embarrass them. “Appalling … obnoxious…” commented Charles Krauthammer.
Ms. Fiorina, explain how you wrecked Hewlett Packard. Mr. Trump, tell us about your companies’ bankruptcies, and by the way, are you running "a comic book" version of a campaign? Mr. Rubio, why did you need your "windfall"–the term these financial savants use to describe royalties from a book–to avoid foreclosure on your second home, and why are you missing so many votes in the Senate? Dr. Carson, isn’t it hypocritical for you to serve on the board of Costco, a company that covers benefits for partners in a same-sex marriage? Governor Bush, why are you failing to register higher in the polls? Governor Huckabee, you question the morality of people on the coasts; do you think Trump, from New York, has the moral authority to unite the country?
It got so bad that the audience began to boo these questions. Governor Christie drew applause when, interrupted by John Harwood, he said, “John, even in New Jersey what you are doing is called rude.” And Cruz contrasted the “nasty” questions (Trump’s characterization) put by the CNBC inquisitors with the ones put by their CNN colleagues to the Democratic candidates, to wit, “Which of you is more handsome and wise than the other?” Or, as Rubio put it, “the mainstream media” is the most important Democratic super PAC. Christie added irrelevance to the charge sheet by mocking a question about whether fantasy football is gambling, pointing out that there are somewhat more serious problems facing the country after seven years of Obama. It was just one of several efforts by the candidates to turn the discussion to the policy issues they had come to discuss.
Candidates got applause, CNBC’s questioners were booed. Candidates didn’t accept the invitation to commit mayhem. Trump wouldn’t attack Carson, although he took a few swipes at Kasich, Carson typically wouldn’t attack anyone, Christie respectfully disagreed with Huckabee about how to fix social security and Medicaid–the governor of New Jersey agreeing with the former governor of Florida that benefits must be cut, especially for the wealthy, the former governor of Arkansas contending that there is a moral imperative to adhere to the existing social contract.
Despite the efforts of CNBC team’s concentration on efforts to induce the candidates to generate videos for Mrs. Clinton’s later use, we learned a good deal about the difference of the ground on which all of these candidates stand, and the ground in which Clinton is planting her flag. All want to cut and simplify the tax structure, although by different amounts and in different ways. Fiorina wants to shrink the 73,000-page tax code to 3 pages, Cruz wants to eliminate the IRS. Several want some version of a flat or at least flatter tax but, with the exception of Rubio, could not explain why this would not be a greater advantage for the wealthy than the middle class. Most, with the exception of Carson, who believes it demeans people to exempt them entirely from taxes, want to cut more people from the tax roles, a bad idea that will increase the number of people who benefit from expenditures to which they make no contribution. All are gambling that the reforms they propose will so accelerate growth–to an annual rate of 4 percent claims Bush for his proposal–that it will not balloon the deficit, already at a level they all agree will be a burden on what were once called grandchildren, and are now called grandkids. In Carson’s case, he is also counting on eliminating special favors for the wealthy.
If Bernie Sanders took the time to watch this debate he would have been nodding in agreement at the reaction of Republicans to the mention of bankers, Wall Street, the 1 percent, and other malefactors of great wealth. Christie would prosecute and jail GM executives responsible for deaths due to faulty ignition switches. One thing is certain: corporate America and the so-called rich can no longer count on any of these Republican wannabees to protect them from the wrath of Democratic progressives. We might, only might, find in this Republican crowd a president prepared to take on corporate welfare, pay a bit more attention to populist outcries against big business and lobbyists, and actually succeed in rescuing the Republican Party from the embrace of big business. Fiorina says she is the one who can, at long last, get this done.
All candidates, with the exception of Trump, also agreed that they favor smaller government, in the case of Kasich smaller federal but larger state governments. Trump’s promise to do lots of things once resident in the White House warns that his lack of faith in the ability of government to do anything right applies only to a government which he does not head. Put him in charge, and walls will get built, everything will be terrific, international deals that favor rather than hurt America will be struck–the Trans-Pacific Partnership can be fixed by inserting a clause banning currency manipulation.
So it was an unfair battle between ten candidates determined to avoid attacking one another, and media representatives who, were they capable of it, would be embarrassed by their inability to conceal their biases. Rubio is the clear winner–serious, good humored, tough when necessary, future-looking–and Christie a close second, scoring with his attacks on the media and his earnest plea to face the problems of Social Security and Medicaid squarely.
Cruz, a self-styled guy you might not want to have a beer with, but one you can count on to drive you home safely, did himself some good. Bush continued his tepid performances, unfortunately enlivened only by an ill-conceived attack on his one-time friend and protégé, Rubio, “a gifted politician”, for absences from the senate, to which he will not seek reelection, even though Bush had supported McCain, who had a much higher absentee rate during his presidential run. Bush might very soon get an opportunity to do the “cool things” he says are available to him rather than suffer more slings and arrows from other candidates and the media.
On to Milwaukee on November 10 where Fox Business Network and the Wall Street Journal will sponsor the next debate.