Rubio, Cruz win third debate
Republican candidates attack CNBC moderators for adversarial questions
The third Republican debate Oct. 28 turned out to be much more controversial and interesting than I expected initially. CNBC, and specifically the moderators, were the big losers of this debate. The questions asked were beyond ridiculous and rarely dealt with any policy issues. Beyond this, the moderators were flat out rude and nasty in many of their interactions with the candidates.
Debate — The Republican National Committee cut ties with CNBC after last debate. Google Images
Ed Rodgers wrote in The Washington Post that “the moderators’ approach to this debate was beyond properly adversarial and was probably a game-changer in more ways than one.”
This set up one of the night’s most entertaining moments, as Sen. Ted Cruz calmly and coolly embarrassed the moderators for the questions they were asking.
“The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media,” Cruz said.
Cruz had a big night and seems to be rising from an angry tea party candidate to a viable Republican nominee. Many across the media believe the Republican nomination could come down to Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio. Rubio had the other highlight moment of the debate when he shut down Jeb Bush’s attack on him over his voting record in the Senate.
Following up a question from the moderator to Rubio about his lack of attendance at votes in the Senate, Bush tried to seize the moment for himself by asserting that Rubio should step down from his Senate position if he could not show up to vote.
However, Rubio was not caught off guard by this attack.
“I don’t remember you ever complaining about John McCain’s vote record,” Rubio responded. “The only reason why you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.”
This was NBA legend Larry Bird-esque when, playing Atlanta Hawks forward Dominique Wilkins for the first time, he told him, “I don’t know why they have got you guarding me, Homes. You
can’t guard me.”
This seems to have marked the end of the Bush campaign’s relevance. His poll numbers have been dropping substantially for a number of weeks now, and reports have come out that many of his major donors are having strong second thoughts about their support of him.
“Could Bush ride out the storm?” Nate Silver, editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight, wrote. “Maybe. But his problem isn’t mere lack of ‘momentum’; his candidacy has always been flawed.
Instead of being the most electable conservative — the traditional profile of the Republican nominee — Bush has never looked all that electable or all that conservative.”
What may be the most interesting change that comes out of Wednesday night is the state of future debates. The Republican National Committee rightly cut its ties with CNBC after the debacle of a debate last week, and Cruz has been calling for a debate moderated by Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Rush Limbaugh. While this may not be plausible, the RNC should look for new, outside-the-box ways to show off the candidates and their policies to the American people. Maybe Republicans should live stream a debate on YouTube, cutting out the middleman and allowing them to choose whatever moderators and format they want. Whatever the change is, the Republican Party is in the driver’s seat as millions of people continue to sit through multiple hours of debates this election cycle.
Sutherland is the opinion editor.